Here's some mixed news today from the Peach State:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
Public Policy Polling's newest Georgia survey finds a tight race for the US Senate. Republican David Perdue is at 45% to 43% for Democrat Michelle Nunn. Libertarian Amanda Swafford is polling at 5%, which would be enough to send the contest into a January runoff if it remains this close. Swafford's support could reflect residual unhappiness among voters who supported one of Perdue's opponents in the Republican nomination contest- 70% of them voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 compared to only 16% of them who voted for Barack Obama. They say they would support Perdue over Nunn 43/12 if they had to choose between the two, which would push Perdue's overall lead to 48/45.
Voters are pretty mixed in their feelings about both candidates. Nunn has a slightly better net favorability rating at -1, with 41% of voters giving her positive marks to 42% with an unfavorable opinion. Perdue comes in at -4 with 39% rating him favorably to 43% who have a negative view. One thing that may be aiding Nunn's competitiveness is the continued very positive legacy of her father- 54% of Georgians have a favorable opinion of former Senator Sam Nunn to only 20% with a negative one.
Republicans have leads of varying sizes in all the statewide races. In the contest for Governor Nathan Deal is at 46% to 41% for Democratic challenger Jason Carter. Libertarian Andrew Hunt is getting 4%, which based on Deal's current lead would not be enough to force the election into a December runoff. Voters are mixed in their feelings about both Deal and Carter as well. Deal has a 43/42 approval rating, and Carter's favorability stands at 39/36.
The GOP candidates lead all of the down ballot state races by margins ranging from 6 to 11 points. Casey Cagle is up 48/37 for Lieutenant Governor, Brian Kemp is up 48/39 for Secretary of State, Sam Olens, Gary Black, and Mark Butler are all up 45/36 in their contests for Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, and Labor Commissioner respectively, Ralph Hudgens is up 41/34 for Insurance Commissioner, and Richard Woods is up 46/40 for State Superintendent. - PPP, 10/7/14
Not the best numbers in the Governor's race but we still have a very competitive Senate race and here are a few reasons why:
A couple key issues where Georgians strongly side with the Democrats could be one piece of the puzzle explaining why the state is so competitive this year. 56% of voters support expanding Medicaid to only 33% who are opposed, and 56% also support increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour to 38% who are opposed. Both of those things have around 90% support from Democrats, as well as from about 25% of Republicans. - PPP, 10/9/14
We have to keep up the momentum here in both major races, especially if we want to get past 50%. Nunn is hitting Perdue on his outsourcing comments:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
In her newest TV ad, Georgia Democratic Senate nominee Michelle Nunn hits Republican opponent David Perdue hard over his remark in a deposition that he "spent most" of his career on outsourcing.
"That's right, under oath, David Perdue admitted he spent most of his career outsourcing jobs overseas," says the narrator of the commercial, which was shared with The Washington Post Tuesday.
Politico reported last week that during a 2005 deposition, Perdue, a businessman, was asked to describe his experience with outsourcing and responded, "Yeah, I spent most of my career doing that." His campaign manager said that by "outsourcing," Perdue was referring to a “company contracting with an outside source, not the direct shift of jobs overseas.”
What could make the Nunn ad especially potent is that it relies on Perdue's direct quotes from the deposition. And just in case anyone has doubts about the context, it includes an image of the official transcript.
Georgia is one of about a dozen races that could influence which party controls the Senate next year. Perdue has opened up a small lead over Nunn, recent polls show. But Democratic strategists are hopeful that his outsourcing comment will allow Nunn to make up ground with four weeks left until the election.
Perdue has not backed down from his comment. He told reporters Monday that he was "proud" of his past. "This is a part of American business, part of any business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help your business run. People do that all day," he said. - Washington Post, 10/7/14
And I'm liking this:
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/...
People For The American Way, the left-leaning civil liberties group, reports that it’s putting more than $100,000 behind the above ad in Georgia, which declares that Republicans Nathan Deal and David Perdue “want to destroy our future.”
As you can see, the 30-second spot is in Spanish. Our version has subtitles. The same group had targeted Perdue with a radio ad earlier in the cycle.
From Randy Borntrager, political director for PFAW:
“They want to reduce educational opportunities, deny citizenship to those born in this country, make it harder to obtain health care, and hurt workers by maintaining low wages—all issues that directly affect Latinos. Latino voters deserve to know about Deal and Perdue’s track record.”
The script – at least according to the subtitles:
Georgia Republicans want to destroy our future.
Governor Nathan Deal wants to prevent our DREAMers from attending the top colleges, and he’s voted to deny citizenship to immigrant children born here.
And the candidate for Senate, David Perdue is also against us. He doesn’t want to increase the minimum wage!
We must vote against these Republicans to achieve a better future. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/7/14
Click here to donate and get involved with Nunn and Carter's campaigns:
http://www.michellenunn.com/
https://carterforgovernor.com/