Democratic candidates scored big during the 17 days of early voting, but Republican voters made up for it on Nov. 4, according to an election research group.

ATLANTA – Georgia voters had their hands on the balance of power in the next U.S. Senate in a runoff election Tuesday, one of two unresolved races that Democrats need to win to get a 60-seat majority impervious to GOP filibusters.

Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss faced Democrat Jim Martin after a post-general election campaign that drew national political heavyweights from both parties.

In Minnesota, a recount that could take weeks is under way in a tight race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

No problems were reported after Georgia polls opened at 7 a.m., Secretary of State spokesman Matt Carrothers said. A few precincts reported short lines. Polls were scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Murray Gottlieb, 54, a caterer in Savannah, said he voted for Chambliss because he doesn’t want complete Democratic control of the Senate.

“I support Barack Obama now. I hope he’s the best president we’ve ever had and we get out of the funk we’re in, but I don’t want to give him that much power,” Gottlieb said after casting his ballot at a church in Savannah.

The ailing economy brought architect Glen McClure, 47, out for Martin.

“My motivation is, I’m unemployed as of yesterday,” he said at a library-turned-polling place in Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood.

Chambliss and Martin both fell short of the 50-percent threshold in a three-way general election race with Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, who drew 3.4 percent of the vote. It’s Georgia’s first Senate runoff since 1992, when Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler was upset by Republican Paul Coverdell.

Chambliss is seeking a second term after winning in 2002 against Democratic Sen. Max Cleland in a campaign that infuriated Democrats with a TV ad that questioned Cleland’s commitment to national security and flashed a photo of Osama bin Laden. Martin has aligned himself with President-elect Barack Obama’s message of change, and has vowed to provide economic relief for the middle class. Chambliss has promised to be a firewall against a Democratic-dominated Washington getting a “blank check.”

Early voting statistics were encouraging for the Chambliss camp.

Of the nearly 500,000 early voters, turnout was down among black voters and higher among white males compared to advance voting before the general election.

White males normally are a solid Republican constituency in Georgia, while exit polls showed that Martin won the votes of nine of ten Georgia blacks who registered a preference.

Still, analysts say it’s hard to tell how that may impact Tuesday’s contest.

“It doesn’t mean the overall turnout will be skewed,” said Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz. “It could just mean that there’s much less incentive to early vote this time, because no one’s expecting there to be long lines now.”

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel did not predict turnout for the contest, but the 1992 runoff attracted about 1.2 million voters – roughly half the turnout in that year’s general election.

Roughly 4 million people cast ballots in this year’s general election, and both sides have since tried to keep voters’ attention with a barrage of ads and visits by political heavy-hitters.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore both stumped for Martin. President-elect Barack Obama recorded a radio ad for Martin and sent 100 field operatives, but he didn’t campaign in the state despite a request from Martin to do so.

Several ex-Republican presidential candidates made appearances for Chambliss, including GOP nominee John McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s vice presidential pick, held four rallies for Chambliss that drew thousands of party faithful Monday.

Saxby Chambliss: www.saxby.org

Jim Martin: www.martinforsenate.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Republican U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode has made it official: He wants a recount in his narrow loss to Democrat Tom Perriello.

Attorneys for the six-term incumbent filed a petition Tuesday in Albermarle County Circuit Court requesting the recount.

The filling came a day after the State Board of Elections certified Democrat Tom Perriello as the winner by 745 votes out of more than 316,000 cast in the 5th District race. The margin of 0.24 percentage points entitles Goode to a recount at taxpayer expense. Perriello has said he doesn’t believe there’s any serious chance of the result changing.

A one-seat partisan advantage in Virginia’s congressional delegation is at stake.

CHICAGO – Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus plan could include aid to cash-strapped states to provide health care to the poor, along with road and bridge funding and more money for food stamps.

But in a Chicago news conference Obama offered few details of a stimulus measure he wants from Congress. But he said it would need to be powerful enough to “jolt” the economy out of an “economic crisis of historic proportions.”

Obama says his goal is to create 2.5 million jobs by, among other things, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and modernizing schools.

The president-elect also confirmed his selection of New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary. Obama selected former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to head his National Economic Council. Christina Romer will chair his Council of Economic Advisers

 WASHINGTON—Many Democrats are pushing party leaders to advance an ambitious agenda when they take total control of Washington next year.

But a growing block of conservative Democrats could make it harder for President-elect Barack Obama and Congressional leaders to do that.  

In the House, Democrats expanded their margin for the second election cycle in a row in part by picking off Republican seats in conservative-leaning Southern districts in Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama. 

Many new Democrats are social and fiscal conservatives who plan to push back against a major expansion of spending and will bristle at a Democratic agenda that tilts too far left.

“Virginia Democrats are a particular brand,” said Glenn Nye, a Democrat from Virginia who knocked off Republican incumbent Rep. Thelma Drake this year.  “We’re more conservative, especially on fiscal issues.”

