Instapundit linked earlier to this fine Michael Barone analysis of why Cynthia Mckinney lost and how it was different from the race that brought down Bob Barr. The interesting thing was his speculation at the end:
“The only possible bad news here is that McKinney has said she may run for the Senate in 2004. The seat that is up is currently held by Zell Miller, who never really wanted to be a senator anyway (he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the unexpected death of Republican Paul Coverdell) and who turns 72 in 2004; he is widely expected to retire. Miller would obviously clobber McKinney in a primary, but she could conceivably finish first in a multicandidate primary. She would lose the runoff, of course.”
I suppose she would, but if the Georgia GOP would have one heckuva golden opportunity if she didn’t. Note Barone’s calculation that McKinney, even running against an African-American liberal Democrat, drew just 5% of the white vote in the primary. With those odds, nearly anyone’s a good bet to beat her. Know any ambitious, young, retired Georgia Republicans who might be itching for a new challenge by 2004? And boy, wouldn’t that be an entertaining campaign.