Blogging for Max

We have had tons of request from all over to provide ANY information on the current standing of the 12th District race. So here is what we know:

Right now we are waiting on all 22 county officials and Secretary of State Cathy Cox to certify the election results. The deadline for certification is tomorrow, so we should know in the next 24 to 36 hours.

At that point, the difference will be so close (probably within 500 votes) that it will force an automatic recount, which should begin by Friday. From there, we have no idea how long the recount takes or what happens next and we do not want to speculate.

We will let you know when we have more.

The SoS site is reporting eight of the nine unaccounted for precincts from Effingham County. Of a total of 10,726 votes, Max Burns has 7,993 votes (73.96 percent) and Barrow has 2,793 (26.04 percent). This leaves one precinct in Effingham unaccounted for. We are also not sure if the situation with the sealed ballots is fully resolved.

The final precinct from Washington County has also been reported. Burns won a total of 2,431 votes (46.39 percent) and Barrow won 2,809 votes (53.61 percent).

This means that with nine precincts and absentee ballots still withstanding, and 97.42 percent of the vote reported, Burns trails by 1,077 votes with 49.62 percent of the total vote to Barrow’s 50.38 percent.

If our previous numbers hold up, then Burns will have a net gain of roughly 438 votes from the remaining nine precincts. That would leave Barrow only about 600 votes up; or a difference of four-one-hundredths of one-percent. Once you add absentee ballots, then this election can certainly still swing either way.

But again, our numbers could be off and are only averages from the SoS site’s official reports.

We’ll continue to keep you updated.

We have been crunching a few numbers and trying to sort out some of this mess. Barring the possibility of a recount (which is likely) this is what we have:

The SoS site shows 94.84 percent of precincts reported. Of that, Max Burns has 66,186 votes (48.83 percent) and John Barrow has 69,360 votes (51.17 percent). There are 18 precincts that have still not reported. Nine of those precincts are the sealed ballot boxes in Effingham County and the other nine are: one in Bulloch, one in Emanuel, one in Jefferson, one in Johnson, one in Montgomery, one in Richmond, one in Toombs, one in Warren and one in Washington.

This gives Barrow a 3,174 vote lead with at least 7,000 votes unaccounted for. We are also hearing that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 absentee ballots to be counted across the district, and those traditionally break Republican. So we’ll break this down further:

Effingham: Based on the 14 reported precincts from Effingham County, there are an average of 427 votes per precinct. From that we can estimate that there should be roughly 3,843 votes in the nine sealed ballot boxes. Max Burns won 74.57 percent of the total 14-precinct Effingham vote. Based on these numbers, Burns wins about 2,866 votes and Barrow nabs 977. If we add these numbers to the total, Burns is only down 1,285 votes.

The Other Nine: These are a little easier to call. Of the nine counties still unreported, Richmond and Jefferson were the only ones that showed Burns under 60 percent. We’ll use the SoS numbers to estimate the total number of votes in each precinct still withstanding.

Bulloch went 65.16 percent Burns. The lone holdout precinct should hold about 701 votes, based on the 17 reported Bulloch precincts. If 65 percent go to Burns, then he gets 457 votes and Barrow gets 244. Burns picks up 213 votes and trails by 1072 votes.

Emanuel went 63.17 percent Burns. Based on turnout from the 15 reported precincts, the one remaining precinct should have give-or-take 312 votes. That means 197 votes for Burns and 115 for Barrow. Burns picks up 82 votes and trails by 990 votes.

Jefferson went 53.66 percent Barrow. Using the nine reported precincts, the unreported precinct should contain roughly 499 votes. Burns should get 232 votes and Barrow 267 votes. Barrow picks up 35 votes and Burns then trails by 1,025 votes.

Johnson went 60.23 percent Burns. Based on the eight reported precincts, the calculations show about 252 votes in the holdout precinct. Burns wins 151 votes and Barrow 101. The net gain of 50 votes put Burns down 975 votes.

Montgomery went 60.75 percent Burns. From the eight reported precincts we can estimate that there should be roughly 237 votes outstanding. Of those, 143 go to Burns and 94 to Barrow. That puts Burns down 926 votes.

Richmond went 64.75 percent Barrow. Using the data from the 43 tallied precincts, the lone withstanding precinct should hold about 610 votes. Of those, 215 would be Burns’ and 395 would go to Barrow. Barrow nets 180 votes and Burns thus trails by 1,106 votes.

