Our AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin, just filed this report from the road:
SAVANNAH – Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Michelle Nunn wrapped up a pair of volunteer projects Tuesday with an unusual plea for the 50 or volunteers gathered in Pulaski Elementary School’s library.
“We’re going to keep it completely non-political today,” Nunn said. “And I hope everyone gets out and votes, whatever your political persuasion is.”
It’s a pretty good bet the room was full of her supporters, although to stay within school district rules, the event, where Nunn and other volunteers read to children, was decidedly non-partisan. No campaign signs or stickers. No running down of her Republican opponent, David Perdue.
The word “outsourcing” wasn’t uttered.
A Savannah-Chatham County Public School System official was on hand to make sure the school and its students weren’t used for political purposes.
He can rest easy.
It was only afterward, outside school, where the true political campaign picked back up.
“Things are going great,” Nunn said. “We’re excited to be at the seven-day mark. We feel like we have the momentum and the energy.”
Told that a new SurveyUSA poll put Perdue a few points ahead, Nunn was unmoved.
“We have a competitive race,” she said. “The polls are going to go up and down. We’ve had five polls the last few days showing us ahead. We have thousands of volunteers out, not just reading to children, but knocking on doors, doing phone banking, letting people know to lift up their voice.”
After both the Savannah stop and a similar one earlier in Augusta, Nunn mentioned the need to increase the minimum wage as one of her top priorities. In fact, in a brief interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” Nunn said a minimum wage bill would be the first bill she’ll introduce if she’s elected.
But Perdue's business past remains a touchstone for the Nunn campaign, which on Tuesday released this lengthy Internet ad it has put some money behind -- a compendium of interviews from former North Carolina employees of Pillowtex, where Perdue for a brief period was CEO. You've already seen much of it:
Tuesday's two service events served to highlight Nunn's experience as CEO of the Points of Light organization and, before that, Hands on Atlanta, both of which serve to mass volunteers for various service projects.
“The antidote to cynicism,” Nunn said in Augusta, “is to sit down and read with children.”
After the Augusta event, Nunn told reporters that she spoke with several teachers at Craig Houghton Elementary School about what they need to help their students learn.
“They mentioned all kinds of things,” Nunn said. “Not one said we need to eradicate the Department of Education.”
That was a direct shot at Perdue’s vow to “dismantle unnecessary federal bureaucracy,” and his vague answer to a recent debate question as to whether he wants to eliminate the U.S. education agency.
***
From Daniel Malloy, with David Perdue:
GAINESVILLE -- David Perdue, meanwhile, streaked across North Georgia continuing his drumbeat against President Barack Obama – and conversations with rally-goers reveal they, too, are voting against Obama as much as Nunn.
The Republican sprinkles his stump speech with anecdotes of people he meets on the road who are struggling with the Veterans Administration or health insurance premium increases. And it all comes back to his core aim in these final days, to convince the converted to get more like-minded conservatives to the polls.
"We win this election if we do one thing, and we've got to learn from the past. In 2012 we didn't get our vote out. If we did, had we done that, we'd have President Romney right now instead of President Obama, and think what a different world this would be: ISIS, Ebola, lack of leadership in foreign policy, gutting our military, Obamacare, higher taxes, Common Core, amnesty. By the way did I say amnesty? Come on guys, we would be in a different world."
Peg Rhone, of Dawsonville, saw her health insurance double in price this year. She blamed the increase on the Affordable Care Act -- and said that was enough to convince her to vote for Perdue.
"Anybody who's going to rubber stamp Obamacare, I'm outta here like Vladimir," Rhone said.
Perdue, though he could more easily afford it than most Georgians, had to change his individual health insurance policy because of Obamacare, too.
"Bonnie and I had our insurance canceled," Perdue said in Gainesville. "We have to have maternity coverage now and our rates doubled. What are you laughing at?"
He hugged his wife, now a grandmother of two, as the crowd chuckled along.
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