As neither candidate in the Georgia Senate race received enough votes on November 4th to win outright the race will now be decided by a runoff, scheduled for December 2nd. The outcome of this runoff is critically important for several reasons.

The Republican incumbent, Senator Saxby Chambliss, is one of the most conservative serving US politicians. Saxby Chambliss is against comprehensive sex education, vehemently pro-life, anti-gay, has an abysmal civil rights record, and is the biggest proponent of a regressive flat tax in the Senate. On the stump Chambliss encouraged his predominately white Georgian audiences to get out and vote with racially charged scare tactics, warning that as a result of Obama's influence "those other folks" were already voting in record numbers.

Chambliss won his seat in 2002 partially as a result of an infamous ad comparing his Democratic opponent, war hero and triple-amputee Max Cleland, to Osama Bin Ladin. "Saxby Chambliss won his Senate seat in the final days by putting my picture next to Osama bin Laden and lying about me. It was despicable, but it worked," wrote Cleland. "This year, we can't let Chambliss use the same vile tactics to defeat Democratic challenger Jim Martin."

More important still, the outcome of this runoff could determine the fate of the many key progressive issues which will be under consideration over the next two years. In the last session of Congress important legislation was passed in the House but defeated in the Senate by the threat of Republican filibuster, including bills dealing with renegotiating prescription drug prices, reunionizing the workforce, creating new (democratic) congressional seats for DC, and progressive components of the bailout program. Each new democratic seat in the Senate greatly increases the chances of these measures finally passing.

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Because of the compressed timeframe and high stakes this race could be even more intense than the original election. Already McCain and possibly Palin, Romney, Huckabee, and Guliani have committed to campaigning for Chambliss, while Obama has begun producing ads for Martin. Additionally, turnout in special elections is always lower than in regular elections, so rallying the base will be even more important. Unfortunately after his last race Martin is almost out of money with which to do this.

This runoff is remarkable because of where Martin is running, what he stands for, who he is running against, and what his election would mean for the progressive agenda in America. For all these reasons please consider making a donation at http://www.martinforsenate.com/