Toombs went 65.48 percent Burns. That leaves an estimated 355 votes in the unreported precinct. Burns would win 232 of those, Barrow 123. Burns then trails by 997 votes.

Warren went 52.42 percent Barrow. Using the data from the seven reported precincts, there are about 218 votes in the unaccounted-for precinct. Burns wins 104 votes, Barrow gets 114 votes. Burns then trails by 1,007 votes.

Washington went 52.85 percent Barrow. With nine of 10 precincts reported, the data suggests 533 votes in the remaining precinct. Burns gains 251 votes to Barrow’s 282. That means that after all 18 precincts are accounted for, based on all these numbers, Burns trails by 1,038 votes.

TOTAL: This total is EXTREMELY CLOSE and does not account for absentee ballots, which we have estimated at, give-or-take, 4,000. Burns would only need to win 2,519 of those 4,000 votes, or 63 percent, to force an ABSOLUTE tie. Absentee ballots traditionally favor Republicans, so if the above numbers hold up, it will come down to absentees.

Note: These numbers and estimates are all based on what has been reported thus far and are only averages based on said reported data. We have no idea which 18 precincts these are and how close to the averages they will go. The Richmond precinct could be in the southern part of the county which is more favorable to Burns. Or it could be in the inner-city which favor Barrow. Our numbers for the nine non-Effingham precincts should be pretty close to the eventual numbers, but again, it depends on which nine precincts we’re dealing with. A good showing for either side in Effingham would also swing it either way.

The bottom-line here is that this race is STILL a dead-heat. Either side can still win, and a recount is likely in the future. We will keep you updated when we hear anything more.

We just wanted to let everyone know that we will be LIVE-BLOGGING from the Victory Celebration tonight. Blogging for Max will cover all the breaking Election Night news from the 12th District race AS IT HAPPENS! Our coverage will begin when the polls close at 7 p.m., so log-on to www.bloggingformax.com and keep refreshing your browser for the best up-to-the-minute coverage of the 12th.

It is now officially the BIG DAY, and we would like to be the first to wish you a Happy Election Day! It’s going to be a long one for us - one that hopefully ends in a BIG WIN - and we encourage each and every American to get out and vote. As for us, we hope that our hard work helped in some way with Max’s hard-fought campaign and that tonight will be a celebration for the ages.

We will be helping with the GOTV effort all day and then we will head over to the Victory Celebration at the Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro.

But for now, we offer you our official Election Day flier (click on the image below for a larger version):

Updated: 10/31/2006, 9:42 am

STATESBORO, Ga. - We have eight days left. That’s it. And today was one for the ages. It was a day the 12th district will not soon forget. The Max Burns base is recharged, fired-up and ready to get the job done. We have to get Max back to the House of Representatives… so let’s do it!

As everyone likely knows, President Bush visited Hanner Field House at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro today. We were hoping to file a story after the event, but instead whisked up to Atlanta for the final debate of the election. (All the hard-news was covered by the networks and cable news, so if we do write a piece it will be a feature.) So this brief “journal entry” will have to suffice until we can file anything. We will also add some of our photos from the President’s visit to this post sometime tomorrow.

The morning kick-started with a rally in Statesboro. Doors opened at 8 am. By the time President Bush took the stage around 11 am, the place was ELECTRIC. It had an aura comparable to a rock concert - not a political event. Before a packed-house of more than 5,000 screaming Burns backers, Max and Gov. Sonny Perdue welcomed the president.

The house lights dimmed, the stage lights perforated the arena and Van Halen’s “Right Now” opened as Max said, “Please give a warm Georgia welcome to the President of the United States, George W. Bush.” The energy of that moment was indescribable.

President Bush hit on a lot of issues ranging from gay marriage to illegal immigration to agriculture and of course, the War in Iraq. Bush was quick to remind the packed house that Max Burns was the right choice next Tuesday.

“Max knows what it takes to be a United States Congressman, because he’s done it before,” Bush said. “He understands Georgia values, because he was born and raised in this district, and he still lives on a family farm outside Sylvania.

“I’ve been in Washington long enough to know that it makes sense to have people who live on a family farm in the halls of the United States Congress.”

Oh, and Sonny wore cowboy boots to the event. COWBOY BOOTS! We thought that was pretty cool. “Sonny has got him a pair of boots he can be proud of,” President Bush noted to the crowd as Perdue raised his left foot in the air. “By the way, it makes me feel comfortable to be a in a state where your governor wears cowboy boots.”

