Sonny's barbecue
Perdue to fight with 'facts'
By JARED PUTNAM

Not to be confused with the restaurant of the same name, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue speaks at his own barbecue held at the Truman Barrett Estate in Hiawassee, where residents of Union, Towns, Rabun, and other surrounding counties came to support the governor in his bid for reelection.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue wasted no time bringing his bid for reelection to the northeast Georgia mountains, kicking off his general election campaign at a barbecue held at the Truman Barrett Estate in Hiawassee, Ga, last weekend. The event drew nearly 700 people, including a significant number of supporters from Union County.

"These folks up here are gracious," said Governor Perdue. "They're good, hard-working mountain folks, and they like straight-talking people."

Speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Union Sentinel, Governor Perdue explained that he intends to run a campaign based on his own record and suggested that his challenger, Democrat Mark Taylor, has been trying to ride the coattails of what Senator Zell Miller did as governor of Georgia.

Performing the national anthem.

Specifically, Governor Perdue criticized Lieutenant Governor Taylor for taking credit for the implementation of the Hope Scholarship program.

"The man who designed, developed, and created the Hope Scholarship is standing on this hill tonight," said Governor Perdue, referring to Senator Miller. "If you have listened to television the last three months you would think it was somebody else."

Senator Miller, who acknowledged that he voted in the Republican primary for the first time last week, said that Governor Perdue has earned reelection. "I'm for Sonny Perdue because I think he's made an excellent governor. I think a great deal of him not just politically, but also as a man. I believe in him."

Asked just how big of a role he intends to take in Governor Perdue's reelection campaign, Miller said that he wants to do whatever he can to help, but is trying to get off the playing field of politics and find a seat in the stands. "One of those Bob Uecker seats if I can find one," added Senator Miller with a smile.

Pressed for his thoughts on the race between Governor Perdue and Lieutenant Governor Taylor, Senator Miller remained light-hearted. "I'm not an analyst. If I'm going to analyze anything I'm going to put it in a book and try to sell it to you," joked the former legislator.

Governor Perdue said that while Senator Miller's endorsement will not be "the crux" of

Performing his campaign, he welcomes his support. "He tells it like it is," said the governor.

Governor Perdue, while jovial with the crowd that had come to hear him, remained very serious when it came to specific issues. The governor said that he was turned off by the hard hitting campaign ads in the Democrat primary race between Lieutenant Governor Taylor and Secretary of State Cathy Cox. "I took away sad disgust," said Governor Perdue, "as I think most Georgians did."

Indeed, the governor did fare better than his opponents. In Union County Governor Perdue received 2,839 votes (88.89 percent) while challenger Ray McBerry pulled in 355 votes (11.11 percent).

Lieutenant Governor Taylor pulled in a mere 1,105 votes in Union County (38.54 percent) while his opponent Cox received 1,489 votes (51.94 percent).

While Governor Perdue's tally mirrored his success statewide, Taylor found significantly more popularity outside Union County, winning the nomination by earning roughly 52 percent of the vote.

Governor Perdue said that his campaign took "great pains" to stay out of the Republican race for Lieutenant Governor between Senator Casey Cagle and opponent Ralph Reed. "That was a decision for the people of Georgia. They made that decision fairly clearly," said Perdue, referring to Senator Cagle's sizable victory.

Governor Perdue described Cagle as a "great candidate" and said he looks forward to running a campaign with him. "I think we'll be very likeminded on many issues and move Georgia forward."

In his own race Governor Perdue looks forward to a healthy, wholesome debate on the issues. "The people want to know what you're going to do. We should articulate clearly where we stand on the issues," said the governor, adding that he wants to avoid personal attacks, which he feels do not carry much weight.

That said, one reporter pointed out that she could not imagine that Governor Perdue would simply sit back and take personal attacks from Lieutenant Governor Taylor. She asked, are you prepared to answer anything that [Lieutenant Governor Taylor] throws at you with...", then she paused.

Governor Perdue finished the sentence for her. "With facts," he said. "With facts."