Myrtle Beach, S.C. -- U.S. Sen. David Perdue on Saturday told several hundred Tea Party activists here that the United States cannot stand another four years of Democratic rule.
"I don't care who the final candidate is," Perdue told the S.C. Tea Party Coalition Convention. "We've got to make sure our candidate wins this year. I don't know our republic can stand another four years. We have to make sure Hillary Rhodam Clinton has not one more night in our White House."
It was the climax applause line to a 20-minute speech that focused mostly on the national debt, national security and the gridlock that plagues D.C.
"I’ve been up there a year," Perdue said. "It’s perverse how broken it is. We’re up against a political class. Sixty United States senators have been in elected office up there for more than 20 years. Thirty-six been in elected office up there one way or another for 30 years. There’s our problem. We’ve got to change that."
The Georgia Republican is one of only four politicians not running for president on the convention agenda. Two of the others are locals: U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan and Attorney General Alan Wilson. The third is U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows from neighboring North Carolina.
Late Friday we told you Perdue was coming and pondered whether it, and other national speeches he's given of late, signaled a potential vice presidential bid. While Perdue on Saturday did nothing to fan or extinguish those flames, he did start off by declaring, "I'm not running for anything."
Afterward, Perdue said he knows his message closely aligns with the tea party's and the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.
"I know what a lot of these people are concerned about," he said. "I share their concerns. It's what pulled me into this crazy political universe in the first place, so I was very energized by the crowd, they're all very active, grassroots folks trying to change the direction of our country."
But, Perdue said it's also important that the message be delivered in a manner that encourages solution, not one that generates more divisiveness.
"It's the question of the next 10 months," he said. "I'm in business. You can't afford to just be mad. You have to be constructive. It's one thing to be concerned, it's another to be involved in the solution."
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