Jason Says Vote, Georgia!

Candidates: 

• David Perdue (R): Founder of Atlanta-based global trading firm. Prior to that, Perdue was the former CEO of Dollar General (2003-2007) and Pillowtex (2002-2003). Senate campaign site. 
• Michelle Nunn (D): Executive Director of Points of Light. Founder and Executive Director of Hands on Atlanta. Senate campaign website.

Jason's Bottom Line:

• This open-Senate seat is the result of the retirement of Senator Chambliss (R-GA) - losing us the only Saxby in Congress. After a blistering primary, Perdue emerged as the nominee - arguing that his business acumen was the right recipe to turn around Georgia's economy. Nunn, the daughter of former Georgia U.S. Senator Sam Nunn has staked out a middle of the road campaign capitalizing on the unpopularity of the Republican Governor Nathan Deal (who is being challenged by former-President Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jason Carter. 
• David Perdue was running a textbook Republican campaign in Georgia - highlighting his business background and know how. That was great to win the blistering primary (where Perdue had to stake out pretty conservative positions to compete), but when it comes to the general election - Mr. Perdue has thus far failed to explain his record of outsourcing and cutting American jobs. Particularly harmful was a deposition by Mr. Perdue expressing how proud he is of his record of outsourcing jobs. 
• Michelle Nunn on the other hand, is putting her record of community service and family service as a stark contrast to Mr. Perdue's business record. Nunn has remained in the middle on most policy issues - and is running as a populist in an increasingly purple state. She's working hard to register new voters, especially women and minorities, but the Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp has been heavy handed in allowing these voters to register (launching bogus investigations and trying to disenfranchise voters - especially African Americans). 

Issues:

Access to Affordable Health Care

• David Perdue: Mr. Perdue's policy stance..."We need to repeal ObamaCare." He believes that the ACA is "an overreaching federal program that will actually reduce the quality of health care and increase costs. Potentially worse, it has already been shown to be a deterrent to full-time job creation. The consequences of politicians passing a massive bill without reading it continue to emerge." The "full-repeal of Obamacare" mantra wasn't always the case - in March Mr. Perdue said that the responsible thing to do with ObamaCare is fix it - not repeal it. Once the conservative backlash came, Mr. Perdue quickly reversed course from his commonsense and reverted to the FoxNews fold once again. Perdue also supported the decision to shut down the government to defund the ACA. 
• Michelle Nunn: Nunn looks at the ACA pragmatically; saying, "how do we fix the things that aren't working? And how do we build on the things that are?" She also believes in strengthening Medicare and Medicaid. 
• Winner: Michelle Nunn
• As a Senator, I believe Nunn would be as pragmatic in her approach to solving health care inequity as she has been in her work with the poor and disadvantaged in Atlanta. 

Education/Student Debt

• David Perdue: David Perdue's entire public stance on education..."dismantle unnecessary bureaucracy; innovate at the local level." That, apparently, includes defunding the Department of Education. We don't know how Perdue feels about reducing student loan interest rates. 
• Michelle Nunn: Nunn believes that we should invest more resources in early childhood education - pointing to the statistic that for ever $1 we invest in early childhood education, Georgia children and society can see returns of $8 or more. Nunn believes in a scientific approach to education - and leaving the curriculum in the hands of the experts...keeping politicians out of the mix as much as possible. She wants to help schools recruit good teachers, keep class sizes small, empower strong principals, address issues like chronic absenteeism, and encourage parents to become more engaged in the education of their children. Nunn supports strong federal subsidies for student loans but has not taken a position on the Warren bill. 
• Winner: Michelle Nunn
• It all comes down to who is looking out for Georgia students and families. Nunn recognizes the importance of education to reaching the middle class while Perdue is relying on the same worn talking points regarding financial access to public schools and higher education.

Pay Equity/Workplace Protections/Expanding the Middle Class

• David Perdue: Perdue opposes an increase in the minimum wage, opposes the Paycheck Fairness Act, and while he was CEO of Dollar General, the company was hit with a gender discrimination lawsuit which was settled for $18.75 million.
• Michelle Nunn: Nunn supports raising the minimum wage to $10.10/hour with the support of business leaders and believes that addressing income inequality is one of her priorities. Nunn also supports the Paycheck Fairness Act - saying, "people should get paid for the work they do - not who they are." 
• Winner: Michelle Nunn
• This is as easy as looking at who stands up for workers and who stands up for the companies. 

Reproductive Rights/Women's Health Care

• David Perdue: believes that we must "...promote a culture that values life and protects the innocent, especially the unborn." 
• Michelle Nunn: is opposed to burdensome restrictions on abortion, is opposed to employers being able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally, and is endorsed by the Women's Campaign Fund. 
• Winner: Michelle Nunn
• She's looking out for the women - so women need to help her get to DC!

Marriage Equality

• David Perdue: is opposed to gay marriage. 
• Michelle Nunn: is personally supportive, but believes we should leave it up to the states to decide.
• Winner: Lean-Michelle Nunn
• She isn't perfect on the issue - but she is running to represent a deep-South state. 

Bipartisanship/Willingness to Work Across the Aisle

This is a big one for me as I deal with Congress every day for work. The willingness of a member to bridge the partisan divide is so important to get anything done. The super-partisanship of Washington is the reason that Congress is dysfunctional and has the lowest approval ratings ever. 

• David Perdue: Apparently, Perdue was unable to identify an issue on which he could work across the aisle with a Democrat in an interview. He has spent the campaign vilifying Democrats and saying that this election is about "prosecuting the failed record of the Democratic administration." 
• Michelle Nunn: Nunn said that she thinks we need "more problem-solvers," "collaboration," and "less conflict" in Washington.  
• Winner: Michelle Nunn
• We need an independently minded woman to fight back against the gridlock in D.C. Michelle Nunn is that candidate.