Obama aides heading to Georgia

updated 12:38 p.m. ET Nov. 11, 2008

ATLANTA - Aides who worked in Barack Obama's presidential campaign are heading to Georgia to help Jim Martin in his hotly contested Senate runoff, two Democrats close to Martin's campaign said Tuesday.

The sources, speaking only on condition of anonymity on a matter of campaign strategy, said the Obama field operatives will help with Martin's grass roots turnout in the three weeks left before a Dec. 2 runoff against incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. They stressed that the campaign is still staffed primarily with Georgia volunteers.

Obama's vaunted grass roots operation is credited with playing a pivotal role in his winning the White House.

Martin's campaign has asked Obama to pay a visit but hasn't received any commitment yet.

Former GOP presidential candidate John McCain will be in Georgia on Thursday stumping for Chambliss. It will be McCain's first foray back onto the campaign trail since losing the White House.

McCain won Georgia with 52 percent of the vote to Obama's 47 percent.

A runoff in Georgia will not become official until Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel certifies election results later this week. Neither Chambliss nor Martin garnered enough ballots to pull above the necessary 50 percent plus one of the vote. Chambliss is just short, with 49.8 percent. Martin, a former state lawmaker from Atlanta, has 46.8 percent. The race also included Libertarian Allen Buckley, who drew 3.4 percent.

But Chambliss and Martin aren't wasting any time. They have been in full campaign mode in recent days and the bruising attack ads that marked the general election campaign have begun flooding the television airwaves again.

The Georgia race is one of three unresolved Senate contests nationwide, along with Minnesota and Alaska. All involve Republican incumbents. If Democrats capture all three, it would give them a 60-seat majority in the Senate, a margin needed to block Republican filibusters.

Georgia's last Senate runoff was in 1992 when Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler earned more votes on the general election but went on to lose to Republican Paul Coverdell in a runoff.

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