Democrat Jason Carter's campaign has undergone a distinct messaging change this week in the wake of the news that Georgia's jobless rate is the second-worst in the nation.
The Atlanta state senator has long centered his message on the need to better fund education and pounced on each flare-up in the ethics case swirling around Gov. Nathan Deal. But his campaign has unleashed a three-day blitz attacking the Republican's stewardship of the economy in the wake of the bad news.
He attacked Deal's embrace of a "grab bag" of economic policies on Monday and on Tuesday called for a new tax to improve infrastructure to unburden Georgia of the transportation "anchor" weighing businesses down.
His third-day message was what his campaign touted as a three-page takedown to Deal's defense of the jobless numbers. The governor told reporters that Georgia's economy was "holding its own" and pointed to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures that showed Georgia added more than 70,000 jobs last year.
Said Deal: “You’ve got to keep in mind that there are states that have lower unemployment rates than ours, but their workforce drops. We are a growing state and people continue to come here.”
Team Carter's takedown said that the state labor force decreased in July by more than 4,800 workers and cite statistics that Georgia added only 9,000 or so workers since January.
“With more than 370,000 Georgians out of work, Gov. Deal is making excuses,” said Carter. “Gov. Deal is showing once again that he just doesn’t get it. Georgia families are facing declining wages and a terrible jobs market, and Gov. Deal is patting himself on the back."
There was also a deluge of tweets from Carter's official campaign. Among them:
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