Tom Crawford on the race for governor. I agree with everything in this post.

Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact writes:

[T]he strongest two candidates in the Republican Party stable will not be running in this campaign.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston are sitting it out for different reasons (Cagle has back problems that required surgery, while Kingston’s friend Eric Johnson decided to run for governor). Kingston would have been an attractive candidate to the hardcore Republican base that still likes George W. Bush and wants to say a big loud “no” to anything proposed by Barack Obama. Cagle would have run strongly among the more moderate Republicans and could have brought in swing voters as well.

Their absence from the race means a weaker candidate could emerge with the Republican nomination. That’s not such good news for the GOP, but it provides some encouragement to the underdog Democratic Party.

If Barnes gets in, the race for the Democratic nomination is essentially over. Attorney General Thurbert Baker can be a nuisance by drawing off black votes in the primary, but Baker did not help himself by working so hard to keep black youth Genarlow Wilson in prison, a legal stance that angered African-American community leaders.

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin would have a better chance running for lieutenant governor, thereby clearing out the Democratic gubernatorial primary for Barnes. David Poythress has a commendable record of public service over the years, but with Barnes in the race he becomes basically a vanity candidate.