Perdue: Trump Candidacy Shows It’s Time to Change the Direction of the Country

Georgia Senator David Perdue, who is serving as the honorary chairman of the Georgia delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, was asked about the mood of the Georgia delegation, what he expects at the convention, and what he sees as presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s strong points by C-SPAN’s Steve Scully on Sunday afternoon.

Senator Perdue noted that Georgia is one of 17 states the the Trump campaign has said are very important. He also predicted that Trump will win the Peach State by a wide margin. “Our mission today,” Perdue said, “is that we want to take Georgia out of play. We want to win Georgia early. We want to demonstrate Georgia is not in play so we can divert resources to other states that will have closer elections.”

When asked what he wanted to see as a result of the convention, Senator Perdue said it was important to show the differences between the Trump-Pence ticket and the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. “I think [Trump and Pence] make a great team to point out the failures of the Obama administration, the failures of a potential Hillary Clinton administration, and then really talk about their vision for the future of America. That’s what people back home want to see.” Perdue stressed that the GOP has the high ground as election day approaches. “The failures of the progressive movement on the working class, the working middle class, and the working poor is profound.” Perdue continued, “If we educate people about that, this election won’t even be close.”

Like Donald Trump, Senator Perdue positioned himself as an outsider during his senate race two years ago. Team Trump recognized that, and used many of the same strategies to defeat Ted Cruz in the primaries. Perdue said that he continues to offer advice to Trump’s campaign. The main piece of advice was to keep talking about how the country needs someone who can take the nation in a different direction, especially in the areas of global security and economic policy.

Speaking about the mood of the Georgia delegation, the senator said he was encouraged. He pointed out that it included two 18 year-olds. “Our delegation is united. We’re going to go to work, and we’re going to make sure we close it out for Donald Trump in Georgia.”