Being that rally was held at GSU, the president noted Max’s educational background. “I appreciate the fact that Max was a teacher. As a matter of fact, he taught right here at Georgia Southern,” Bush said. “I hope he gave a few of the students As.

“And for those of you who did get an A, you might as well vote for him.”

Following the event, the president stayed in the ‘Boro and headed to the Statesboro Inn for an interview with Sean Hannity. The entire segment will air as a three part series over as many nights on the FoxNews Network’s “Hannity & Colmes” at 9 pm ET. Part one aired tonight.

We were not at the Hannity interview, but heard it is excellent. We instead left Hanner and headed to Atlanta for the final 12th district debate of the cycle. It began at 7 pm and aired live on Georgia Public Broadcasting. The Atlanta Press Club, who hosted the event, should have the video added to their 2006 political debate archive by tomorrow.

In the meantime, we can tell you that Max looked very good. He was comfortable, versatile and, unlike his opponent, did an excellent job of addressing the issues rather than responding with vague generalizations and blanket statements. Barrow looked flustered at times and, as usual, spoke like an auctioneer on 12 pots of coffee (i.e. “re-examining and re-re-examining and re-re-re-examining”). And Max showed his true candor by turning and facing Barrow when asking a question or as Barrow spoke. Barrow never once looked away from the camera.

So we logged a lot of hours today - from 7 am when folks started lining up outside of Hanner, to 12 am when we finally made it back from Atlanta. And we plan to log long hours over the next eight days to get Max back!

We will hopefully file something more on this eventful day, when/if sleep no longer eludes us.

Update: 10/31/2006, 9:10 pm - You can view the debate in Windows Media Player by clicking here.

Just a reminder:

We have all of the campaign advertisements up and running on the videos page. Just click the link at the top of the site. We will be adding Max’s campaign ads as they are released for Internet use.

Five years ago today the world changed. America was attacked, and the course of human history was forever altered. As we solemnly mark the five-year anniversary of September 11, 2001 and reflect upon the heartbreaking events of that awful day, we must reaffirm our sincere promise that “We will never forget.”

We will never forget the heroes of Flight 93. We will never forget the valor of first responders who rushed into the World Trade Center buildings time and time again – many sacrificing their own lives to save others. We will never forget those who simply went to work in the twin towers and never made it home. We will never forget those lost at the Pentagon. We will never forget the innocent people who boarded four flights that would never arrive at their destinations.

And we will never forget the courageous men and women of our armed forces and law enforcement, past, present and future, who continue to protect us from ever having to experience a tragedy like that again.

We will never forget those who lost their lives that day. Today - and every day - we remember their sacrifice.

As you join with us in remembering, as you too mourn and as you too honor the victims that died five years ago today, please join us in once again promising that “We will never forget.”

May God bless us all, and God bless America.

Yep… Blogging for Max now has a page on MySpace.  Check us out!

And be sure to add us as a friend and we’ll probably accept… unless you’re John Barrow… actually, once he concedes in November he can be our friend too… what the heck!

We’re still open for business, and all of our content and comments are still up, but bear with us as we work on the site’s look in order to bring you the best BloggingforMax.com we possibly can!

… We apologize that the site is not formatting properly on certain posts.  We are working on fixing the problem.  If you switch to Mozilla Firefox, or most other browsers, you should be able to properly view the site.

Today, Bloggers for Burns, the grassroots organization that owns and operates BloggingforMax.com, issued a letter to

Athens Congressman John Barrow, which was delivered at his open house tonight, along with some other regional

goodies, satirically welcoming the freshman Democrat to Georgia’s 12th U.S. Congressional District.

Here is the letter, in its entirety. A press release will be issued later tonight:

Congressman John Barrow
Friends of John Barrow
P.O. Box 8166
Savannah, GA 31412

Dear Congressman Barrow:

It is an unusual state of affairs – the one in which we now find ourselves – that affords us this opulent occasion to

welcome you, via your extravagant Savannah open house, to Georgia’s picturesque 12th U.S. Congressional District.

We, your charitable constituency, have anticipated this blissful moment for nearly 19 months now and rejoice with you

that your Election Day advent is at last upon us.

Your decision to leave the Athens-Clarke Hot Stove League and garnish the people of the 12th with a sliver of

Congressional representation could not come at a better time. Apparently, representative Democracy is the new “city on

a hill” and the 12th District voters are clamoring for its institution!

