By Jack Keller
On Nov. 4, Georgia will have a new senator—Democrat Michelle Nunn or Republican David Perdue. Since neither has been in political office, many have broadcasted their fears as to the experience of two candidates. However, Perdue surprised the GOP with his victory in the Republican primary against Rep. Jack Kingston. On the way, Perdue hurdled over veteran competition—Reps. Phil Gingrey, Paul Broun, Jack Kingston, and Karen Handel (Georgia’s former Secretary of State)—demonstrating Georgia’s support for the businessman’s Republican nomination. With that said, let’s examine the candidate that Senator Johnny Isakson has endorsed in the upcoming election.
Born to two educators in Macon, Georgia, David Perdue was raised in Warner Robbins. Perdue has family ties to the state, including his first cousin and former Georgia governor, Sonny Perdue (R-Ga.). Perdue attended Georgia Tech for his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and his graduate degree in operations research.
Throughout the senatorial race, Perdue has emphasized his experience as a businessman, and for good reason. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that Perdue is “known on Wall Street as a turnaround specialist who helps revive brands and reap rewards for investors.” In terms of international experience, Perdue served as the senior vice-president of Asia operations for Sara Lee as well as president and CEO of the Reebok Brand. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is his tenure as the CEO and Chairman of Dollar General, where he oversaw a 144 percent expansion of the corporation nationwide.
In terms of the Senate race, Perdue’s two focal points have been balancing the budget and establishing term limits for politicians. Addressing the $17 trillion national debt, Perdue does not want to raise taxes and is an advocate for the FairTax. Perdue noted the U.S. debt falls on each American family at a rate of $148,000 per household, citing that federal spending surpasses annual GDP, which forces over 1/3 of our federal spending to be borrowed. The businessman believes that social reform—repealing Obamacare coupled with other social spending—as well as revitalizing American manufacturing will get the country’s budget back on track.
Perdue admitted that failures in energy policies, education, and punitive taxes are crippling to the national debt. Not to mention the lack of American manufacturing in comparison to international rivals such as China and Latin America. Nevertheless, Perdue emphasizes American exports as part of his platform, stating “The best opportunity for long-term economic growth is to boost our exports to emerging economies worldwide. In fact, I have started my own exporting business where we ship American-made products overseas. They have an increasing demand for American goods, both quality manufactured products as well as other needs such as agriculture products.”
Perdue has taken a hard stance on career politicians, and he blames them for the majority of the problems facing the country. Spotlighting his own business background, Perdue has mentioned that 10 senators in office have business backgrounds, while 36 senators have held office for over 30 years. Purdue contends that this has led to Congress’s 14 percent approval rate, which is Gallop’s lowest in 70 years. Yet, Americans re-elect 92 percent of incumbents because D.C. lobbyists, PACs, and special interest groups help them raise too much money.. To combat this problem, Perdue wants to impose term limits—three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate.
As the son of two educators, Perdue has openly spoken out against the country’s education system, specifically regarding the budget: “Today, we spent $71 billion in our Department of Education in Washington. In 2009, we only spent $32 billion” he said. Consequently, Perdue supports the Common Core initiative, which sets high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English literacy across the country. Additionally, Perdue’s website insists “True innovation starts at the local level, not in Washington. We should dismantle unnecessary federal bureaucracy, including the push for Common Core, and get that funding into the classrooms.” The Senate hopeful believes the solution is not throwing more money at schools, although Perdue does believe teachers deserve a competitive salary to attract the best and brightest.
In terms of energy, David Perdue questions our nation’s dependency on foreign oil. Perdue has expressed his disagreements with how our own government limits our energy options via hostility towards domestic energy producers. In the process, “they force us to rely on energy resources from countries that wish to do us harm. With the right leadership, we can finally have a domestic energy policy that is environmentally responsible in the long-term while meeting our current needs.” With tensions rising in the Middle East, Georgians should expect to hear a stern stance on energy in the coming weeks.
Additionally, Perdue supports the 2nd amendment right to bear arms. Perdue reasons on his website that “[The Founders] crafted a Constitution that has only been amended 27 times in over 225 years. Ten amendments were their own, designed to explicitly protect certain rights. The 2nd Amendment is clear. We have ample gun laws on the books now, and I believe we should focus on enforcing them.” The NRA backed up his stance and endorsed Perdue’s campaign.
According to the most recent polls, Perdue leads Democratic challenger Michelle Nunn 46 percent to 42.6 percent. Georgia’s voting history favors the moderate Republican. Although Georgia is a red state, Democrats are excited about Michelle Nunn’s chances of ending the party’s 14-year dry spell in the Senate. Over 483,000 Georgians voted in the June Republican Primary, toppling the 328,710 votes in the Democratic primary. Even with the massive minority turnout in 2008, Democrats were unable to secure the Senate seat.
As Politico noted, “With Kingston’s defeat, Nunn has lost her chance to run against Washington and the national debt. She is expected, instead, to contrast her background as a nonprofit executive against Perdue’s tenure as a CEO at companies like Reebok and Dollar General.” This race is close. Both Nunn and Perdue are viable candidates for the seat, as each trades leads in the polls. But, given Georgia’s conservative political climate and recent voting history, David Perdue has the advantage.
