U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss: Frustration with Washington drove him out
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the leader of a bipartisan effort to address the federal deficit, this morning pointed to gridlock in Washington for his decision not to seek a third term in 2014.
A statement just released by his office includes this:
“I have no doubt that had I decided to be a candidate, I would have won re-election. In these difficult political times, I am fortunate to have actually broadened my support around the state and the nation due to the stances I have taken.
“Instead, this is about frustration, both at a lack of leadership from the White House and at the dearth of meaningful action from Congress, especially on issues that are the foundation of our nation’s economic health. The debt-ceiling debacle of 2011 and the recent fiscal-cliff vote showed Congress at its worst and, sadly, I don’t see the legislative gridlock and partisan posturing improving anytime soon. For our nation to be strong, for our country to prosper, we cannot continue to play politics with the American economy.”
In a conference call with supporters that he just completed, Chambliss didn’t detail the reasons for his departure, but reviewed a career that included authorship of four farm bills and 18 defense authorization bills, during two terms in the Senate and several years in the U.S. House.
“I’m going to have a life after this,” Chambliss said. “Sitting on a back porch drinking whisky with some of y’all is exciting to think about.”
Gov. Nathan Deal said that U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss called him this morning to inform him of his decision. “I told him to make sure he served out his full term because I didn’t want to appoint someone,” Deal told my AJC colleague Greg Bluestein. The governor assured Chambliss would do so.
Chambliss’ announcement will immediately set off an avalanche of Republican candidates who will seek to replace him.
At least two GOP House members from Georgia, Paul Broun of Athens and Tom Price of Roswell, have been contemplating primary challenges to Chambliss, who has been criticized for leading the bipartisan “Gang of Six” effort to broker a deal to address a $16 trillion federal deficit.
Chambliss and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., are scheduled to speak Monday on coming fiscal negotiations during a joint appearance at the University of Georgia.
Both Chambliss and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson had voted this month for the Senate-negotiated deal that avoided the “fiscal cliff” imposed by a 2011 fight over the federal debt ceiling. All Republican House members from Georgia voted against it.
A decision from Price is expected sooner rather than later. More members of Congress – including Phil Gingrey of Roswell and Tom Graves of Ranger – are certain to consider the race now that it lacks an incumbent. In the state Capitol, one name has already popped up — that of state Sen. Ross Tolleson, a Republican who hails from former U.S. senator Sam Nunn’s home town of Perry.
Talk radio host Herman Cain, a GOP candidate for president who began his political career in Georgia with a 2004 run for the U.S. Senate, quickly removed himself from consideration this morning. But don’t rule out former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Chambliss’ withdrawal could also awaken Georgia Democrats from the torpor they’ve been in since losing the governor’s office in 2002. This statement comes from Guy Cecil, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:
“Georgia will now offer Democrats one of our best pick-up opportunities of the cycle. There are already several reports of the potential for a divisive primary that will push Republicans to the extreme right. Regardless, there’s no question that the demographics of the state have changed and Democrats are gaining strength. This will be a top priority.”
U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta has said he wasn’t interested in challenging Chambliss. Whether or not that disinterest applies to an open seat may be another matter. State Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, may be another name to add to the mix.
Chambliss had offered a hint that he was wavering earlier this month. From a quote in a column written by my AJC colleague Kyle Wingfield, who had asked him if the curdled atmosphere in Washington made him think twice about a third term:
“This is an eight-year decision for me. It’s two years [campaigning] plus six years” in office, he said. “And if I thought the next eight years were going to be filled with contentious debates and the wrong way to govern that we have just gone through in the last two months, it would have a significant impact on my decision. But yeah, right now my plans are to run.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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346 comments Add your comment
Another Senator Announces Retirement Blaming ‘Legislative Gridlock’ | Irascible Musings
January 25th, 2013
2:16 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that at least two Republican members of the House, Paul Broun and Tom Price, “have been [...]
Senator Saxby Chambliss Announces He’s Retiring In 2014
January 25th, 2013
2:18 pm
[...] from Georgia, Paul Broun and Tom Price, had been rumored to be seeking the seat from Chambliss, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution [...]
JISL
January 25th, 2013
2:19 pm
ignorance
racists
KKK
fascist
rednecks
Why are republicans called all these? And being a Democratic is so great?
Anita
January 25th, 2013
2:19 pm
We all know that he has something else lined up. Who does he think he is fooling? If the Democrats work hard we can take this seat. Let’s go get it Democrats. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!
