Dublin, Ga. - Democrat Jason Carter, one of only a few white males on the party's statewide slate, tied himself on Saturday to the minority candidates who make up much of the ticket - and the diverse group of supporters that packed the Dublin meeting hall where his party's convention was held.
"I'm proud to look out at a room that looks like Georgia. And it looks like the future of Georgia," he told a crowd that organizers said topped 1,000 participants. "A multiracial, multicultural future of Georgia where nobody gets left behind, where nobody gets left out. And this party today is the only party that represents that future."
The Atlanta state senator has pulled few punches since getting into the race against Gov. Nathan Deal late last year. But he unveiled new critiques of the incumbent Republican that he will feature the final three months of the campaign.
He cast the governor as a self-absorbed politician who has worked to enrich himself while failing middle class residents. The rankings that put Georgia as the top place to do business may sound nice, he said, but make little difference to regular folks.
"The governor just doesn't get it," said Carter. "It seems like he's just not paying attention in the lives of everyday Georgians, the lives of the middle class or frankly the businesses."
He added, to wild applause: "If this is the best that the current governor can do, we need a new governor."
Carter spoke little of the ethics questions swirling around the governor that his campaign and surrogates have eagerly pounced on. Instead, he honed in on his pledge to boost education funding in Georgia.
"What is the single most important investment that our state can make in the future? Education," he said. "The very first priorities that we will all have when we get elected in November - education."
Carter proposed in January to create a separate education budget free of tinkering from legislators. But in an interview after the speech, he would not specify how he would increase schools funding. Said Carter:
"That's the false choice and the politics of the past that we're trying to put aside with our plan. The bottom line is this - everyone knows we can do a better job of running the government if we're looking for answers. There's a huge number of things we can do, if you separate education out, in order to make sure we're properly funding it. If there's political will to do it, and if there's political accountability and transparency, then we'll be able to do it."
About the Author
