Victorious Chambliss Looks for Bigger Role in GOP

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., gestures as he speaks during an election-night party Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Atlanta. Chambliss defeated Democrat Jim Martin in a run off.

(John Bazemore/AP Photo)

A double digit win in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff could make Saxby Chambliss a star in a Republican party hungry for fresh leadership. Just weeks ago, he was battling for political survival after neither he nor his Democratic opponent got more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election, forcing Tuesday's runoff, which Chambliss won handily.

Now, with his party searching for new leaders and a new identity, he could gain a prominent national profile, political experts said.

Chambliss, 65, will return for a second term in Washington, this time as a self-proclaimed firewall against President-elect Barack Obama and his Democratic agenda.

His win — which denied Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate majority — was a rare bit of good news for Republicans, reeling this year after ceding more seats in Congress and losing the White House. He beat Democrat Jim Martin 57 percent to 43 percent.

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"He's looked upon as the one bright spot for Republicans this election cycle," said Brian Darling, director of Senate Relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. "Chambliss winning this runoff by such a significant margin is a sign that not all is lost for Republicans. They still have a heartbeat. The party will remember that."

Chambliss acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday that the runoff has boosted his national stature. That, combined with his rising seniority in the Senate's depleted GOP ranks, will give him a louder voice.

Already he was offering his tattered party advice, saying his victory proves the GOP needs to get back to its conservative roots.

"The basic principles that Ronald Reagan talked about in the '80s are just as important today," Chambliss said. "If we return to those basic core values we can continue to be successful in future elections."

He said he expects his runoff campaign, which emphasized a meat-and-potatoes GOP menu of low taxes, small government, gun rights and opposition to abortion, to be a model for Republicans trying to regroup in 2010.