Pres. Jimmy Carter to campaign for grandson on Sunday

Former President Jimmy Carter (D) is set to campaign for his grandson Jason Carter, the Democratic candidate for Georgia Goveor, this Sunday, Oct. 12, at a church in Albany, along with his grandson and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga).

Both Carters and Bishop will speak to the congregation just one day before early voting starts in Georgia, and a little over three weeks ahead of the Nov. 4^th Election Day.

The former president, who was also Georgia’s one-term 76th goveor, has stayed out of the public eye throughout his grandson’s campaign. He hosted a fundraiser and made fundraising calls, but has not campaigned.

The younger Carter has been polling neck and neck with his opponent Republican Goveor Nathan Deal.  A strong tuout is essential for Democrats in 2014 who usually work with significantly lower numbers of their voters during midterms.

Since the Georgia gubeatorial race is so close, it is most likely going to be decided in a Dec. 2^nd runoff, and that’s without the third party candidate Libertarian Andrew Hunt. Hunt’s supporters are most likely to cross over to Deal or not vote at all, so Hunt’s exit works against Carter.

Albany’s population is over 70 percent African-American and it is in a historically black area of the state.  The tuout of the black population in Georgia is crucial to Democrats this year. The party is organizing tu-out-the-vote drives all over the state, and some black churches are supposed to be involved in bussing people to polling places.

Jimmy Carter was the 39^th U.S. president, and served just one term before losing to Ronald Reagan (R).  Carter is also a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his human rights work via his Atlanta-based Carter Center.  

But the former president has often made statements critical of Israel in its ongoing conflict with Palestine, and believes that Hamas should be recognized as a legitimate political group in the region.  These are probably the main reasons why he’s not campaigned more for his grandson.

Jason Carter distanced himself from his grandfather’s views, saying that Israel ”has a right to defend itself from Hamas’ terrorist actions. But the elder Carter is likely to get involved on the campaign trail only at events without media presence, such as the one at the Albany church, to avoid the Israel issue.