Atlanta Journal Constitution
December 4, 2006

Middle ground puts Isakson in pivotal position
By Bob Kemper

In all the turf battles fought on Capitol Hill, one of the least sought-after pieces of real estate is the middle ground. Indeed, some days it seems U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia has it all to himself.

Isakson arrived in the Senate two years ago, long after critics say the get-'er-done era of cooperation gave way to win-at-all-costs partisanship that paralyzed Congress and, in this year's election, contributed to Republicans' loss of control in Congress.

Despite his junior status, Isakson, a Republican, has during the past year emerged as a political middleman, offering Republicans and Democrats road maps to compromise on prickly issues such as immigration reform and embryonic stem cell research. With Democrats holding a 51-49 majority when the new Senate convenes in January, Isakson's influence as a deal-maker could grow.

"Sometimes the two different sides of the issues are so protracted that they seem like they'll never meet," Isakson said. "But if you can find common ground, you can do amazing things."

Isakson excels at finding middle ground because he's always had to --- as a real estate salesman in suburban Atlanta and as a Republican in the Georgia Legislature during the years when Democrats there were all-powerful. He was a Republican in Georgia, he likes to say, "before being Republican was cool."

"When I was in the Statehouse, Republicans were outnumbered eight to one, so you didn't walk to the table with much of an advantage in anything," Isakson said.

His low-key, easygoing personal style has served him well in today's highly charged partisan atmosphere, friends and colleagues say.

Georgians have turned to Isakson twice to replace some of the state's more bombastic politicians --- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a fellow Republican, in 1999 and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat, in 2004.

Former longtime Georgia House Majority Leader Larry Walker, a Democrat who negotiated often with Isakson, who was then minority leader, said Isakson was an effective legislator.

"His word was his bond," Walker said."Frankly, Johnny Isakson has an opportunity to be a real leader in the U.S. Senate in the mold of Richard Russell and Sam Nunn," Walker said, referring to Democrats who had reputations for working with people across the political spectrum. "Everybody from Georgia who's in politics today, I don't know of anybody I'd put ahead of Johnny Isakson."

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes recalls Isakson wielding influence in the General Assembly even when Democrats held so many of the seats they rarely paid attention to Republicans.

"He could have passed a bill as easily as a Democrat because everyone liked him and he'd reciprocate," Barnes said. "He reaches across the aisle. He's --- he'll hate this word --- but he's very moderate."I'm very high on Johnny Isakson. I know that's crazy for a Democrat to say," Barnes said. "If every Republican were like Johnny Isakson, I'd be one."

When Isakson arrived in the U.S. Senate in 2004 after six years in the U.S. House, Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Report, was quick to spot Isakson's potential as a deal-maker. Cook saw Isakson's potential to fill a role left vacant by the retirement that year of Sen. John Breaux (D-La.): someone not only able, but willing, to put aside party loyalty to bring two sides together.

Isakson, Cook wrote, "could become an important bridge between the parties."

"Moderately conservative in his ideology, Isakson is clearly a moderate stylistically," Cook said. "His personality lets him move freely between the two sides to broker deals to the extent that he wants, and to the extent that deal-making is possible in the Senate's currently poisonous environment."

"He has great potential," said Breaux, who worked with Isakson in the House."For every issue, there's a third side and that's the middle ground," Breaux said. "That's the art of compromise. That's what democracy is all about. And I think Johnny can steer right down that middle and fill the vacuum that's there."

With Senate Democrats taking control in January, Breaux said, "I think there are going to be some opportunities for him to step out."

Isakson this year proffered compromise plans on immigration reform and embryonic stem cell research and sealed the deal on pension legislation that has aided Atlanta's Delta Air Lines as it works through its bankruptcy.

Next year, he plans push for renewal of President Bush's No Child Left Behind education plan in a Congress where Bush has far fewer allies than he did in late 2001, when the act was approved.

"Senator Isakson is widely respected in the Senate, and I've enjoyed working with him on a range of questions from education for children to the safety of coal miners," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who will chair the education committee. "We may not always agree on the issues, but he's always thought them through."

Ironically, the Democrat-controlled House and Senate may be more open to Isakson's compromise proposals than was the Republican Congress. Much of the resistance he met on issues like stem cell research and immigration came from fellow Republicans, not Democrats.

During the debate on immigration this year, House Republicans wanted to focus on securing the U.S.-Mexico border while Senate Republicans sought an approach that included a guest-worker program that Bush favors. Isakson's proposal was to secure the border first and only then enact the other changes. The Senate defeated his measure, but Isakson had more votes than leaders had expected, and in recent weeks there was talk of reviving Isakson's plan as a way to bridge the divide between the House and Senate.

On stem cell research, Democrats and more than a few Republicans this year approved legislation increasing federal funding for research on stem cells derived from human embryos. Bush vetoed the bill, equating with abortion the destruction of the embryo in the process of extracting stem cells.

Isakson in January plans to propose a compromise to the White House and Congress that allows federal money to be spent on stem cells derived only from nonviable embryos from in-vitro fertilization clinics --- that is, embryos that lack the properties necessary to create a child.Congress' inability to reach consensus on such issues contributed heavily to voters' decision this month to oust Republicans, exit polls showed.

"Politics is politics," Breaux said. "But after you get elected, you've got to make the dang government work."