Jason Carter's latest television ad in the governor's race mirrors his new focus on the campaign trail -- shellacking Gov. Nathan Deal on recent economic data.
Here's the transcript for the above ad, released just now:
Narrator: "Really? Then why is Georgia ranked 51st, worst in the nation for unemployment? Middle class incomes are falling. We have 9,000 fewer teachers in Georgia's classrooms, 80,000 fewer HOPE recipients in Georgia's colleges, 380,000 Georgians looking for work."
Gov. Deal: "Now my focus on job creation is paying off."
Narrator: "Governor Deal, we can't go any lower."
Our AJC colleague Jeremy Redmon was with Carter today when he met with laid off workers at the Silver Skillet in Atlanta. Redmon's dispatch notes that Carter has moved from an education emphasis to a heaping dose of economics:
"What you see now is an economic development policy that is based on cutting the ribbon at giant, one-off deals," Carter said. He also said: "The governor wants to argue about data. He wants to make excuses."
That was a reference to how Deal has faulted the reliability of the federal government's jobless figures — which are released each month. Deal has also pointed to more encouraging news about the state's economy. Last month, for example, 24,700 new jobs were added to Georgia payrolls. Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped 27 percent. And the state tallied more than 4.1 million jobs — the most since June 2008.
On Thursday, Deal's campaign slammed Carter for missing a vote in the state Senate on permitting a ballot question on a constitutional amendment that would cap Georgia's income tax rate at 6 percent. He was the sole member of the Senate to miss that vote. The measure ultimately passed despite a Democratic rift. Carter voted in favor of an earlier version.
"Under Gov. Deal, we'll continue to see strong job growth and stay the No. 1 place in the nation in which to do business," Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said in an email. "Jason's plan — what little of it there is — is bad for jobs."
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