(1) Business leaders will see Barnes as best bet to get something done; (2) Will Kahn allow Barnes to cut his ties with Kahn?; & (3) Baker's record.

Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact writes:

The Cagle pullout probably ensures that former governor Roy Barnes, who still hasn’t made a public announcement of his plans, will finalize his intentions to run again. More importantly, Barnes could get a monetary boost from business leaders fed up with the Republicans’ inability to pass a transportation funding mechanism - they could see Barnes as the best bet for getting something done, even if he does happen to be a Democrat.

Barnes has been traveling around the state to talk up his candidacy, and he is being told by party activists that they won’t support him unless he cuts his ties with political mastermind Bobby Kahn, who is blamed for the 2002 loss to Sonny Perdue and the subsequent collapse of the Georgia Democratic Party. Would Barnes actually do such a thing? More importantly, would Bobby allow him to do it?

Attorney General Thurbert Baker would be considered the most serious challenger to Barnes in the Democratic primary, but after 12 years in office it would be difficult for the average voter to tell you who Baker is or what he ever accomplished. Baker rarely took a stand on anything, which doesn’t leave him with much of a platform to run on.