Zell Miller

Zell Bryan Miller (born February 24, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat he served as Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999 and was a United States Senator from 2000 to 2005. In the last years of his career, he split from his party to back Republican President George W. Bush over contender John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and since 2003 has frequently criticized problems he sees in his own party.

Political career

Miller was the Mayor of Young Harris from 1959 to 1960, and was elected to two terms as a Georgia state senator. In 1964 he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served in several positions in state government and in the Georgia Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
Mayor - 1959 - 1960 - State senator - Democratic Party

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Miller also taught political science and history at Young Harris College, the University of Georgia, and Emory University.

Related Topics:
Political science - Emory University

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Miller's first experience in the executive branch of government was as Chief of Staff for Georgia governor Lester Maddox. He was elected lieutenant governor of Georgia in 1974, serving four terms from 1975 to 1991, through the terms of Governors George Busbee and Joe Frank Harris. In 1980, Miller unsuccessfully challenged Herman Talmadge in the Democratic primary for his seat in the U.S. Senate.

Related Topics:
Chief of Staff - Lester Maddox - Lieutenant governor - 1974 - 1975 - 1991 - George Busbee - Joe Frank Harris - 1980 - Herman Talmadge - U.S. Senate

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Governor

He was elected Governor of Georgia in 1990, defeating the Republican Johnny Isakson who later became his successor as U.S. Senator, after defeating Atlanta mayor Andrew Young in the primary. James Carville was Miller's campaign manager.

Related Topics:
1990 - Republican - Johnny Isakson - Atlanta - Andrew Young - James Carville

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In 1992, Miller endorsed then-Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas for U.S. President. That year, Miller over keynoted the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In two oft-recalled lines, Miller said that then-U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush "just doesn't get it", and of Dan Quayle, "Not all of us can be born rich, handsome, and lucky, and that's why we have a Democratic Party."

Related Topics:
Bill Clinton - Arkansas - Madison Square Garden - New York City - George H.W. Bush

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During his tenure as governor, Miller became known as a strong and staunch promoter of public education. During this time, he helped found the HOPE Scholarship, which paid for the college tuition (paid by funds collected from the Georgia Lottery and from state income taxes) of students who both established a GPA of 3.0 in high school and maintained the same while in college. On Dec. 19th 1995, his office annouced a proposal for $1 billion more in spending on education.

Related Topics:
HOPE Scholarship - GPA

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Miller's biggest election battle came in 1994. In 1992 he became the first Georgia Governor to openly proclaim a desire to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Flag of Georgia. He sponsored legislation to change the flag at the 1993 session of the Georgia General Assembly, but the legislature, perhaps influenced by polls showing consistent majority support for retaining the flag, did not enact any changes. Miller then dropped the issue, but in the election that followed, Miller's Republican rival used the flag issue against the Governor, arguing it proved he was out-of-tune with Georgia's values and history. Miller won reelection, but narrowly.

Related Topics:
1994 - Confederate battle emblem - Flag of Georgia - 1993

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Some have since said that the 1994 election was a key turning-point in Miller's career, arguing it gave him a desire to prove himself a cultural conservative. One cited piece of evidence of this: in the late 1990s through the early 2000s, Miller gradually shifted from being pro-choice to pro-life.

Related Topics:
Conservative - 1990s - 2000s - Pro-choice - Pro-life

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While Governor, he established a special office to promote the use of Facilitated Communications in the schools of Georgia. The rise of sexual abuse cases arising from his controversial efforts eventually brought an end to the program.

Related Topics:
Facilitated Communications - Sexual abuse

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Senate

Miller's successor as governor of Georgia, Roy Barnes, appointed Miller to the Senate seat following the death of Republican senator Paul Coverdell in July 2000. While the Democratic Party's historic control of Georgian politics diminished during his tenure as lieutenant governor and governor, Miller remained popular and easily won his elections, demonstrating his ability to please members of both major parties in Georgia; he easily won a special election to keep the seat in November 2000. As Coverdell was last elected in 1998, Miller had a four-year term in the Senate before his retirement from politics in January 2005, following the conclusion of the 108th United States Congress.

Related Topics:
Roy Barnes - Republican - Paul Coverdell - Election - November 2000 - 1998 - January 2005 - 108th United States Congress

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Although Miller was a Democrat, he was very conservative as a U.S. Senator and was generally viewed as becoming opposed to his party. In 2004, he cosponsored a proposed Constitutional amendment that, if ratified, would have prohibited government, at any level, from recognizing any homosexual domestic partnerships. On Thu. Mar. 11th that year, he introduced legislation that if law would have created a board of "shapers of opinions" (as he called it in his introductory speech) to advise broadcastors on content the government deemed acceptable or unacceptable, and to make automatic reappropriations of some of the revenue generated from media-"indecency" fines to pay for federal services directed through religious establishments. Later that year, he proposed a Constitutional amendment to repeal the 17th Amendment (this would transfer the right to elect U.S. senators from the people back to the state legislatures, as the Founders originally intended, prior to the amendment).

