Ted Cruz didn't know the half of it. Georgia's 2014 election season has taken a deep, 40-year dive into the 1970s:
-- The first bit of evidence is Democrat Jason Carter’s retro-themed campaign song, courtesy of Atlanta’s popular cover band Yacht Rock Review.
As described by the AJC’s Jeremy Redmon, it’s a butterfly collar and bubble-filled update of Gene Marshall’s 1976 song, “Jimmy Carter Says Yes.” In Yacht Rock’s version, the singer rides in an open convertible past the state Capitol while he’s assaulted with a bubble machine.
The subtext: Welcome back, Carter.
-- Then we have the new attack line from David Perdue, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, unveiled at a stump speech in Blue Ridge. We've usually heard him try to separate Michelle Nunn from her popular, moderate father. But after a discussion of the wrongs of President Barack Obama, Perdue went for Sam:
"We’re being sold the same bill of goods by my opponent. She’s trying to say ‘Oh no, I’m going to go to Washington and work together with the other side like my daddy did.’
"I want the Panama Canal back, y’all. You know, I remember. I remember in 2008 when Sam Nunn stood up and gave on TV – and it’s on YouTube right now, you can see it. Go look at what Sam Nunn said about our commander in chief. He said Barack Obama will open up a new day for America. He’ll protect our military. He’ll be good to our veterans."
For the millennials out there, in 1978, Sam Nunn voted to give the Panama Canal back to Panama -- backing then-President Jimmy Carter -- in a move that was later seen as highly damaging to his presidential hopes.
-- Last on the nostalgia wagon is this robo-call from crooner Pat Boone on behalf of Perdue:
The audio message is the work of the 60-plus Association, which is the conservative alternative to AARP. It’s put $18,000 behind phone calls the Republican's behalf, according to a new FEC filing.
The choice of Pat Boone to vouch for a candidate touting himself as "The Outsider" is more than ironic. Boone was the parentally approved antidote to a rebellious Elvis Presley. And more of a ‘50s thing, really. Who can forget “April Love”?
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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is out with a new TV attack on Republican Perdue. And again, outsourcing is the topic:
In Sunday's Atlanta Press Club debate, Perdue rebuffed suggestions that his construction of operations for Sara Lee overseas and the loss of jobs in Georgia were linked: "There was no connection to any jobs, any connections to any companies here in Georgia. That was an entirely different division. It had nothing to do with what we were doing."
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Georgia's fling with Sunday voting is done. Mark Rountree of the GOP-oriented Landmark Communications says probably had no major impact on statewide contests. His analysis:
Once compiled, 12,708 voters were listed as having voted on Sunday.
Based on current polling conducted by Landmark Communications as well as based on election results from demographics groups in previous election, it is our analysis that Sunday voting resulted in approximately 5,500 net additional statewide votes for Democrats than Republicans.
However, many of these voters would have also likely voted on Tuesday, meaning that the large majority of these Democratic net votes are simply the result of "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul."
Our conclusion is that, unless a statewide election is decided by around 1,000 votes, then Sunday voting will not have been decisive.
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The Washington Free Beacon's Andrew Stiles got hold of another Democratic mailer in Georgia targeted at minority voters with a message that sounds like it was ripped from a Republican stump speech.
Says the mailer: "It's up to us to vote to protect President Obama and his legacy as the first African-American president."
It's something Michelle Nunn wouldn't say in a million years on the campaign trail, as she presents herself as a moderate who disagrees with Obama on various issues.
It also gets at the double-edged sword of all of Republicans' Obama-related advertising against Nunn -- it could help inspire the Democratic base.
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The New York Times has a Cartersville dateline on its front page today for a look at Perdue and outsourcing. Here's the top from Jonathan Weisman's story:
A self-proclaimed Mr. Fix-It from the private sector, Mr. Perdue has found that his credentials as a senior executive at Reebok, Sara Lee, Haggar Clothing, Pillowtex and Dollar General have worked against him in the closing days of his race against Michelle Nunn, a Democrat.
Also, this paragraph caught our eye:
Democratic officials looked at the strong-jawed executive with the soft Georgia accent and saw a political outsider who could become a senator from central casting. He has "presidential timber," one Democratic strategist said.
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The folks at Emory University have offered up this video clip of Merle Black, the longtime political scientist, with his analysis of advertising in the U.S. Senate race:
Black is pretty rough on the Republican:
"The only thing that the Perdue campaign has done that I think has been helpful to them, is by presenting Michelle Nunn in the context of national politics, support for President Obama. The strongest ad that they've done on that was done, I think, by the Republican Senate committee."
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We've heard a lot of introductions on the campaign trail. But none was quite like state Sen. Charlie Bethel's welcoming of Gov. Nathan Deal to his hometown of Dalton last night.
The Republican's speech began with a history lesson of John Stark, the Revolutionary War hero who was famed for urging fellow Americans to "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils" in a letter shortly before his death.
It pivoted to an extended critique of low voter turnout numbers that are "wholly disrespectful to the legacy we inherited" and then to a plea to support conservatives over Jason Carter, a fellow state senator who he said was a long-time friend.
"He believes in robust and expansive and growing government," he said. "And I disagree with him. Don't be deceived by the idea that there's not a lot of difference. There's a lot of difference. And that matters."
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As the election nears, the attacks on Democrat Jason Carter's Chicago upbringing is ratcheting up. Here's a taste:
Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald: "Jason Carter's from Chicago. The only smart thing he's done is move here from there."
And Deal again: "Maybe it's his Chicago upbringing that makes him think that we don't know how to do things. I've got a message: We do."
Just FYI, Carter was born at Emory University hospital, and graduated from Duke University and University of Georgia School of Law.
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