Jimmy Carter's grandson runs for Georgia governor

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This was published 9 years ago

Jimmy Carter's grandson runs for Georgia governor

By Peter Foster

Atlanta, Georgia: He was the little-known peanut farmer who used his toothy charm to get elected as governor of the southern state of Georgia, then upset the political establishment to win the presidency of the United States.

Now, more 40 years after Jimmy Carter embarked on the course that took him to the White House, his Democrat grandson is creating a stir as he takes his first steps in what supporters hope will be the same direction.

All smiles: Jason Carter, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia.

All smiles: Jason Carter, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia.Credit: New York Times

Jason Carter, who made his name as a liberal lawyer defending minorities' right to vote, is running to become the state's governor - against a Republican incumbent who was investigated for alleged ethics violations and made a hash of handling a freak snowstorm last winter.

At a school in the state capital of Atlanta, history could be heard softly repeating itself last week as Mr Carter encouraged his audience to throw out his opponent and entrust the state's affairs to him.

Jason Carter speaks with supporters.

Jason Carter speaks with supporters.Credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Even if you did not know he is the grandson of America's 39th president, more than a hint of the family genes shines though in the broad and yet bashful smile. It was a similar toothy grin that helped to inflict a surprise defeat on the big names in the Democrat presidential primaries of 1976, ultimately propelling the older Carter to the White House - as an honest antidote to the Machiavellian scheming of Richard Nixon, and to the horrors of Vietnam.

It is far too early to talk seriously about the young Mr Carter seeking national office, but after announcing his campaign for governor this year the comparisons have been inevitable in a country that has a weakness for the politics of dynasty.

The theme of his campaign last week was education, and when Mr Carter - a father of two - stepped up to a microphone to attack his Republican opponent for cutting funds to the government schooling system, he did so softly, with long Southern vowels.

He spoke in the same determined but understated manner seen in the old cine films of his grandfather's campaigns that play over at the Carter Presidential Library, less than five kilometres from the venue for the day's rally. "It matters that the state government does its job," he said. "And right now the state government is not doing its job. This governor, over and over, is trading in tomorrow for today."

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President Jimmy Carter while in office in 1977.

President Jimmy Carter while in office in 1977.

At just 39, the candidate is - as a member of the local press corps sagely observed - "pretty green", but even so his bid to become the first Democrat governor of Georgia in more than a decade is far from hopeless. Polls suggest that the combination of an unpopular and ageing Republican opponent and Georgia's shifting demographics gives him an outside shot at winning.

An average of recent polls shows him running pretty much neck-and-neck with his opponent, thanks in part to the influx of young Hispanic and African-American voters.

Telegraph, London

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