Bill Shipp writes this week down in Georgia:

Keep an eye on 40-year-old Casey Cagle. The lieutenant governor-elect may be on his way to becoming the new Zell Miller of Georgia politics — a smart guy able to parlay a second-tier office into a launching pad for loftier posts.

When Cagle trampled the renowned Ralph Reed in the July GOP primary, several experienced political watchers were stunned. They figured on a tight race.

After all, Reed was a national figure with deep pockets, powerful friends and an unmatched public persona. Sure, he was a little dirty, but — what the heck — so are most of the high-roller insiders. When it came to plotting political strategy in the Deep South, Reed was in a league with Karl Rove.

By contrast, Cagle had a reputation as a nice guy who had been rejected by his colleagues for a couple of minor intramural Senate offices.

Some observers even suggested that Cagle was not among the best and brightest of the Georgia General Assembly. He was simply another smiling lawmaker, known for his close ties to banking. He seemed too parochial for the big time and too eager to please to lead his own parade.

As it turned out, Cagle's affable manner was camouflage. Hiring a staff schooled in Reed's own mean-street strategies, Cagle ripped to pieces the one-time boy genius of the Christian right. With hard-hitting TV spots and a direct-mail assault, the Gainesville businessman succeeded in turning Reed into a poster-boy for Washington corruption. Cagle clobbered Reed by a 12-point margin and then waltzed to an easy general election victory over Democrat Jim Martin, an under-funded Atlantan with a bleeding-heart reputation. “I really like Jim. He is a nice guy,” Cagle said after the election.

So what's next for Lowell S. “Casey” Cagle? Is he already thinking of solidifying his power base and running for governor in four years?

Get the rest of Shipp’s column here.