We Can Do Better Than Barrow

I can’t say that I am sorry that Rep. John Barrow of Georgia’s 12th District won’t be running for Saxby Chambliss’s senate seat next year. He voted against ObamaCare and Cap and Trade, and he recently co-sponsored the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). His only real virtue is that he managed to win a seat in a redrawn district that Romney carried by 12 points. He’s the only white Democrat from the Deep South currently serving in the House of Representatives. He was supposed to be a formidable senate candidate, but I am certain that the Democrats can scrounge up someone better. It’s hard for Democrats to get excited about a guy who didn’t even support the president on health care. It’s true that a successful Democratic candidate in a state-wide race in Georgia is going to need some crossover appeal, but that will be supplied this time around by the nutcase Republican candidate who will drive women and moderates away in droves.