Like a lot of people, I’m gazing in awe at the “outsourcing” brouhaha in the Georgia Senate race, which is fascinating because David Perdue entirely brought it on himself. That actually kind of figures, as I observed at the Washington Monthly:
In the endless argument between political scientists and “traditional” political people about how elections are decided, I’m with the Poli Sci crowd more often than not, and don’t much believe individual “moments” in campaigns usually matter all that much. But there are obviously exceptions; nobody really thinks Todd Akin was done in by “fundamentals” in 2012.
And so, I suggested a while ago that there are two Senate candidates this year who strike me as especially capable of delivering the kind of gaffe that could blow up a campaign: Joni Ernst of Iowa and David Perdue of Georgia. Turns out Ernst’s problem is less what she is saying now (which is very little other than “farmer! farmer!”) than the crazy stuff she’s said in the recent past And that’s partially true for Perdue as well, insofar as his latest problem emerged from something Politico (operating on a tip?) found in a 2005 deposition wherein he allowed as how he’d spent most of his career “outsourcing.”
But then redeeming my faith in him as a gaffe-master, Perdue compounded the error by saying in the present tense that he was “proud” of his involvement in outsourcing, and Michelle Nunn’s campaign has not wasted a moment in exploiting the comment….
[T]hose who remember the palpable relief Republicans everywhere expressed when Perdue made a runoff spot and then won the nomination, the latest developments are kinda rich. Wouldn’t it be funny if GOPers ultimately wished they’d had Paul Broun or Phil Gingrey on the ballot in November?
In the meantime, Perdue’s making me look prescient, and making his backers look for more mud to throw at his opponent.