How sweet it is.

The crow, I mean. The crow

I'm eating after I wrongly predicted last week that Cleland and Barnes

would win their races against Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Sonny Perdue.

Seldom has the infamous fowl

tasted so good to one who is so pleased to be wrong, this time.

The postmortems have been interesting,

but entirely composed of guesswork, since exit poll information still

is unavailable. In that spirit of guesswork masquerading as informed punditry,

I modestly offer my contribution to the growing pool of ignorance.

So, who was surprised at Roi

Roy's unceremonious shellacking? Everybody, including Sonny Perdue.

Pre-election polling failed

to uncover the residual tide of anti-Barnes anger. No one really knows

how many folks voted against Barnes compared to how many voted

for Perdue. I'd guess a lot.

Note that Democrat Mark Taylor

easily won reelection as lieutenant governor. If last week's voting had

marked a true Republican tide, Taylor would have been swept from office

as well.

But give Perdue credit: He

seized the moment, prodding conservative Democrat fence-sitters to change

parties, or at least allegiance, guaranteeing a GOP-controlled state Senate

for the first time since Yankee troops were garrisoned in the conquered

territory of Georgia.

I'll be frank: I did not think

to see a GOP governor of Georgia in my lifetime. But with the clarity

of hindsight, the lack of Democrat bench depth is remarkable.

After Barnes, there is really

no state-weight Democrat in view. Tom Murphy got tossed, leaving second-tier

Demos in a scramble for control of the House of Representatives. East

Georgia powerhouse Charles Walker, and his son, went down to defeat.

That dearth of powerful Democrats

may explain the AJC's mournful approbation of Secretary of State Cathy

Cox for her steady handling of the state's first-ever exercise in electronic

voting. The leftist center of Georgia sees Cox as the most likely successor

to the fallen guv after Barnes' failed attempt to institutionalize Democrat

voting districts in his raw-power demonstration of gerrymandering last

winter. Consider that editorial as the AJC anointing of Cox for governor

next cycle.

Can a woman win back the governor's

mansion for the Democrats? We're likely to find out in four years.

Redistricting