12th District and the art of public speaking

row of Augusta and Republican challenger Lee Anderson of Grovetown has been transformed — at least for the moment — into something slightly different.

It’s now an argument over elocution, over whether the ability to speak clearly and think on one’s feet is a worthwhile talent to take to Washington — or whether glibness and smooth talking should be considered part of the problem.

Anderson, a farmer and state lawmaker, concedes that he’s not a Toastmasters kind of guy. Not only that, he has a rural Southern accent so pronounced that it ought to be preserved in amber for future generations to examine and enjoy.

He speaks with a King James cadence that sometimes shoves grammar into the glove compartment and leaves it there. “My gift is one-onone. My gift is getting the job done,” Anderson said in a telephone interview. “No, I’m not the best public speaker. Always said I’m not. And I don’t want to be.

“Look at what conditions we in now, I mean. Smooth-talking people are in Congress now — and see what kind of condition we in? People are fed up. People want someone that can communicate with them, that they can relate to, that’s struggling just like they struggling. They want someone to go to Washington and go to work, and not just have a nice talk.”

Debates aren’t usually an important part of a campaign. But in the normal course of ousting an incumbent, a challenger will demand a series of them in order to put himself on an equal footing with the candidate he intends to replace. Anderson has done the opposite.

The GOP challenger says he’ll debate Barrow only after the congressman declares, on television, that he intends to