A pair of Georgia Democrats are vying for a job tomorrow to take on gangs this Fall. Well, one gang in particular, that is. Okay, maybe just one gang member, and his "gang" isn't even here in Georgia; it's in Washington, D.C.

As Congress gaveled its way into summer vacation last week without taking action on America's energy situation, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) found himself standing with his colleagues in a new "Gang of Ten," a bi-partisan group of Senators looking toward a compromise on developing existing and new energy resources. In order to sweeten the deal for Republicans to support increases in efficiency and research spending on alternatives, the Democrats on the gang are throwing in offshore oil drilling off the coasts of Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas.

Two gentlemen who are somewhat less keen on drilling off the Georgia coast are hoping to reduce this group to a Gang of Nine come November. Vernon Jones and Jim Martin go head-to-head tomorrow, Tuesday August 5, in a runoff election for the Democratic nomination to run against Chambliss in this year's Senate race.

 Vernon Jones (left) and Jim Martin (right) face each other in a runoff election Tuesday.

Would either Democrat's replacement of Chambliss significantly alter the political landscape as far as oil drilling is concerned? While partisan affiliation would suggest that another Senate vote in the left column would lessen momentum toward more holes in the ocean floor, both candidates have been predictably flexible in their public statements. The website OntheIssues.org lists Jones as being supportive of domestic oil drilling as of July 2. However, in an interview with the Macon Telegraph, Jones was more cautious and in line with the party position: "I do not support drilling in [the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve], but I'm open to removing the 1981 off-shore drilling ban after it's been determined that the current unexplored 63 million acres that have already been cleared by the federal government for drilling yield insufficient oil supplies." Geologically speaking, that's a notable caveat about probing the federal lands already under lease, and would certainly delay action on expanded drilling. But from this blogger's perspective, that answer basically falls into the "Nothing is Off the Table" category of responses given by political candidates who are hedging their bets. It is also a step closer to drilling than the answer he gave one month earlier to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Although environmentally safe drilling is an option, I strongly disagree with Bush, McCain and Chambliss to end the 27-year moratorium on offshore drilling."

Martin has said far less in "support" of offshore drilling in Georgia, but that is in part by saying less on the subject altogether. He made no mention at all of offshore drilling in June's Atlanta Journal-Constitution piece, and in talking to the Telegraph, he deferred to the existing leases held by oil companies without coming down on expanding the territory: " Increased drilling may provide some small measure of relief, and I support responsible drilling on the millions of acres of untapped existing leases." In response to an NPR reporter's questionnaire, Martin's answer to a straightforward question, while traditionally Democratic in its environmental tenor, still left political wiggle room: "I believe Georgia's coast is a precious resource and I would not support drilling that would put those unique coastal marshes at risk." Given that pro-drilling advocates are touting the improvements in oil drilling technology that would reduce risk to the coastal environment, Martin's conditional clause about what kind of drilling he would not support suggests he might still hear out their argument.

Both gentlemen also offer the usual rhetoric about developing alternative fuels and ending the tax subsidies to the profit-rich oil companies, although Martin's website offers much more detail on the issues than Jones's. So if standing against drilling is the deciding factor for a Georgia Democrat in deciding which of these men is less like Saxby Chambliss, it will probably come down to a gut check on each man's character. That is where the gang fight comes back to Georgia.

Democratic blogs that oppose Vernon Jones frequently point to a primary sore spot about his party bona fides: in both 2000 and 2004, Jones admittedly voted for George W. Bush. He even donated over $2,000 to the Georgia Republican Party in 2001 to secure tickets to Bush's Inaugural Ball. (And if character is the issue, Jones's opponents might point to questions about his personal lifestyle -- a politician who apparently "boasted" to a reputed local columnist that "there's nothing illegal about a ménage a trois" when facing a "tawdry" scandal about his sexual conduct -- as evidence that he's happy to be in bed with both parties.)

However, in this year of "Change," Jones is wholeheartedly backing Barack Obama, although the feeling may not be mutual. The Obama campaign had to disavow any particular affiliation with the Senate candidate after Jones got called out for using a digitally composited photograph of himself with Obama under the presidential hopeful's slogan, "Yes We Can." Jones's Photoshop faux pas did nothing to hold him back from besting Martin in the primary election last month, 40 to 34 percent, in a fractured field of five candidates. In fact, he is continuing to bring Obama's clout into the runoff election by alleging that Martin did not vote for Obama on Super Tuesday.

Martin, on the other hand, has the endorsements of two of his former opponents, Dale Cardwell and Dr. Rand Knight, who together garnered 21 percent of the vote. He also stands up better against Chambliss in Rasmussen polling.

But numbers are so much less entertaining than innuendo.

The numbers are in favor of the voter, however, as turnout for tomorrow's runoff is predicted to be, well, abysmal. So if you've got the time tomorrow, get out to your polling place! Your vote might be worth as much as Saxby Chambliss's, for all the good Congress is doing on the energy crisis.