Perdue looks toward the end; wants to ‘finish strong'

"Finish strong. Finish the drill," he said, borrowing a phrase from Mark Richt, head football coach of Perdue's beloved Georgia Bulldogs.

But his ability to "finish the drill" could be severely hampered by a cratered state economy that has seen billions of dollars sliced from the state budget in the past two years. All of the employees with him Thursday have seen pay raises disappear and all have taken furlough days. And Perdue knows the economic situation will impact everything he does.

"I wish I could give you the certainty of where our revenue is going to be," he said. "I can't do that. We can, however, distinguish ourselves by clarity of service and commitment of making people's lives better."

Perdue famously eschews discussions of his legacy. His former communications director, Dan McLagan, said the staff often tried to get Perdue to discuss launching so-called "legacy items."

"But he would cut us off so consistently that we started referring to ‘legacy' as the ‘L-word,' which seemed to amuse him," McLagan said.

Perdue has been known to snap at reporters who ask him about it. But Perdue himself broached the subject Thursday, showing, perhaps, that what was once a verboten topic has crossed his mind.

"If I leave a legacy, it's a legacy of caring and leaving a legacy of service," he told the state employees.

Those who know him well, who have written about him, worked with him and studied him said Thursday that Perdue's choices in the final 14 months will be difficult.

One person who knows that very well is former Gov. Carl Sanders, who served from 1963 to 1967. Back then, governors were limited to one term, but the lack of time was made up by the fact that the office was much more powerful than it is today. Sanders picked the speaker of the House, the committee chairmen and was solely responsible for writing the state budget.

"I would think that's a very frustrating feeling and I would think Governor Perdue would probably have a good many frustrations because it's a different type of executive operation then when I was there," said Sanders, chairman emeritus of Troutman Sanders law firm in Atlanta.

That only becomes exacerbated as the exit sign grows nearer, Sanders said.

"When you get to that time, a lot of the legislators like to call the governor a lame duck," he said. "And I just took the position that I was not ever going to be a lame duck."

Dick Pettys, who has covered Georgia politics for nearly 40 years for The Associated Press and InsiderAdvantage, said the title of lame duck will bother Perdue to no end.

"He will hate that term," Pettys said.

Pettys believes that Perdue is well aware the numbers are against him.

"He's realizing that he doesn't have enough money to do what he wants to, let alone keep government afloat without huge, huge cuts," Pettys said.

Yet, John Watson, who served as Perdue's chief of staff from 2004 to 2007, believes the governor is finding the niche that he can carve in the next 14 months.

"My guess is that what he's feeling is bittersweet emotions," Watson said. That was likely true Thursday morning, Watson said, as he looked at the crowd of state agency directors, many of whom he personally hired.

"He can look with pride and feel pride with the organization and the types of people he's put into place and the types of leadership they've provided under him as Georgia has downsized," Watson said.

Perdue has proclaimed pride in the past over the work he's done to make state government more efficient, more customer friendly, more business-friendly. Whether Perdue seeks a legacy, that might end up being the one bestowed upon him, said David L. Sjoquist, director of fiscal research at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

Perdue focused on business practices, Sjoquist said, such as maintaining the financial health of the state. An example, he said, is that the state has maintained a top bond rating despite the economic calamity.

"It's not flashy," Sjoquist said, "but it's an important thing."

Rusty Paul, the former state Republican Party chairman who served on Perdue's transition team following the 2002 election, said legacy talk is inevitable.

Perdue never tried "to be somebody he wasn't," Paul said. "He didn't try to be the big idea's guy. I think he saw a nexus between his skill set and what the state needed most."

But that lack of a "big idea" could haunt Perdue and allow his legacy to be written in ways he might not appreciate. Many of his critics point to Perdue's Go Fish Georgia initiative, which is spending $19 million in state money to promote and enhance boating and fishing tourism. In and of itself, it might be a fine idea. But it came just as the state entered the worst recession in generations. While education was getting cut, Go Fish Georgia was fully funded. Of course, his critics typically don't point out that most of the program's money came from the sale of state bonds.

Veteran state lawmaker Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) said Perdue's legacy will be remembered more for those cuts. The cuts to schools forced local school districts to pick up a bigger share of the cost of education.

"His administration is going to be looked at the last seven years as one of unfunded mandates, of shifting taxes down to local property owners," Powell said. "He's going to be remembered in the minds of the average person for the property taxes that have gone through the roof."

But Watson sees a different ending.

"My guess is when Sonny Perdue walks out of office, he will be as popular as any statewide elected official in Georgia."

Either way, as of Friday, he has 443 days to go.