Politics course through the veins of Jane Kidd right there beside each white and red blood cell. The chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic party is the daughter of former Gov. Ernest Vandiver and the great-niece of longtime Georgia Sen. Richard B. Russell.

“In my family, it’s an honorable profession,” Kidd told the Rome Kiwanis Club on Monday. “It’s not a power trip; it’s a service opportunity.”

Kidd said the November general election is going to be very important for Georgia because the results will go a long way toward determining how political boundaries are drawn during redistricting in 2011.

“There’s a lot going on in politics right now. Both parties have been stubborn and tenacious about sticking to their own beliefs,” Kidd said, adding that only when Georgia lawmakers decide to work together will the state move forward.

Kidd, of Athens, has served as chairwoman for the Georgia Democratic Committee since January 2007. She told the civic leaders that she feels very comfortable with all of the Democrats who are seeking the office of governor this year. “We’ve got such a strong field,” Kidd said.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes is the front-runner in most polls right now. Dublin lawmaker DuBose Porter, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Secretary of State David Poy­thress are the other leading candidates for the Democratic nomination. Long shot candidates on the Democratic ballot include Bill Bolton, Carl Camon and Randal Mangham.

Kidd cited transportation, jobs and the economy along with education as major issues confronting the state.

“The people of Georgia deserve a transportation plan,” Kidd said. “The people of Georgia deserve top caliber schools. If we let them down now, we’re letting them down for generations to come.”

Kidd suggested that Republicans in Georgia learned how to get elected, but have not figured out how to govern after seizing control of the state. “They talk transportation, they talk water, but what’s really been done?” Kidd asked.

She bemoaned the fact that $1.6 billion had been cut from public education funding in Georgia in the past eight years. “We’ve been asking for more from our teachers, but giving less,” said Kidd.

Also during Monday’s Kiwanis session, Air Force Maj. Kenneth Herndon, just back from a third deployment to Iraq, said that U.S. forces in that nation are on a steep glide toward getting out of Iraq.

Herndon, son of club member Terry Herndon, said that U.S. troops are no longer engaged in combat operations in Iraq. “Instead, we are in a pretty massive effort to making sure the Iraqis are capable of taking care of their own security,” Herndon said. “It’s a very complex operation.”

Kidd, who served in the State House of Representatives out of Clarke County, said she feels Democrats have a solid chance of picking up seats in the House in the November election. She’s not quite as optimistic about major gains in the Georgia Senate.