David Perdue's closing attack on Jack Kingston in the U.S. Senate runoff takes on the topic of immigration and targets the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
After Perdue described his testy interview with the Chamber this week, he's gone all out with an accusation that "Kingston's pro-amnesty vote is bought and paid for" with the $2.3 million the Chamber has spent on ads boosting Kingston's candidacy.
The Chamber supported the Senate-passed immigration bill last year -- which has not moved at all in the U.S. House -- but Kingston has repeatedly said he would not vote for the bill. Both candidates have said there should be no more lawmaking until the southwestern border is fully secure.
Yet Kingston also has alleged that Perdue secretly supports "amnesty" by pointing out that a subsidiary of the National Retail Foundation supported an immigration reform bill in 2006 when Perdue was on the NRF board.
For its part, the Chamber says the Senate bill's 13-year path to citizenship combined with paying a penalty and back taxes does not qualify as "amnesty." The Chamber's Rob Engstrom wrote in an email:
"In the final days of the primary and in his latest sign of desperation, David Perdue is falling behind in the polls and has chosen to lie about the Chamber's position on immigration. The fact is that Perdue sought the Chamber's endorsement, he didn't receive it, and this is just more sour grapes. Jack Kingston is the only candidate who has a demonstrated conservative record and the courage to govern. We urge Georgians to support Jack Kingston at the polls on Tuesday July 22."
If that bridge wasn't already burned, it's in ashes now.
