My favorite Democrat, part 10

Jimmy Carter has called Zell Miller’s appointment to the Senate by former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes “one of the worst mistakes” Barnes made, saying that Miller “betrayed all the basic principles that I thought he and I and others shared.” (After his appointment Miller was elected to complete the term of deceased Senator Paul Coverdell.) To have earned Carter’s disapproval in this manner is a great badge of merit.
The AP story adds that Miller devotes a chapter of his new book to analyzing why Carter won the presidential race in 1976 and lost in 1980. “‘This Georgian, who had generated so much regional pride, saw his Southern base decimated…Some Southerners would say he forgot where he came from. Others would say it was the magic of Ronald Reagan. I say it was because after campaigning as a new kind of Democrat, he governed too much like an old one.”
Miller refused to respond in kind to Carter’s comments, calling him a friend of more than 40 years. “And over those 40-plus years, I bet I’ve received about two dozen personal notes from Jimmy Carter,” Miller said. “Half of them are giving me hell, and the other half are bragging on me. So, I figure I’m doing OK batting .500 with Jimmy Carter.”

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