By Shannon McCaffrey, The Associated Press

ATLANTA — His Democratic rival chosen, Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Wednesday moved quickly to brand him a liberal hand-picked by a Washington elite out of touch with mainstream Georgia voters.

Jim Martin countered that Chambliss has been a rubber stamp for the Bush administration and is beholden to big oil companies, which he said are worsening the nation’s energy woes.

A day after Martin claimed his party’s nomination in a runoff, the rough outlines of the general election campaign began to take shape. Martin cruised to a 20 percentage point win Tuesday over DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones after a bruising three-week runoff campaign. But political experts said Martin, a former state lawmaker and state human resources commissioner, will face a far tougher battle against Chambliss in the fall.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said a Democrat hasn’t won an open statewide seat in Georgia since Gov. Roy Barnes arrived in the governor’s mansion in 1998.

“It’s Chambliss’ race to lose,” Bullock said. “Martin is going to have to give some Georgians a reason to rethink a decision they made when they voted for Chambliss.”

Martin, 62, is hoping Barack Obama’s presidential bid will energize Democrats in Georgia and bring new voters to the polls who will give him a look.

Chambliss argued that Georgia will remain in the GOP column even as he sought to put some distance between himself and Bush, who has dismal approval ratings.

At a news conference Wednesday, Chambliss said scheduling conflicts have kept Bush from visiting Georgia to stump for him. He also outlined recent differences with the president over immigration, the Farm Bill and Medicare.

“When he’s wrong I have never been hesitant to look him the eye and say ‘I disagree with you on this issue,’” he said.

Not so, said Martin.

“Saxby has supported the failed economic and energy policies that have gotten us into this mess,” Martin argued at his own news conference later Wednesday.

Even the candidates’ news conferences were a study in contrasts.

While Chambliss fielded questions for about 30 minutes, Martin read a prepared five-minute statement and left the podium at his campaign headquarters without taking questions.

A key question for Martin is whether he’ll have the financial resources to compete with Chambliss, who has $4 million in the bank even after making a statewide media buy for his first re-election television ad. Martin had $329,954 cash on hand according to his last campaign filing in July.

Martin was recruited to run by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. DSCC officials would not say Wednesday whether they would pour money into his bid. Typically, the campaign committee offers financial support to races it deems competitive.

Still, Chambliss said now that the general election campaign is officially under way he expects Democrats will be after him with guns blazing.

“We’re prepared for the onslaught that will come,” he said.

Chambliss has a reputation for tough campaigns. He drew fire in his 2002 bid for running an ad in which he questioned the national security votes of his opponent, Democratic incumbent Max Cleland. The ad showed images of Cleland, who lost three limbs in the Vietnam War, and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Chambliss signaled he won’t shy away from a fight his year either.

“What I did in 2002 was question my opponent’s voting record,” he said. “I’m going to question my opponent’s voting record in this campaign.”

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