Fiscally conservative Democrats – so-called “Blue Dogs” – say they want to avoid a repeat of the last time their party controlled the White House and Congress. 

During his first two years in office, President Bill Clinton and congressional leaders were blamed for pushing a left-of-center agenda and internal conflict that sparked the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994.  

Democrats took back Congress in 2006 – and expanded their majority this year – in part by recapturing conservative-leaning seats held by Republicans for the last decade.

Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., joined the Blue Dog Coalition when he was elected to Congress in 1996 and has seen its ranks more than double in the 12 years since. 

Blue Dogs now account for about one out of every five Democrats in the House, and their numbers are expected to grow in 2009.   

“We have a stronger voice now, a voice that sends a message to leadership that we need to do things in a way that folks in conservative to moderate districts we represent will be supportive of,” McIntyre said. “They have to respect that, or the Democratic Party won’t be the majority party.”

In particular, McIntyre and other Blue Dogs said it will be important to guard against a major expansion of spending and avoid the large deficits that occurred under President George W. Bush.

“We have a very important role to play.  We need to make sure that when we spend taxpayer money, we do it in a way that is responsible and has a positive impact,” said Rep. Heath Shuler, a conservative Democrat in western North Carolina who unseated a long-serving Republican in 2006 and is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

On the campaign trail, Obama promised that he would increase access to health care, cut taxes for the middle class and enact other ambitious agenda items without a major expansion of spending. 

But government budget watchdogs say the souring economy will make it tough for Obama to both keep those promises and keep spending in check, potentially setting up a conflict with fiscally-conservative Democrats. 

Even with the expanded Democratic majority – expected to be about an 80-seat margin once remaining undecided races are settled – the 49-member Blue Dog Coalition has the numbers to block legislation if they vote en masse with Republicans.  

Blue Dogs say Obama is cognizant of the need to appease fiscally-conservative Democrats.  In a meeting with the group earlier this year, “He indicated – and you could see he meant it sincerely – that he wanted to reach out to us,” McIntyre said.

Ferrel Guillory, a political scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said he doubted conservative Democrats would buck Obama in the first few months, especially as he pushes for legislation to shore up the economy.  But that could change as time goes on, he said.

“Large majorities can be unwieldy coalitions.  That’s the challenge the Democrats face now,” he said.

WASHINGTON – Wanted: Democratic congressional aide seeking new career. Must have strong powers of persuasion, excellent connections and good marksmanship. Contact the National Rifle Association’s government affairs office for details.

It’s clear times have changed in Washington when the nation’s biggest gun-rights lobby – long considered Republican-leaning – points out the Democrats on its team and only half-jokingly talks about hiring more.

“We’re always looking for good ones,” NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said when asked if he’s seeing Democratic staffers leaving Capitol Hill to fill a growing demand for Democratic lobbyists. “If they do, give us a call.”

The Democrats’ election sweep – they gained the White House and increased their majorities in the House and Senate – is shaking up the capital’s $3 billion-a-year lobbying industry. After eight years of a Republican administration and shifting power in Congress, Washington’s 16,000 registered lobbyists must now work to capitalize on, or cope with, one-party control.

“We look at any new administration as a time of opportunity in the lobbying community, and certainly here,” said Gregg Hartley, vice chairman and CEO of the bipartisan lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates. He said he would love to see an influx of applications from Democratic aides. “We have shopped to add very high quality, strong individuals, but they are enjoying being in the new majority.”

Jim Albertine, a longtime Washington lobbyist and former president of the American League of Lobbyists, said there’s no question that lobbying firms will load up with Democrats, if they haven’t already.

“Having said that, however, with the new lobby rules, no matter if you come from D or R, you’re still going to be restricted in what you’re doing in the first year,” Albertine said. That could give established lobbyists an edge over newcomers from Capitol Hill: As the new administration moves on its agenda, “if you have a new hire, you’re not going to be able to use that person in the way you want to,” he said.

Many lobbyists began positioning themselves before the election. President-elect Barack Obama’s stated antipathy toward lobbyists may keep many of them from winning high-profile posts in his administration, but it hasn’t kept them from promoting their policy positions to Obama’s team.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, like most major trade groups, tries to keep a bipartisan balance. It has staff members who worked and volunteered in the campaigns of Obama and his

Republican rival, Sen. John McCain. The federation and its state farm bureaus already are talking to Obama’s transition team about its priorities, including energy production, trade and how government carries out the new farm bill, chief lobbyist Mark Maslyn said.

“It starts long before this moment. And many of the people we have known for years and years,” Maslyn said. “Because we regularly work with both sides of the aisle, we work with lawmakers who want to see those positions advance as well: members of the Democratic caucus as well as the Republican caucus. As I tell a lot of people, this is a relational business.”

Likewise, the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying group for electric utilities, talked with both campaigns and already has been in touch with Obama’s transition team. Issues it is trying to get on the Obama team’s radar include the need for more power lines.