Related Topics:
Conservative - 17th Amendment - State legislature

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During 2001 and 2002, when liberal Republican senators from New England like James Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee threatened to (and in Jeffords' case, did) leave their party over ideological disputes, rumors abounded that Miller would become a Republican in order to return control of the Senate to that party. These rumors were proven false with Miller's declaration, that he was "born a Democrat and will die one." As of 2005, Miller has continued to adhere to this declaration.

Related Topics:
2001 - 2002 - Liberal - Republican - New England - James Jeffords - Lincoln Chafee - Senate - As of 2005

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In 2003, Miller announced that he would not seek reelection after completing his term in the Senate. He also announced that he would support President George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election rather than any of the nine candidates then competing for his own party's nomination, but again denied that he would become a Republican. He did not change this position after fellow Senator John Kerry became the Democratic nominee, and Miller, who had been a keynote speaker at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, was subsequently announced to be the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Related Topics:
2003 - President - George W. Bush - 2004 presidential election - His own party's nomination - John Kerry - 1992 Democratic National Convention - 2004 Republican National Convention

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Miller argued in his book A National Party No More (authored and published in 2003) that the Democratic Party lost its majority because they do not stand for the same ideals that they did in the era of John F. Kennedy. He argued that the Democratic Party, as it now stands, is a far-left-wing party that is out of touch with America of today and that the Republican party now embraces the conservative Democratic ideals that he has held for so long. Many people wondered why Miller had not switched parties in light of his alignment with the Republican Party and opposition to the Democratic Party. Miller says that he was born into the Democratic Party and considers his party label "like a birthmark."

Related Topics:
A National Party No More - John F. Kennedy - Left-wing

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Speech at Republican National Convention

In his keynote convention speech, delivered on September 1, 2004, Miller struck what was regarded by many commentators as the fiercest tone of all the major speakers at the convention. In it, he criticized the current state of the Democratic party. He also criticized John Kerry's Senate voting record, claiming that Kerry's votes against bills for defense and weapon systems indicated support for weakening U.S. military strength. Here is a widely-quoted portion of the speech:

Related Topics:
September 1 - 2004

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"The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom. The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq. The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.

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The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11. I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against. This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?"

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Many convention delegates were enthusiastic about the speech. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported afterwards,

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:"In Georgia's section of the Garden floor, delegates were joined by the state's top Republican leaders, including Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. As Miller strode to the podium, the delegates chanted "Zell, Zell, Zell" and waved red, white and blue handkerchiefs.

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:Carolyn Meadows, a delegate from Cobb County, spoke of what it felt like to finally be able to cheer Georgia's oft-most popular politician.

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:"As a Republican, we never voted for him or supported him, but we always liked him," she said. "Now we love him."

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:"We are over the moon about him being here tonight," said Leslie Mattingly, a delegate and the wife of former U.S. Rep. Mac Mattingly, who joined her on the floor.

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A commentator for US News and World Report compared the speech to the views and ideology of Andrew Jackson.

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Miller's combative reaction to post-speech media interviews received almost as much attention as the speech itself.

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First, in an interview with CNN, Miller had a dispute with Judy Woodruff, Wolf Blitzer and Jeff Greenwell when they questioned him on the discrepancies in his speech. Their points included: that some of the weapons and weapon systems he criticized Kerry for not supporting were outdated and years ago planned for termination; that most of the votes Miller cited were cast in peacetime; and that one of his quotes of Kerry was made about the Vietnam War years ago, not recently about defense in general, as Miller suggested.

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Second, and most famously, Miller appeared in an interview with Chris Matthews on the MSNBC show Hardball. Here, Miller became visibly angry. Matthews attacked the premise of Miller's assertion that Kerry had actually voted against such defense programs by noting that in voting on appropriations bills, senators often vote against a version of a bill without wishing to oppose every item in that bill. Matthews also asked Miller to compare his hyperbolic assertion that a military under Kerry would be armed with only "spitballs" with rhetoric from Democrats that Republicans "want to starve little kids, they want to get rid of education, they want to kill the old people" and whether such level of rhetoric was constructive. When Miller expressed irritation at this line of questioning, Matthews pressed Miller with the question "Do you believe now — do you believe, Senator, truthfully, that John Kerry wants to defend the country with spitballs?" Miller at first said that he wished the interview had been face-to-face so that he could "get a little closer up into your face" and asked him to "get out of my face." Finally, objecting to Matthews's questioning, Miller said, "I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel." (The interview was later parodied on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and by Darrell Hammond and Will Forte on Saturday Night Live.)

Related Topics:
Chris Matthews - MSNBC - Hardball - Duel - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Darrell Hammond - Will Forte - Saturday Night Live

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