Synonymous
January 25th, 2013
2:23 pm
Jack Kingston, appropriator extraordinaire? He’s never met an earmark he didn’t like, so I guess he’s perfect to replace Chambliss right?
Voter
January 25th, 2013
2:23 pm
@JISL – ignorance,racists,KKK,fascist,rednecks,Why are republicans called all these? And being a Democratic is so great?
Because when confronted with the truth and real facts, all Democrats can resort to is name calling.
Voter
January 25th, 2013
2:24 pm
@Anita – “If the Democrats work hard we can take this seat. Let’s go get it Democrats.”
Dream on. Republican’s will win.
Savannah Unplugged | Ga. Senator Saxby Chambliss retiring in 2014, will not seek third term
January 25th, 2013
2:25 pm
[...] Jim Galloway at the AJC, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss: Frustration with Washington drove him out: Chambliss’ announcement will immediately set off an avalanche of Republican candidates who will [...]
MawMaw4
January 25th, 2013
2:27 pm
He won by swift-boating a war hero! Those thinking of running are even worse!
Saxby Chambliss Retires: GOP Senator Announcing He Won’t Run For Re-Election In 2014: Report | GeoNews.WS
January 25th, 2013
2:42 pm
[...] Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) is announcing Friday that he will not run for re-election in 2014, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [...]
honested
January 25th, 2013
2:45 pm
voter,
Keep your head in the sand, it suits you.
Ola
January 25th, 2013
2:47 pm
I’m sorry to see Chambliss not run again. If Gingrey, Price or Broun should be elected, we will definitely be the laughing stock of the United States as well as the world.
Ola
January 25th, 2013
2:47 pm
I’m sorry to see Chambliss not run again. If Gingrey, Price or Broun should be elected, we will definitely be the laughing stock of the United States as well as the world.
John
January 25th, 2013
2:47 pm
What is Georgia going to do?
Ray
January 25th, 2013
2:53 pm
Boortz moved to Florida years ago, I believe Naples. No state income tax. My prayers go out to Governor Perdue. Lymphoma is very curable (my brother was staged IV last year with the same disease, and now is in total remission).
Chambliss was about to be bombed by the Tea Party, it has been no secret. Too bad he is a good man, that did more than his part to govern this country.
Georgia’s other representatives mentioned as possible candidates (Broun, Gingrey, Price, Westmoreland, etc) are frequently said to serve as national examples of possibly too much inbreeding in the South by comedians all over this nation.
Folks we have real issues for them to address We have nearly the worst high school dropout rate in the nation and low college graduate rates for those born in Georgia. We also have horrible mortality, foreclosures (banking and real-estate), illegal immigration, and insured rates in the nation. Chambliss should consider running for Governor, because Georgia is obviously lacks in leadership.
oboe3
January 25th, 2013
2:55 pm
relax—sandy will get connected with an 8 figure lobbying gig in DC, selling influence around the world–he’ll be richer than ever with all that new money!!! It’s time for saxby to cash in big on the sellout.
Jeff K
January 25th, 2013
2:56 pm
TERRIFIC !! Now we can begin work on the election of a true conservative voice for Georgia.
blkshepherd
January 25th, 2013
2:59 pm
Herman Cain! if he can keep his hands out from under women’s skirts grabbing their privates tee hee*
Katherine Helms Cummings
January 25th, 2013
3:03 pm
I hope the Dems can come up with a better candidate than John Barrow. He walks, talk, and votes like a Republican. His campaign commercial about “ain’t nobody gonna take HIS guns away” was offensive. I have been to several meetings where he talked down to rural constituents as if we have never left the country or read a book beyond the third grade.
3d
January 25th, 2013
3:08 pm
1 down.
Vote the rest out next chance you get.
Both Democrat and Republican.
Look at this years state of the union speech and you will see the same faces we’ve seen for the last 10 15 years that have driven this country in the ground.
Vote them all the hell out of office.
Wake up folks. They all are lining their pockets in DC and they don’t give a flying flip about you and me or this country.
Old Click » Another Senator Announces Retirement Blaming ‘Legislative Gridlock’
January 25th, 2013
3:08 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that at least two Republican members of the House, Paul Broun and Tom Price, “have been [...]
Patriot
January 25th, 2013
3:13 pm
Good BYE and don’t let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you Chambliss. What a total waste of a vote you sellout RINO. Gingrich for Senate!
JamVet
January 25th, 2013
3:27 pm
fascist
OK, lets make that case.
