Mama said they'd be days like this -- the Zell Miller conundrum

Passages from the ajc entitled "State Democrats let Miller be; Some hold out hope for backing in future":

-- Democrats across the country have had no qualms about attacking Sen. Zell Miller, the highest-ranking member of their party to oppose John Kerry's election.

But one group of Democrats has been conspicuously low-key in its criticism: Miller's fellow Georgians.

-- [A] reporter asked [Max Cleland], what about Miller?

"Zell Miller is a great American," Cleland declared flatly. "I have tremendous respect for Zell Miller."

-- [S]ome Georgia Democrats said they were also reluctant to savage a man they still regard highly as a progressive governor who did well by Georgia — and remains one of its most popular politicians.

-- In the November 2000 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated after Republican Paul Coverdell died of a stroke, Miller defeated the GOP's Guy Millner nearly 3-to-2. And a poll done by InsiderAdvantage in June suggests the popular former governor's standing with Georgians remains high, showing Miller with an overall approval rating of 64 percent in the state. That includes 57 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents.

"It's about as high as you're ever going to see anybody get," said Gary Reese of the Atlanta political media and polling firm.

Emory University political scientist Merle Black said . . . Miller remains a potent political force in the state. . . .

Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist, said leading Democrats in Georgia may already be focused on their own races in 2006, when they may turn to Miller for an endorsement.

-- Miller [says] Georgians are reluctant to challenge him publicly because many agree with him that the national Democratic Party has lost its way and that Bush is better than Kerry on the military, agricultural and social issues important to Southerners.

-- [Miller] not only dismisses those who have called on him to stop calling himself a Democrat but says he will play a role in rebuilding the party after its inevitable defeat this November.

"What people need to understand is that this is just a moment in time. This is just one election," Miller said. "And after the Kerry defeat, I'm going to be around to put this party back together again."