Wednesday, December 19, 2001
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Wednesday, December 19, 2001 |
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Irvin brings Senate campaign to Fayette By DAVE
HAMRICK
While most political candidates these days are looking for "face time" on television, Bob Irvin is looking for "face-to-face" time with voters. "I'm going to campaign in person as much as I possibly can," said Irvin last week as he prepared to meet with voters in Fayette County to ask them to help put him in the U.S. Senate. "Everybody knows a TV ad is spun," said the Republican state representative from north Fulton County. "Plus it's a one-way connection you can't ask any questions." Though admitting he won't eschew advertising entirely, Irvin said he is setting up meetings in every county in the state to talk to, and listen to, local voters. At every stop, he said, he is asking one question: "What would you like your U.S. senator to work on?" Fayette is his third stop, but already Irvin said a pattern is emerging in the answers he is getting to that question. "Taxes, transportation especially in metro Atlanta and economic development outside metro Atlanta," he said, adding, "There's also a lot of concern about education." Irvin is taking on Max Cleland, Georgia's affable, popular senator and Vietnam War hero. Democrat Cleland has been targeted by Georgia Republicans as vulnerable in the 2002 elections. "I think Max is vulnerable," Irvin said, "simply because his voting record is too liberal for Georgia." In earlier campaigns, Irvin said, Cleland "told people he would be like Sam Nunn." But Cleland's "party unity score," assigned by the magazine Congressional Quarterly, "runs 80 percent or higher every year," said Irvin. That's compared with Nunn's score of 60, and junior Sen. Zell Miller's 25, he added. But before he can challenge Cleland, Irvin must defeat south Georgia U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss for the Republican nomination. His criticism of his Republican opponent is similar to his criticism of Cleland. "He has a party unity score even higher than Max's," said Irvin. "I really think what the people of the state want is someone who makes up his own mind ... someone who is independent." Irvin said he decided to run for the Senate to try and do something about federal interference in Georgia affairs. Having served in the state House for three terms in the '70s, and then again from 1993 to the present, Irvin said he is all too familiar with the problem. "Every issue I've been interested in, sooner or later you run up against a federal wall," he said. Metro Atlanta's current transportation problems are a perfect example, he said. "We're spending $50 billion on a long range transportation plan, and everybody involved in it knows that when it's completed traffic congestion is going to be 50 percent worse than today," he said. "The reason," he added, "is you've got federal bureaucrats trying to design a plan in Washington, and that's true on a lot of issues." While admitting he can't single-handedly solve all the problems, Irvin said what's most important is to have a senator who will push hard. "Other states have gotten them [federal agencies] to back off," he said. "What you need is an elected official who will take an interest in the issue and work on it every day." Irvin grew up in Roswell, the son of a veterinarian. He is a graduate and valedictorian of the Lovett School, and a graduate of the College of William and Mary. He has a law degree from Emory University and practiced in Atlanta for five years. He then went to Harvard Business School and earned a masters in business administration, and for 21 years has been in management consulting. He and wife, Lynn, live in Atlanta.
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