In the 1920′s and 1930′s, fascists in Europe used economic crises to gain power and that is exactly what Republicans are doing now. Using the recession as an excuse to create a police state.
European fascists banned labor unions, worker’s strikes and lockouts. Let’s see, who else has been working on that for the past thirty years?
Adolph Hitler persecuted homosexuals. Let’s see, who else has been doing that forever?
The Nazis, like the Republicans of today, reject democracy and liberalism.
Fascists also reject internationalism and pacifism and support militarism and war. Republicans have been calling for the United States to pull out of the United Nations since the 1950′s and have since 2001, been the party of war as evidenced by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the calls to attack Iran, North Korea, and most recently Libya.
(”Second amendment remedies.” Glorifying bloodlust, war and violence.)
Fascists and Republicans also have in common their obsession with Christianity. The Republican party is one with the Christian Right today. Their goal is to make Christianity the national religion in order to create a Christian state.
But the real kicker?
The GOP’s new American system of corporations uber alles. Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. ~Benito Mussolini
Compare that to this perverted statement, Corporations are people, my friend. ~Mitt Romney
So yes, it is patently clear, the GOP’s fanatical extremists, which is to say mainline Republicans, are America’s modern version of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei .
Seig Heil, cons.
JSH
January 25th, 2013
3:28 pm
Saxby has been a good middle of the road senator. Georgia will miss him. I can’t really blame him for leaving that cesspool called Washington.
drsoul
January 25th, 2013
3:28 pm
It is really a mess….never liked C for his campaigns…pure dirt…!!!
Hopefully, people will not dig down deep in the Atlanta sewer and send more S*#^ to Washington like K Reed…that would be a disaster for sure… we need to start putting strong people in office… not like Deal and the groups that surround him… we need someone who can truly talk straight and stand up for Georgia and America…not themselves..!!!
rdjj
January 25th, 2013
3:29 pm
thank goodness!! We are getting rid of this big lib he has been a true Rino..
Tea
January 25th, 2013
3:37 pm
I didn’t vote for Sen Chambliss and I even wrote him a letter once telling him he had failed us by being party to COngressional gridlock. But the work he has done in the past two years as part of the Gang of Six, reaching out to both parties and trying to forge a compromise, has earned my sincere respect. I am disappointed he has chosen to give up the struggle at this time when we so desperately voices of moderation and compromise in Congress.
BO
January 25th, 2013
3:38 pm
I hope Chambliss takes on Deal for governor and Kasim Reed runs for the Senate.
woodrow
January 25th, 2013
3:38 pm
He admits he cannot help the gridlock and he bows out. I think that is appropriate. He has done a good job up till the Republican party fell apart.
The Scramble to Replace Saxby Chambliss
January 25th, 2013
3:39 pm
[...] this morning’s announcement of the retirement of Senator Saxby Chambliss, speculation has begun to swirl about potential [...]
Saxby Chambliss To Retire | Tony Johnson
January 25th, 2013
3:40 pm
[...] The News That Matters! (To me) Skip to content HomeAbout MeShopping Excerpted from The Atalanta Journal Constitution: U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will announce this morning that he’s dropping plans to run for a third [...]
Dumb Democrap Obamacommie
January 25th, 2013
3:53 pm
Not crazy about Chambliss but hope someone with a brain who is not a far right moron will run. Why can’t we get a real dumbazz like “Guam will tip over” Johnston (sp) to take his place and be more of a laughing stock than we (Ga) already are,lol. The running dumba**es who elected Johnston (sp) will vote for any moron,lol.
Dumb Democrap Obamacommie
January 25th, 2013
3:54 pm
Don’t forget about the idiot Broun who is just about as dumb as Johnson,lol.
JamVet
January 25th, 2013
3:55 pm
Who we need to replace Pigby is a bona fide bigot with authentic Klan credentials.
Someone like Lynn “Uppity” Westmoreland…
oldfart
January 25th, 2013
4:03 pm
What is really disheartening is to see people treating the really important issues of the day and the election of a senator like a rivalry game for the Bulldawgs.
Jim Michael
January 25th, 2013
4:07 pm
Saxby has done little for many years. The GOP is out of motivation, ideas, and courage; the DNC is full of fertilizer, brainwashing, and lies. No guts=no glory. The GOP has done a nice job of pushing away Latinos and Women—a great job—idiots in their own right, the GOP does not know how to negotiate and talk to the Dems; Meanwhile, the Jackass Party is “my way or the highway” and growing government big time. I hear that the monster idiot on AM750, Erik Erikson? wants to run? LOL…
GA Sen: Saxby Chambliss to Retire | BirchIndigo
January 25th, 2013
4:16 pm
[...] another term. Instead of running again in 2014 Chambliss has decided to retire according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will announce this morning that he’s dropping plans to run for a third [...]
