In Ga., Palin Campaigns For Chambliss

"Republicans were trying to send Saxby a message," said Rep. Jack Kingston (Ga.), who heard frustration from fellow Republicans about the bailout as he campaigned for Chambliss earlier this year. "They sent that message. Now I think the tone of the race has changed -- it's Obama-Martin versus Saxby and some semblance of keeping the filibuster."

Martin, who has linked Chambliss to President Bush and the economy, is effectively running a second Obama-for-president campaign.

Meeting voters at a subway station in downtown Atlanta yesterday, he repeatedly pledged to "work with the president-elect," while his staffers handed out fliers for a rally with the rapper Ludacris, who grew up in Atlanta, that said "Jim Martin for Senate, Don't Stop With Barack." One of his campaign ads shows footage of Obama's acceptance speech in Chicago's Grant Park as the screen reads "Jim Martin will help him."

Despite McCain's Election Day win in Georgia, his margin was significantly smaller than the 17-point Republican victory in the state four years ago, and Democrats say a strong turnout among African Americans could help Martin win.

But the early vote numbers for the recount have not been promising for the Martin campaign. More than a third of people who voted before the Nov. 4 election were African American, while fewer than a quarter of the early voters for the runoff were black, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.

And Republicans say that the political atmosphere has changed, even though the runoff comes just four weeks after Election Day. "For Democrats, Obama wasn't just a political and philosophical vote, it was a vote of emotional liberation, so the intensity level is not likely to be matched again," Kingston said.

Staff writer Paul Kane in Washington contributed to this report.