Dems use GOP to attack Perdue

Democrats are using criticism from David Perdue’s primary opponents to paint the GOP’s Senate nominee in Georgia as an out-of-touch millionaire and crony capitalist.

{mosads}The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will soon release a new video, first shared with The Hill, compiling several criticisms from Perdue’s primary opponents that Democrats will echo in the general election campaign.

Perdue defeated Rep. Jack Kingston (Ga.) in a Tuesday night runoff election. He and Kingston previously finished as the top two Republicans in a crowded primary fight.

Perdue will face Democrat Michelle Nunn in November. He will be considered the favorite.

The DSCC video is nearly three minutes of footage of his Republican opponents attacking former Dollar General CEO Perdue in a primary debate.

“You got an insider appointment to the Ports Authority, you think people without a college degree or those who [haven’t] lived outside of the U.S. can’t handle complex issues, when Pillowtex went under you got millions while thousands lost their jobs. This sounds a whole lot more to me like an out-of-touch elitist insider,” former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) tells Perdue at one point in the video.

After saying Perdue time and again “hit the gold mine and the poor employees got the shaft,” Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) accuses Perdue of a conflict of interest for taking a job on the Ports Authority from his cousin, then-Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R).

“Blue-collar Georgians just can’t afford David Perdue,” he said.

“David, your whole lifestyle is based in a different way. You have done well for yourself. But you live in a gated community inside a gated community and have a gate at your house. How are you going to work with John Q. Public when they come up to you and have questions?” Kingston asks in the debate.

Democrats in Georgia and in the nation say they have plenty of fodder on Perdue’s business record, and that many of their strongest attacks are reinforced by Republicans saying the same thing during the sometimes-nasty GOP primary. This video illustrates a major way they’ll go after Perdue as they seek to pull off a win in Republican-leaning Georgia for Nunn.

Republicans fired back.

“We are more familiar with Michelle Nunn, her vulnerabilities, and her strategy than any other Democrat running in 2014,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Brook Hougesen. “No longer can she run from reporters and duck taking stances on important issues like ObamaCare, job growth and economic stability. Michelle Nunn isn’t ready for what lies ahead.”

This post was updated at 10:15 a.m.