Offering a glimpse of how the institute may promote that, spokesman Jim Owen said the group sees renewable energy as a way to create the kind of “green jobs” Obama championed during the campaign. To use the renewable energy that utilities generate, transmission lines are needed to connect it to the power grid, he said.

The Financial Services Roundtable is engaging in a postelection full-court press.

“We’re talking with lawmakers, Treasury and the transition team,” said Scott E. Talbott, vice president of government affairs. Its concerns include the $700 billion bailout administered by the Treasury Department and “overtightening” existing restrictions or creating new ones. Congress has talked about restrictions on paying dividends and bonuses, and on lobbying.

Though seldom willing to name names, lobbyists are weighing in on potential Obama appointees, in some cases describing the kinds of people they would like to see in key jobs or going so far as offering to help recruit and vet candidates.

Key posts for the Farm Bureau include the agriculture and energy secretaries, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, U.S. trade representative and second- and third-tier appointments, the “sub-Cabinet” positions such as deputy secretaries and deputy administrators, assistant administrators and undersecretaries that tend to be the point people and experts on specific industry issues.

Top lobbying goals for the American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, include asking the Obama administration to undo any rules the outgoing Bush administration adopts to try to limit lawsuits. It wants Congress and Obama to outlaw mandatory binding arbitration in consumer contracts and reverse a Supreme Court decision making it harder for consumers to sue the makers of FDA-regulated medical devices.

The American Medical Association’s Washington office communicated with both presidential campaigns and now is talking to Obama’s transition team about key issues such as Medicare reimbursement, preventive health care and the uninsured, said its incoming president, Dr. Jim Rohack, a physician in Temple, Texas.

Though Democrats control Congress, AMA lobbyists won’t ignore Republicans, Rohack said, noting that Senate Democrats lack a filibuster-proof 60 votes. The Financial Services Roundtable plans to do the same.

Some lobbyists are now seeing people they worked with in government years ago back in positions of power. Dan Glickman, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America, was agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton, whose administration is being tapped by Obama for expertise as he prepares to take office.

Others are not so well-positioned with Obama’s team, and are making their views known through other channels.

The NRA, which endorsed McCain, is lobbying sympathetic congressional Democrats to try to head off any move toward new gun controls. When it comes to lobbying Obama’s transition team, “we’re talking to whoever we know who talks to them,” LaPierre said.

The current climate will make it difficult for new Republican lobbyists, but could prove lucrative for those who represent business.

Wright Andrews, a former Democratic congressional aide who lobbies on banking issues, said the power shift will require Republican lobbyists to hunker down, working at the margins of legislation to make modest changes and forming coalitions between GOP lawmakers and conservative Democrats to play a more defensive game.

“We are looking at more government regulation,” Andrews said.

“I would certainly expect that after many people see the new administration’s agendas and proposals, they will come clamoring to K Street, saying, ‘Save us.’ You will see business interests socked like they haven’t been in a long time.”

WASHINGTON – Party officials say the Democratic National Committee has a $15 million debt in the wake of the Nov. 4 election.

The party took out loans to cover a surge of expenditures in the final weeks of the campaign. President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, issued an e-mail appeal for contributions Wednesday to help the party committee get out of the red.

Plouffe wrote: “Our friends at the Democratic National Committee laid it all on the line to bring change this year. We’ve been reviewing the books, and the DNC went into considerable debt to secure victory for Barack and Joe. It took unprecedented resources to staff up all 50 states, train field organizers, and build the technology to reach as many swing voters as possible.”

A number of losing Republican candidates in last week’s election are blaming their defeats on Democrats who voted a straight ticket ballot.

The reality is that Republican voters chose a straight ticket in almost the same proportion as Democratic voters.

There are 4,870,261 voters in North Carolina registered with one of the two major political parties. Of those 2,867,453 are registered Democrats, or 58.9 percent.

In last week’s election 2,128,983 voters cast a straight ticket either for the Democrats or Republicans (Libertarians are excluded from this analysis.) Of the major party straight ticket voters 1,264,076 were Democrats, or 59.4 percent.

So Democrats make up 58.9 percent of major party registrants and made up 59.4 percent of major party straight ticket voters. That paltry disparity is a lacking excuse for why Republicans lost major offices, particularly given that candidates in low information races like Steve Troxler and Cherie Berry were able to weather the tide.

ATLANTA - There’s word that political operatives who worked on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign are heading to Georgia to help Democrats secure a hotly contested Senate seat.

That’s according to two Democrats, who say about 100 Obama operatives will help Jim Martin with grass-roots efforts ahead of next month’s runoff against incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Obama’s vaunted grass roots operation is credited with playing a pivotal role in his winning the White House.

John McCain is also getting involved. He’ll be in Georgia to stump for Chambliss on Thursday. It will be McCain’s first campaign event since losing the race for the White House.

Neither Chambliss nor Martin got enough votes to pull above the necessary 50 percent plus one. Chambliss is just short, with 49.8 percent. Martin, a former state lawmaker from Atlanta, has 46.8 percent.