David Perdue’s lesson in damage control | TheHill

The wealthy businessman had been starting to build a lead in public polls and it appeared that he was on his way towards winning a spot in the two-person primary runoff. But that was before video surfaced of him attacking former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s (R ) qualifications.

“It’s a major gaffe,” Georgia Republican strategist and state blogger Todd Rehm told The Hill. “I think five candidates have conceivable paths to a runoff and David Perdue, who had the clearest path, just made his a lot more complicated.”

Footage obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week from a January GOP captured the now-infamous slight.

I mean, there’s a high school graduate in this race, OK? I’m sorry, but these issues are so much broader, so complex,” said Perdue. “There’s only one candidate in this race that’s ever lived outside the United States. How can you bring value to a debate about the economy unless you have any understanding about the free enterprise system and how — what it takes to compete in the global economy?”

The remarks drew rebukes from across the political spectrum, including an entire segment on Fox News’s “The Five” ripping Perdue.

“One of the reasons you have a primary is to figure out who’s going to be your best candidate to run against an opponent. I think the voters in Georgia who are going to vote in the Republican primary have their answer: Not him,” former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said on the show.

Now, his wayward comments have injected additional element of chaos into an already-unstable GOP field. Establishment Republicans, worried about nominating a flawed candidate like Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) or Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), have been crossing their fingers that Perdue — a cousin to former Gov. Sonny Perdue — and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) would make it to the runoff.

But now Perdue’s stock has fallen while Handel’s may be rising, shaking up the field ahead of the May 20 primary.

via David Perdue’s lesson in damage control | TheHill.