Farts A Lot
January 25th, 2013
4:19 pm
At least Chambliss wasn’t a crazy loon like all the Tea Party fanatics in Congress. I believe he was willing to compromise for the good of all. I just hope that lunatic Tom Price doesn’t take his place.
MASR
January 25th, 2013
4:23 pm
I hope and pray Senator Chambliss is not replaced by another RINO or a Democrat.
The nation needs a Senator who actually upholds the US Constitution and stops this nonsense of taking hard-earned tax dollars from hard working citizens and wasting it on the irresponsible and lazy or sending it to other nations who hate and want to destroy the USA (e.g. Egypt, Russia etc.)
dog kicker
January 25th, 2013
4:25 pm
quit·ter (kw t r) n. One who gives up easily. quitter [ˈkwɪtə] n. a person who gives up easily;
dog kicker
January 25th, 2013
4:25 pm
quit·ter (kw t r) n. One who gives up easily. quitter [ˈkwɪtə] n. a person who gives up easily;
jdl2
January 25th, 2013
4:25 pm
Saxby’s retiring at the end of this term because he finally got his 20 years done on your payroll. He got $3.5 million of your tax dollars in his pocket, and will get (since he got in his 20 years, $60k a year for the rest of his life (your tax dollars again). thanks GOD the republicans are out there protecting our tax dollars. Demo’s are no different.
YourPoliticalAnimal
January 25th, 2013
4:52 pm
“Remember folks, this is a US Senator. We are sending him (or her) to Washington to try to get stuff for our state. We are not sending them to a tent revival in Luthersville.”
@Sonny Lied…NOW THAT WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!
Pat 2014
January 25th, 2013
4:58 pm
That seat is Pat Swindall’s if he wants it.
The National Memo » 5 Georgia Republicans Who Could Replace Senator Saxby Chambliss
January 25th, 2013
4:59 pm
[...] senator Saxby Chambliss announced Friday morning that he will not seek re-election, opening the door for a competitive, critical [...]
Independent Leaning Right
January 25th, 2013
5:09 pm
I’d vote for Newt. He would be one of the most intelligent people up there; one of the few who could come up with some new ideas. And perhaps he would be strong enough to force some others on Capitol Hill to come around and get something done.
For a Democrat, I would like to see John Barrow run. I think he would be the only Democrat that could run well across the state. Being a Democrat, he would carry the major cities (doesn’t matter who the candidate is, they will vote Dem). He is conservative enough to carry some Republicans. If the Democrats elect someone too liberal, they will guarantee it for the Republicans.
HENRY
January 25th, 2013
5:15 pm
This closet democRAT needs to move along anyway. He’s been rubbing Obama’s belly now for some time. I doubt he could get re-elected anyway on the Republican ticket.
Independent Leaning Right
January 25th, 2013
5:16 pm
@Sonny Lied, that is what is wrong. Back to the entitlement society. I don’t vote for a Senator to get stuff for us, I vote for him to do what is right for the country. Yes, I do want job, roads, etc., here, but not if it is the wrong thing for the country. I want engineering and manufacturing jobs at Lockheed, but I don’t want the government spending billion of dollars on planes if they are not truly needed.
ylojkt
January 25th, 2013
5:29 pm
liberals & conservatives, left and right? Is this really the state of mind in Ga. in 2012? How pathetic!
There are no liberals or leftist in govt currently, there is the far-right party (republicans) and the center right party (democrats), and about the only thing that separates the two is a fine line of crazy.
How many of you “conservatives” were up in arms when Bush was expanding the federal govt by the largest amount in history? How many “liberals” had their panties tied in a knot with Obama’s expansion of NDAA? His ever expanding drone war?
Quite frankly, this govt. is us vs them, but they have to keep you convinced that some mythical beast (a true conservative, an actual liberal) is what you’re really against so that we don’t all turn our collective ire on them.
Such a shame that the people of GA are so small minded that they can’t see beyond the false advertising.
vesaversa
January 25th, 2013
5:34 pm
I have never voted for Saxby Chambliss but i kind of respect the man . There are Ga .Republicans in congress who are far worse and extreme than Saxby so i really hate that he is leaving because it only open the door for another Far Right extremist to take his place .