Clay Tippins: A Navy SEAL’s outsider campaign runs aground

Clay Tippins was an outsider candidate with out-of-the-box ideas that landed him a distant fourth-place finish.

While his GOP rivals in the race for governor focused on tried-and-true issues like gun rights and illegal immigration, the Capgemini executive went with an array of policy proposals that wouldn’t exactly be red meat on a typical primary voter’s plate.

He emphasized his support for an expanded medical marijuana program, despite long-held concerns from GOP voters that it would lead to the decriminalization of the drug.

He talked of retooling state government, but not of mega-tax cuts, and pledged to significantly improve third-grade reading levels in a crowded GOP field that rarely featured debate over k-12 education.

He was the only GOP candidate to refuse a pledge to sign the “religious liberty” measure, though he said he would likely support the bill anyways and accused his rivals of being weaselly by promising to sign a law they hadn’t yet seen.

And he harped on the need to eliminate sex-trafficking – a meritorious idea, for sure, but one that isn’t exactly standard fare on the campaign trail.

But that was the point of Tippins’ campaign – he ran as a true outsider who bucked conventional political norms. He entered the race with a no-frills event last year and at forums often looked viscerally uncomfortable – as if he couldn’t stand some of the people on stage with him.

(In one memorable moment, when given the chance to ask an opponent a question, he instead aimed it at the “people of Georgia.” The moderator interjected, telling him the rules dictated he must address a rival. He insisted on continuing, issuing a defiant: “I’m tired of the political games.”)

The former Navy SEAL – and he emphasized his military service at every turn – hoped to seize the same outsider aura that propelled David Perdue to a U.S. Senate win. He hired some Perdue veterans, including the adsmith who honed the senator's jean-jacketed image.