Chambliss and Martin face Senate runoff in Georgia

At historically black Morris Brown College, surrounded by former Barack Obama campaign staffers and African American Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the normally unassuming, bespectacled white lawyer had discovered his inner preacher.

"We're all in this together!" Martin, 63, intoned.

"Talk to me!" a man shouted in response.

"The Republicans believe if they have 41 votes in the Senate, they can stop this great president!"

"That's right!"

"Now this isn't Landslide Jim you're talking to," Martin said. "I need your help."

Martin was never supposed to be this close to a U.S. Senate seat. A relative unknown in Georgia politics, the former head of the state's Department of Human Resources had to survive two primaries before securing the privilege of receiving what promised to be a whomping at the hands of the Republican incumbent, Saxby Chambliss.

After all, this is Georgia, where John McCain topped Barack Obama by 5 percentage points and President Bush won by 17 percentage points four years ago. In 2002, Chambliss was able to unseat a decorated Vietnam War veteran, Max Cleland, in part by questioning his patriotism.

But Martin benefited from the heavy black turnout Nov. 4 and was able to draw close enough to Chambliss to force a runoff, scheduled for Tuesday.

For the last three weeks, the Senate race has given the political world a final campaign fix. Former President Clinton, Al Gore and McCain all have campaigned here. Today promises the arrival of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to campaign for Chambliss.

The big-name attention to Georgia is rooted in Democratic effort to secure a 60-vote majority in the Senate, which would make Republican filibusters impossible and allow easy passage for many pieces of legislation.

The Democrats hold 58 seats (including the two independent senators who normally caucus with them), with races in Georgia and Minnesota still not settled.

Chambliss repeatedly has called himself "the firewall," the man who can single-handedly derail the Democratic agenda. Polls show Martin trailing by 3 to 5 percentage points, but many here think that if President-elect Obama came to Georgia to rally the African American base, it would put the Democrat over the top.