Gainesville, Ga. -- "A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." – Walter Gagehot

The man the Georgia drive-by liberal mainstream media had written off for dead and virtually ignored as so much road-kill months ago is now the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nominee.

Former Congressman Nathan Deal, riding the crest of a shocking North Fulton County tidal wave that turned against his rival -- local icon Karen Handel -- in the final days leading up the election, will now face off against Democrat Roy Barnes in November.

Deal defeated Handel, the "ITP" media darling, by less than 2,500 votes, ending her perceived love-fest with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution a day late and a few thousand votes short.

In so doing, Handel, who amassed and armada-like 35 percent of the GOP primary vote in the first go-around on July 20 against a field of five worthy opponents, snatched defeat from the apparent jaws of victory.

Deal, the veteran lawmaker from Gainesville, overcame long odds, a string of defections from his campaign -- including his good friend and colleague U.S. Rep. Tom Price -- a mantra of negative ads and a Monday media blitz from Sarah Palin to wrest the nomination away from Handel, whom he trailed by nearly double digits in the polls with just over a week to go.

JONES AND COMPANY: THEY'VE GOT THE JUICE IN NORTH FULTON, NOT KAREN

North Fulton's powerful State House delegation, led by Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton) and including former House Speaker Mark Burkhalter, House Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta), House Energy and Utilities and Telecommunications Vice Chairman Harry Geisinger (R-Roswell) and House Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs) went "all-in" for Deal at the final hours, siphoning off precious votes from Handel's power base on Election Day. Handel told supporters last week she confidently expected to reel in 85 percent of the North Fulton County vote on Election Day. Instead, she ended up only carrying her home base by a relatively small margin. Long considered to be her electoral run-off ace in the hole, her anticipated dominance of North Fulton evaporated at the eleventh hour. The difference between actual results and Handel's internal projection turned into 6,000 more votes for Deal. Talk about a game changer.

It cost her the nomination.

Handel's camp was blindsided by the vote-prowess of the local North Fulton House delegation. Sources close to the legislative leaders said Handel and her surrogates made phone calls to Jones and company in the waning days, but they labeled the outreach as "condescending" at best, and "confrontational" at worst. Either way, the phone calls backfired on the former secretary of state, a Roswell resident.

After conceding the race on Wednesday morning, Handel endorsed Deal for governor – this after a heated and sometimes ugly campaign in which she accused Deal of multiple ethics violations during his tenure in Congress, going so far as the brand the Vietnam army veteran as the most corrupt Congressman in Washington in a direct mail piece mailed statewide.

It was expected that Handel would request a recount, as the difference in votes between the two candidates was less than one percent. But sources close to Gov. Sonny Perdue said the state's chief executive, who overtly favored a Handel nomination, pressured his former deputy chief of staff to drop any thoughts of a protracted recount for unity's sake. In addition, current Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was appointed to the post by Perdue when Handel resigned last winter to focus on her gubernatorial bid, reportedly told his predecessor that she could not overcome Deal's lead on the strength of the still uncounted military and absentee ballots. Handel would have needed 78 percent of the remaining outstanding ballots, which, based on the statewide voter trend, was highly unlikely. 

So Handel’s concession was perceived as a move in the right direction for the Republican Party and a key component of the healing process the GOP will need to nurture to defeat the well-funded Barnes.

DEAL FAITHFUL FIRED UP, SAY THEY FOUGHT FOR EVERY VOTE

The Deal campaign hosted a town hall style victory party for their candidate at the Gainesville Civic Center on election eve. The event was open to the public and thousands packed the house for their man. Deal inched ahead of Handel early, on the strength of his Hall County base, which delivered for him at a stinging four to one clip. But his lead was razor thin all night, keeping the faithful on edge. Deal finally addressed the crowd before midnight and joked, “If I’d done a better job, everyone could have gone home by now." 

Sandra Deal, the candidate's wife of 43-years, added, "Nathan is ready to head out at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to get back to work [either way]."

Harry Doss, a friend of Deal’s, said his daughter left town the day before the election.  He told her, "You can come back tonight or tomorrow to vote, but you are coming home to vote." This kind of loyalty and tenacity, repeated many times over at the gathering, paid off for Deal.

Even though Handel secured endorsements from big guns like Palin and Mitt Romney, many voters sensed the lack of personal connection they had with Handel. This juxtaposed well to what was viewed as the more intimate endorsements Deal garnered from Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, friends who have actually worked with him and could account for his work ethic and character.

Deal continued campaigning this past week, this time against Barnes. He was scheduled to appear at Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concert in Gwinnett on Friday and at a Saturday GOP rally in Rome.

As the Handel campaign brain trust approached D-Day, their operatives were not shy in reminding the press corps that they heard "Barnes was frightened" of their candidate, and craved facing Deal in November.

But the first poll that was released -- by Rasmussen on Friday -- shows Deal with a nine-point lead over the former governor, 51-42.

Barnes may be wondering now about the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." If he indeed did covet a showdown with Deal, the former Army Captain may turn out to be his worst nightmare come November, in lieu of what he thought would be his dream come true.  

Unfortunately for Handel, her nightmare already played out on August 10. It's called the North Fulton State House delegation.