Graham, Nunn names back on ballot in Fla. and Ga. – seattlepi.com

in south Georgia, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Michelle Nunn finds the same experience among voters who still revere her father, Sam, almost 18 years after he retired after a lengthy career in the Senate.

Graham and Nunn are going beyond the typical advantages of name ID and fundraising connections. They explicitly hold up their fathers as examples of what kind of elected officials they would be: old-style moderate Southerners, the kind rendered largely extinct on Capitol Hill.

“I often hear from people that they miss the days in which they felt like they had someone who was a statesman and reached across the aisle,” Michelle Nunn told The Associated Press at a campaign stop in Shellman, Georgia. “I’m both lucky to have that connection and to have my own experiences that demonstrate my capacity to lead in that way.”

The approach offers Democrats a ray of hope in a midterm congressional election that could continue the party’s slide in the South, where President Barack Obama and national figures such as U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California are broadly unpopular.

Many Republicans acknowledge that Graham and Nunn are strong first-time candidates, given Democrats’ struggles in the South.

“Michelle Nunn sounds like one of the best Republicans in the race,” quipped Georgia GOP strategist Todd Rehm, as his party awaits a May 20 primary and subsequent runoff.

But GOP loyalists predict Nunn and Graham will struggle to win over a midterm electorate expected to be older, whiter and more conservative than in presidential years. “Family roots may be important,” said Southerland spokesman Matt McCullough, but voters want Graham “to start showing a little leadership in her own right.”

Nunn and Graham call themselves independent voices….

Nunn mentioned Bush, a Republican, in one television spot; her father appears in another. “My dad has been reminding me throughout the campaign that he never passed any legislation that didn’t have bipartisan support,” she told AP.