By Michael McAuliff WASHINGTON — If Georgia voters are looking for someone to cool the partisan rancor in Washington, Republican Senate candidate David Perdue served notice Sunday night that he’s not their man.
He’s more interested in attacking the other side, he said in a debate with Democratic contender Michelle Nunn and Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford.
Perdue’s admission was sparked in a portion of the debate in which candidates asked each other questions. Nunn asked what the others would do to end gridlock and dysfunction in Washington, and in the process accused Perdue of having no interest of working with members of the other party, perpetuating partisan gridlock.
“I just don’t believe that it’s one party or the other. I think it has to be both sides coming together,” Nunn said. “I think that we do have a very clear contrast in terms of how we see breaking through that dysfunction. I don’t think it’s about prosecuting the other party; I think it’s about problem solving.”
“I disagree,” Perdue answered. “When you have a failed presidency, you have to prosecute it,” he said.
“We deserve better than we’re getting right now,” he added. “When we look at the direction of this country, we’ve got to make a hard right-hand turn. The direction of this country is failing.”
Perdue is narrowly leading Nunn in polls of the contest, with HuffPost Pollster’s Senate model giving him a 2-point lead.