Political Season’s Indian Summer: Senate Campaign Heats Up in Georgia : Politics: Clinton joins heavy hitters stumping in Fowler-Coverdell runoff. The outcome is seen as a gauge of President-elect’s strength.

WASHINGTON —  National politicians have Georgia on their mind.

So President-elect Bill Clinton is going to hit the campaign trail again--this time not for himself but on behalf of an embattled Democrat, Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr. of Georgia, who faces a do-or-die runoff election Tuesday against Republican Paul Coverdell.

Georgia law requires that candidates must receive 50% of the vote to win. Fowler fell short of that on Nov. 3, receiving only 49% to 48% for Coverdell in a three-way race. As a result, they were forced into a one-on-one rematch that has national implications.

Both parties are placing much emphasis on the race, which has developed into a nasty contest marked by name-calling, personal invective and negative advertising.

Clinton plans appearances Monday with Fowler at get-out-the-vote rallies in Albany and Macon. First Lady Barbara Bush and other big-name Republicans have appeared on Coverdell’s behalf.

At stake is a vote that could be crucial in early tests of strength between the Clinton Administration and the Republican opposition.

A Fowler loss would be an embarrassing setback for the incoming chief executive, and reelection would add to Clinton’s strength in dealing with Congress and demonstrate anew that he can be a factor in close contests.

A Coverdell victory, in contrast, would not only restore some Republican confidence but provide a potentially critical vote in the Senate, where GOP strategists believe they have their best chance of blocking Clinton programs that they regard as unwise or too costly.

If Fowler retains his seat, Democrats will have a 58-42 majority in the Senate--a net gain of one over the last session of Congress.

If he loses, the party division will remain at 57-43 and give Republican senators a slightly better chance of killing legislation by talking it to death. It takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster in the Senate. While roll-calls on votes to shut off debate do not always follow party lines, they often are decided by a one-vote or two-vote margin if underlying legislation is controversial.

The runoff also may have a symbolic meaning since Fowler is presenting himself as a loyal Clinton man and Coverdell has echoed President Bush’s policy stands.

“I have pledged cooperation with Bill Clinton,” Fowler said in a recent debate. “The question is whether Georgia is going to be part of the new partnership.”

“I am for a balanced budget amendment, the line-item veto and term limits, and he is against them,” said Coverdell, a former director of the Peace Corps in the Bush Administration.

Herb Mabry, president of the Georgia AFL-CIO, who supports Fowler, put it this way: “We don’t need a bad imitation of George Bush representing Georgia in the Senate.” Tracking polls show the race “pretty much dead even,” said Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who has been lining up top-level Republicans to campaign for Coverdell.

Polls, however, are of little help in runoff balloting, where the turnout may be as low as one-fourth to one-third of the total vote cast on Nov. 3, when a record 70% of Georgia voters turned out to decide elections at levels ranging from the local courthouse to the White House. Officials in Georgia estimate that only 25% of eligible voters will turn out Tuesday.

So both Democrats and Republicans are mounting major efforts to bring out voters.

It has been a star-studded campaign in the last three weeks. Vice President-elect Al Gore stumped for Fowler with actress Kim Basinger, while film star Charlton Heston campaigned with Coverdell.

Others who have joined the fray include former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who traveled with their fellow Democrat in South Georgia, and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who made a second trip to the state to help Coverdell.

While Fowler initially was rated the underdog after a lackluster campaign before the Nov. 3 election, the infusion of outside help, including Clinton’s top media consultant, Frank Greer, appears to have boosted his chances.

“He may have found his legs, but he was looking pretty bad,” said one Georgia political observer.

Normally, GOP candidates do better in low-turnout elections because Republican voters historically are more likely to cast ballots. But in the Fowler-Coverdell face-off, the political organizations of Georgia Gov. Zell Miller and organized labor will be working for the Democrats, so the race generally is seen as a tossup.

“It’s not hopeless by any means,” said Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.), head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “It’s jump ball again.”