Editorial Note: Just to be clear, this is my personal view. At RedState, we would not support the Democrat. In fact, I would not write supportively of the Democrat at all even were Ox the nominee. RedState’s position is and has always been to support the conservative in the primary and the Republican in the general. That’s not changing. But by God I hope people realize just how awful Oxendine is and deny him the GOP nomination in favor of someone who will not be an embarrassment. — Erick

I’ll tell you bluntly, I will vote for former Georgia Governor and potential Democratic nominee Roy Barnes over Republican John Oxendine, Georgia’s Insurance Commissioner now running for Governor. At least with Roy Barnes we’d get no worse than Sonny Perdue and would know honestly what we are getting.

John Oxendine is Georgia’s Rod Blagojevich, complete with bad hair. If the Georgia GOP were to nominate him, the party would be committing suicide.

What I would much prefer is one of the candidates who has always been a Republican. In fact, here at RedState, we have endorsed Georgia’s former Secretary of State, Karen Handel. Nonetheless, I would love to actually see Georgia get a Republican Governor — not just a guy with an “R” next to his name, but a small government, fiscal conservative, who will not wind up embarrassing us through scandal and, more likely than not, impeachment.

I specifically do not want a politically malleable charlatan who will say or do anything to get elected. And that is precisely what I see in Oxendine — a man who woos some with tales of Jesus and others with whatever sort of pandering he can.

Let’s roll the tape.

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Right now the news is breaking across the state that Karen Handel is resigning as Secretary of State to focus solely on the gubernatorial race. Atlanta media outlet WSB just broke the news despite an alleged 2pm embargo on the story.

Given all the ethical issues of the guys sticking around relating to fundraising and all the issues they are trying to raise attacking her for overseeing the primary and general election while being a candidate for Governor, this takes some serious news stories out of commission over the next few months.

With Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson and Handel both giving up their seats so they can both raise money and avoid sticky ethical issues, this puts the spotlight squarely on State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine who is about to come under a sustained media assault for questionable fundraising practices through his office.

Handel is now all in with no fall back just as a few of her opponents were starting to push out stories that she was going to drop out and run for re-election instead. She is also, given all the stories lately about the taint within the GOP, setting up a higher ethical standard for the gubernatorial race.

Ballsy.

Her press release is below the fold.

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We previously endorsed Karen Handel at RedState. In fact, we did it at our RedState Gathering in Atlanta back in August.

Since then, the political landscape in Georgia has become tumultuous and as the dust settles, it is clear that Karen Handel is the front runner, though polling hasnt reflected it yet.

Here is what’s up and why:

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