"I’ll tell you what: I think the shooting is going to win this election for us"

Some Republicans see political upside in the tragedy. Brad Carver is chairman of the Republican Party in the neighboring 11th Congressional District, which is represented by Barry Loudermilk, a member of the GOP baseball squad who was on the scene during last Wednesday’s shooting.

“I’ll tell you what: I think the shooting is going to win this election for us,” Carver said Saturday after a get-out-the-vote rally for Handel in Chamblee. “Because moderates and independents in this district are tired of left-wing extremism. I get that there’s extremists on both sides, but we are not seeing them. We’re seeing absolute resistance to everything this president does. Moderates and independents out there want to give him a chance. Democrats have never given this president a chance.”