Underestimating Taylor in governor's race.

This week Bill Shipp writes:

Judging from the mail, my recent suggestion that Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor drop out of the governor's race did not meet with the resounding amen I anticipated. Taylor would be natural to remain lieutenant governor, take on the controversy-hounded Republican Ralph Reed or the small-bore Casey Cagle and become a national symbol of Democratic resurgence, I opined.

[A] missive from an old pal of Taylor made a compelling case as to why The Big Guy should stay in the contest for governor. Here is the old pal's e-mail.

"You wrote recently that Mark Taylor ought to drop out of the race for governor. You said that he should save the Democratic Party and run for lieutenant governor because, among other things, he'd get lots of great national press coverage. Presumably, the folks spreading this stuff are among those who support either (Democrat) Cathy Cox or (GOP Gov.) Sonny Perdue. No matter. They don't understand how Georgia votes and why. And they clearly don't understand Mark.

"I can tell you with authority that Mark Taylor is not dropping out of the race for governor or running for any other office. You've known him for years. This is not a guy who quits. He's also not a guy who breaks under pressure, especially from his opponents. Each time they leak this quitting stuff (usually wrapped in a 'how great this would be for Mark' box) his determination to win increases.

"Ask yourself this question: What do most voters really know about Mark Taylor (or Cathy Cox, for that matter)? The real answer is: very little. They know, perhaps, that he's a guy who is lieutenant governor, and they've heard his name on the news. They know Cathy's a woman who is secretary of state, and they've seen her name in the paper and in some TV ads. That's pretty much it. You don't get out of races because many people don't know who you are or what you've done or what you're going to do. If that's the way it worked, Roy Barnes - who started at 7 percent in the polls in 1997 - would never have run. In fact, the whole point of a campaign is to tell people what they don't know about you.

"And here's what they don't know about Mark Taylor. As a senator and two-term lieutenant governor, he's been involved in the passage of almost every piece of progressive legislation to pass in Georgia in the last decade and a half. A bill he sponsored lets every kid with a 3.0 average go to college in Georgia tuition free.

"A bill he sponsored lets every kid who graduates high school get two years of technical training tuition free. All this is commonly known as the HOPE scholarship legislation. Mark pushed it through the Senate when the current governor was trying to kill it. A bill Mark sponsored lets every 4-year-old go to pre-kindergarten and get an early start on education, free.

"A bill he sponsored created the Georgia Lottery to pay for all that. A bill he sponsored set up the PeachCare program, providing health insurance to uninsured kids of working parents. The Two Strikes bill he sponsored sends repeat violent criminals to jail for life. A bill he sponsored eliminated the sales tax on food - now something the Republicans (and supporters of Cathy Cox) want to reverse by increasing sales taxes in a so-called property tax swap. In fact, bills he sponsored cut more taxes for more Georgians than bills sponsored by anyone in the state's history.

"Now, why in heaven's name would a man with a record like that NOT run for governor? And what has Cathy Cox done in her career to match any of that, let alone all of it? Well, she gave us electronic voting machines, which she now admits don't work.

"Georgia voters - including voters in Georgia Democratic primaries - have a long, long history of voting for serious candidates for the very serious office of governor. To be sure, they toy around with protest candidates and candidates with short state government resumes (see Andy Young and Lewis Massey), but the voters always come back to favor experience and accomplishment.

"Don't forget that Mark is the guy who started his first statewide campaign in 1998 down by more than 20 points against a popular female candidate. He was bashed over and over by her and by the press. But he did not bend, and he did not quit. He put his record out there and won the primary, as tough and mean as it was. Then he was bashed in the general election repeatedly by (GOP opponent) Mitch Skandalakis and the press. Some ads were so hideous they ended up with Mitch having to pay a substantial fine to settle a defamation of character suit. Again, Mark Taylor did not quit. He won that election on his record and became lieutenant governor.

"He has seen the conventional wisdom evaporate repeatedly. He's beat the odds and the insider chatter before. Now in 2005, he's more seasoned, more experienced, more ready, and with an even longer record.

"Cathy and Sonny are spending a lot of time now spreading rumors, touting early polling numbers compiled by GOP consultants and planning their victory parties. But, believe me, they are fatally underestimating Mark Taylor."