But we understand that this strenuous transition will be difficult and the alien surroundings of Southeast

Georgia might be, at first, disconcerting. So we would like to offer you a précis of the 12th; a glimpse of the heart of the

district – an area that you may have, perhaps, “overlooked.”

We will start our tour with your new “home,” Savannah. Founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe, the “Hostess City” is

well known for its hospitality and history. By the 1830’s, because it was a bustling port for cotton, Savannah was one of

the largest cities in America.

Airfield. But fret not if you miss these military destinations because, since they tend to vote Republican, they were

gerrymandered out of the 12th and cannot vote against you. Also, while you are visiting Savannah, be sure to stop by

River Street and the Historic District to get a real feel for the face of the city.

The 12th also features an assortment of local specialties. We highly recommend a trip to Claxton in Evans County.

Claxton is known as the “Fruitcake Capital of the World,” but is also highly respected for its poultry.

You may also want to visit Vidalia in Toombs County; renowned throughout the world for its trademark Vidalia Onions.

A trip to the beautiful campus of Georgia Southern University for an autumn football game may also be to your liking.

To assist you in developing a familiarity with the area, – and to exhibit just a few of the treats you can find here – we have

assembled a gift basket that includes a map of and travel brochure for Savannah, a bottle of Braswell’s Vidalia Onion

Steak Sauce, a 2006 GSU football schedule, a Claxton fruitcake, and a few other sundry items to aid in your initial

acquaintance with the district.

So on behalf of BloggingforMax.com, we cordially welcome you to the 12th District and invite you to make yourself at

home… until November anyway. Go gentle into that good night,

Per populus ex derideo,

BLOGGERS FOR BURNS 

Our first press release:

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Bloggers for Burns, an independent grassroots organization today announced the creation of BloggingforMax.com, a web log – or “blog” – featuring news, commentary and other information on the hotly contested 12^th U.S. Congressional District race between Republican Max Burns and Democrat John Barrow. Although the site is not affiliated with the Burns campaign, it was established to support his bid to unseat the incumbent Barrow in the November elections.

“Our campaign is building the broadest-based and most-focused grassroots organization this part of Georgia has ever seen and Blogging for Max is an important part of this effort,” said Burns’ campaign manager Tim Baker. “Max is glad to see young people take the initiative and get involved in the political process.

“This type of campaign will help us reach out to voters, spread Max’s positive, hopeful vision for the new 12^th District and expand the reach of our campaign.”

This year’s race is a rematch of the 2004 election when an unknown Barrow upset then-incumbent Burns. Featuring a newly-drawn district that includes an expanded Democratic voting block in Augusta, the current make-up of the 12^th excludes Barrow’s home base of Athens and Clarke County.

“Blogging for Max is an approach that’s unprecedented in this district and it could help deliver Max a win,” said Adam Fogle, a contributor to the blog. “It shows the renewed spirit of local Republicans who are dedicated to putting the right man in office.”

Because of the re-drawn district and the history between Burns and Barrow, many consider this race to be one of the top U.S. Congressional races to watch this election cycle.

A poll released Wednesday by Public Opinion Strategies showed Burns has pulled even with Barrow. Of the 400 likely voters surveyed, 43 percent said they will vote for Burns, 44 percent for Barrow and 15 percent are undecided. The margin of error was given as plus-or-minus 4 percent.

“We are at the forefront of the campaign covering this as it happens – delivering the people of the 12^th District first-hand information,” said Fogle.

Bloggers for Burns plans to operate the site until the Nov. 7 elections, with more expanded coverage as Election Day draws closer.

For more information on Blogging for Max, go to http://www.bloggingformax.com.

# # #

Blogging for Max’s own KingOfBenHill will be blogging live from the Ken Mehlman event on Friday morning at 8:30 am in the first of many live blogging events throughout the remainder of the campaign on BloggingforMax.com.

So for those of you that cannot attend the event, stop by BloggingforMax.com Friday morning for full coverage on the only web log devoted to covering all the news, events and information you need on the Georgia 12th!

The primaries are tomorrow and that means it’s time for us to start blogging for Max Burns.  For those that don’t know, Max is the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 12th District. This blog will be ground zero for all of your information on this key race - one of the top 10 most heated races of the 2006 election cycle. So buckle-up, get yourself and gear, and prepare yourself for an exciting 111 days!