Then again, Barksdale himself admits time after time that he’s not all-in on his Senate bid, noting, "I was not the likeliest candidate. If anyone else had gotten involved that I thought I was credible, I would’ve certainly let them carry the water instead of me."
In Georgia, Democrats don’t offer their best in battle to retake Senate
CNN | By Theodore Schleifer
…
For national Democrats, Barksdale’s disappointing bid is part of a broader trend facing the party that came into 2016 with a favorable map of Senate races.
…
And here in Georgia, a half-dozen prominent Democrats passed on challenging Isakson, a decision that some in the party now rue.
…
The problem, revealed in a walk along this city’s historically African-American Sweet Auburn neighborhood: People don’t know who he is.
"Black dude?" asked Paul Jones, a registered Democrat sitting on a ledge outside an abandoned park here, asked about the white Barksdale. "Oh, no, I don’t know him."
Some here do know Isakson, and he is a revered figure in some pockets of Georgia’s middle class. At a major Republican call center in Isakson’s home base of Cobb County last week, nearly everyone calling on his behalf have some personal relationship with the two-term senator — whether they teach his granddaughter at Sunday school or write to his personal email every few weeks.
And a trio of prominent Democrats, former US Sen. Sam Nunn, former Gov. Roy Barnes, and current US Rep. David Scott have all publicly backed Isakson, snubbing their own nominee.
…
The list of grievances among Georgians against Barksdale is long: the time conservative radio ridiculed him for misspelling ‘judgment’ on his campaign website; his sparse public event and interview schedule, stripping him of needed exposure; and his inability to effectively consolidate the Democratic base.
Barksdale is further to the left than the centrist Senate bid waged by Michelle Nunn in 2014, who was thought to be a good ideological fit for Georgia despite being walloped in an open-seat contest.
His calling card — the cotton Bailey flat caps that he wears each day — has drawn criticism as well from Georgia power brokers.
"I get a lot of compliments on it," he said. "Everybody was worried that it wouldn’t appeal within the, let’s call it, minority communities — but it really does."
…
Isakson, for his part, takes some credit for the Democrats’ A-team declining to challenge him. "I’ve made a lot of friends. And I try to represent all the people when I’m in office," he said in an interview. "I’m grateful they decided to stay where their careers were."
…
"I was not the likeliest candidate," Barksdale said. "If anyone else had gotten involved that I thought I was credible, I would’ve certainly let them carry the water instead of me."