A first round of notes from the Georgia Chamber gathering in Macon this afternoon:
The first speaker was U.S. Sen. David Perdue – a big deal, given that this was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Georgia Chamber.
Within the first minute and thirty-eight seconds, Perdue referred to himself twice as an “outsider.” You’ll recall that, last year, this is where Perdue met Democrat Michelle Nunn for the first time on a stage in the race for U.S. Senate. “I feel a little more comfortable standing before you today than I did last year, Perdue said.
You’ll also recall that in the GOP primary, the Georgia Chamber was very much in Jack Kingston’s corner. Which may have been why Perdue was given the top slot - by way of making amends.
-- Perdue gave a shout-out to his Senate colleague Johnny Isakson, who is up for re-election next year and would follow Perdue onstage. “I call him the Howard Baker of our time. He’s a true statesman,” Perdue said of Isakson. “He’s one of those men who sits around quietly, but when he speaks, everybody in Washington listens.”
-- During his address, Perdue declared himself disappointed with the presidential dialogue on the GOP side. So I figured it was time to ask him if he had been the recipient of any feelers vis a vis a vice presidential slot next year. What he said:
"Me? No, sir. I'm sort of an outsider. I don't think that's going to happen. But I am getting an opportunity to have an influence on the dialogue at the presidential level. I was upset that the first debate had only one real question about the economy and the debt. I've been offered opportunities to speak at a national level – I spoke at Americans For Prosperity last weekend. I was the only senator invited that wasn't running for anything."
And yet, this very afternoon, Perdue's staff made sure that reporters across Georgia saw one review of their boss' AFP speech that included these lines:
"....[A] dynamic speech speech that left many wondering why he isn't running for president. Perdue, a relatively unknown Senator from Georgia, got a warmer reception from the thousands of assembled conservative grassroots activists than Jeb Bush did"
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