Former president Jimmy Carter campaigns Saturday at the Square Pub in Decatur, Ga., for his grandson Jason Carter, who is running for governor. (Michael A. Schwarz/For the Washington Post)

ATLANTA — There was no stage. No loud music. And no special security perimeter like when Bill Clinton made a stop up the street the day before.

Instead, former president Jimmy Carter walked into a dimly lit social hall on Saturday morning to speak with just 30 people on the city’s south side as he eagerly pursues votes for his grandson, Jason Carter, a 39-year old state senator running against Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

It was an in­cred­ibly intimate setting for a Nobel Prize-winning former president who can easily draw much larger crowds around the world. Wearing a bolo tie and dark blazer, with just four Secret Service agents in tow, Carter beamed as he spoke to the small crowd of young professionals invited by local Democrats to hear him speak.

“I’m just here to tell you about Jason. Jason is my grandson, as you may know,” he said. “He was 2 years old when I was president. He wasn’t born when I was governor.”

At age 90, Carter has traveled the state at a dizzying pace this year as he maintains an active travel schedule around the globe.

The former president made public appearances across the Atlanta region Saturday, campaigning for his grandson, Jason Carter, a state senator running against Gov. Nathan Deal (R). (Ed O'Keefe/The Washington Post)

Carter the grandfather and Carter the grandson are close confidants, but they’ve appeared infrequently together in public. The former president, who is a polarizing figure in this largely Republican state, has been kept to a series of discreet appearances at union halls, predominantly black colleges and rural communities. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who remains widely popular in Georgia, has spent more time with her grandson greeting voters on the campaign trail.

The former president’s predicament in Georgia is similar to the challenges facing President Obama this year. Just as Carter has been confined to smaller events, Obama has made just a few appearances in Democratic-friendly states while first lady Michelle Obama campaigns more widely.

Carter made five public appearances across the Atlanta region on Saturday, but a campaign advisory warned reporters that “the president will not be available for interviews.”

He told the small group in Atlanta on Saturday morning about how his grandson wants to restore the state’s struggling education system and jump-start the sluggish economy. He bemoaned how state Republicans were seeking to chip away at early voting and that only 10 counties permitted early ballots to be cast on Sundays. And then — just eight minutes after showing up — he left.

Carter sped off in a three-car motorcade to nearby Decatur, his third stop of the day. By the time a Washington Post reporter arrived, he had already addressed 75 people at the Square Pub and was on his way to Conyers. One witness said that he waved goodbye as the crowd chanted, “Carter! Carter! Carter!”

At his final stop in Marietta, a campaign aide warned: “Just so you know, he’s not taking questions.” The president’s bodyguards later shoved away a young man who tried to speak with Carter.

Carter was a welcome sight in Marietta. The Atlanta suburb is a GOP stronghold that once elected Newt Gingrich to Congress. Democrats here are a rare breed. The county Democratic chairwoman hugged people as they arrived, clearly thrilled to host a crowd of more than 200.

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Carter took the stage and sat with the state Democratic Party chairman and his daughter-in-law, Juliet Langford (the wife of Jack Carter). He gave a speech similar to the one he’d delivered in Atlanta.

An 89-year old woman named Dot was among those in the crowd.

“I voted for him a looooong time ago,” she said. “We went to Plains, Georgia shortly after he was elected. You ever been? There’s just a filling station.”

Dot voted early, but wouldn't say whether she voted for Jason Carter.

“I like his grandpa, but I don’t really know anything much about him,” she said. “He’s a nice-looking boy.”