The American pop-culture song made famous by singer Leslie Gore in 1963 may be fitting for Ga. Governor Nathan Deal after Saturday's stinging convention defeat at the hands of incumbent Sue Everhart: "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to…"

 Everhart staved off a bruising challenge by Tricia Pridemore, who had the enthusiastic backing of the Governor, and Shawn Hanley, a former county chairman, to capture an unprecedented third-term as head of the state GOP. 

Everhart, criticized by her opponents during the campaign for verbal gaffes, lacking in technology savvy and hardball re-election tactics, showed her grass-roots strength by rallying her base as the race wound down to its final days.

Everhart commoved 48 percent of convention delegates in attendance to punch her ticket in the first round of voting, setting up her second ballot re-election victory. In so doing, she beat back the state's new governor and his entire political machine in one fell swoop. This marked the second time Everhart stung a sitting Ga. Republican governor. She was on a path to clobber former Gov. Sonny Perdue's chosen candidate, John Watson, his former chief of staff in 2007 by such an overwhelming majority that Perdue made Watson pull out of the race with two weeks to go. 

But this was different than the Perdue challenge. Where Perdue's efforts to oust Everhart from the state party leadership role were rather tame and tepid, Deal, by contrast, went all in.

Coming off an impressive election victory in November and riding immense popularity via a resoundingly successful first 100 days, the governor -- an otherwise savvy and sage politician -- rolled the dice to gain control of the state's party apparatus. In Vegas terms, he came up snake eyes with no duces down on the game board, and crapped out.

A LOUSY TWO DAY STRETCH FOR DEAL

Deal had an uncharacteristically lousy two days. After getting slammed in a somewhat suspect story by a FOX 5 TV investigative reporter on Friday morning, his staff barred another FOX 5 reporter from entering his Gold Dome office to record his signing of Georgia's historic immigration bill, HB 87. That flap caused a firestorm and a public relations nightmare for the mostly politically astute governor's staff.

Then on Saturday in Macon, Deal [pictured right] was rudely -- and lustily -- heckled and booed by some convention faithful when he endorsed his handpicked party chair candidate, Pridemore, at the end of his formal address. Former Gwinnett County GOP Chair and current Georgia Board of Education School Board member Mike Royal, a seasoned stalwart of state Republican politics who was a delegate, said the rude reception was not inappropriate. "There is a time and place for everything and if you are going to boo an elected official this is the time and place to do it," Royal said. "The governor made his choice known and some delegates made their reaction to that known," the one time Georgia College Republican leader added. "This is our convention, whether you are the governor or a delegate. We'll fight it out, choose a Chairman, and come together," Royal theorized. "That's the way we do it as Republicans." 

Tea Party leader Debbie Dooley, an Everhart enthusiast, said that Deal's comments after his speech broke protocol. "He [Deal] should have waited until the candidates' speeches part of the convention," Dooley said. "I had 16 delegates approach me after the speech to tell me they decided to switch their support to Sue as a result.

"A rare political mistake," is how political consultant Phil Kent [pictured left] categorized Deal's fiasco. "Deal should have said: 'I'll respect the wisdom of the convention in picking a chair' and leave it at that," Kent recommended.

"The boos outweighed the cheers and so it backfired on the Governor," he concluded. 

Radio personality Martha Zoller said the hecklers took her aback, but says she understands it. "If you attempt to undermine the grassroots, they will rise up against you," said Zoller. "After all, we're not Democrats."

The final blow to Deal's gamble came when Everhart triumphed over Pridemore on the second convention ballot by nearly 200 votes out of 1,700 cast. The good news for the governor is he got out of town. Deal boarded a plane bound for London Sunday night for a business development and trade mission trip across Western Europe.

KAREN'S REVENGE: "FROM THE ASHES RISE THE PHEONIX"

Everhart's winning delegate coalition consisted of three key groups: the "old guard," new "Tea Party" delegates who recoiled at what they perceived as Deal's overt attempt to "co-opt" the Party, and supporter's of Karen Handel's 2010 failed gubernatorial bid. The Handel [pictured below] contingent was solidly opposed to Deal's choice, and saw this as a way to avenge their candidate at the expense of Deal. But the real story is how deftly the former Secretary of State played her hand during the race. Handel was careful not to publicly choose sides in the contest. Instead, she very adroitly worked her supporters from behind the scenes, and kept a low media profile. The outcome displayed Handel's solid following and considerable clout within certain elements of the GOP grassroots throughout the state. Everhart's win puts Handel in a very favorable political position for another campaign run in 2012, whether it be for a new Congressional seat through re-districting or another state-wide run. Handel's future political fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better with Everhart's re-election. She is now once again a force to be reckoned with within the state's Republican ranks.

LAST MINUTE CONVENTION INTRIGUE

A GOP source inside the delegate vote-counting room at the convention told Impact News Network that third place finisher Hanley tried to convince Pridemore to abandon the second balloting altogether and endorse Everhart in an impromptu show of Party unity. The Republican official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said Hanley pleaded with Pridemore to drop out and go on stage with him to mutually endorse Everhart, acknowledge the inevitable, and save face for the governor. But Pridemore refused, and the vote went to the second ballot.

"I was a Republican yesterday and I'll be a Republican tomorrow," Pridemore said after her loss. "I learned great things about the excitement of young Georgia Republicans."