Perdue: Runoff is a fight for freedom

Published 3:29 pm Friday, December 18, 2020

Erik Yabor/Times-EnterpriseU.S. Sen. David Perdue waits to be recognized prior to his speech.

CAIRO — Georgians are in a fight for their lives and their freedoms come January 5, U.S. Sen. David Perdue said Friday.

Perdue, currently locked in a reelection battle against Democrat Jon Ossoff in a runoff next month that could determine control of the Senate, warned supporters at the Grady County Republican Party headquarters in Cairo that Democrats want to change America, and not for the better.

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The Republican senator, who has served since 2015, said Democrats will do away with the Senate filibuster to prevent Republicans from blocking liberal legislation, add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states, abolish the electoral college, allow illegal immigrants to vote, eliminate private healthcare insurance, slash military spending, pack the Supreme Court with left-leaning justices and defund police across the country.

“They want to change America,” he said. “They do not like America. They hate America.”

Republicans can look at troubled nations such as Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and North Korea to see that Democrats’ vision for America doesn’t work, Perdue said.

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Freedom, Perdue said in quoting President Ronald Reagan, is never more than a generation from extinction.

“You can lose it in a heartbeat,” he said. “Guys, we can lose it right now on January 5. Right here.”

Perdue said the liberties Americans take for granted are not inherited from one generation to the next, but are fought for at crucial moments in history. The senator said January 5 will be one of those moments.

“It’s our time,” he said. “We have to fight for it, protect it and pass it on so the next generation can do the same thing, or one day in our sunset years, according to Reagan, we’ll be sitting around telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in America when women and men were free.” 

Perdue urged supporters to get out and vote early, and reminded the audience of about 100 that he already received more votes than Ossoff in the November 3 election, even if he fell just shy of the 50-percent threshold to prevent a runoff.

“We’re out here making sure that we don’t slip up and we get every vote that counts,” he said.

Perdue also encouraged his supporters to back fellow Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Perdue’s de facto running mate who will be facing Democrat Raphael Warnock in a January 5 runoff of her own.

The Senate will be locked in a 50-50 tie should both Perdue and Loeffler lose next month, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the crucial tie-breaking vote to give Democrats a slim majority in that chamber.

Perdue said the consequences of a Democratic Senate would be disastrous. 

“We’re in here for the fight of our lives,” he said. “It’s bigger than us. It’s about the future direction of our country.”

Perdue expressed confidence that he would his reelection bid.

“We’re going to win Georgia and save America,” he said.

Perdue’s visit to Cairo came the same day his rival Ossoff had his own campaign stop in nearby Thomasville. Perdue’s visit is one of 125 stops on a cross-state bus tour that will keep running until the day of the election.

The senator said he felt energy levels at recent campaign stops have been high.

“I’m very encouraged,” he said. “Everywhere we go we have very active crowds like this who are very knowledgable, and not only that, but they’re out working. They’re getting their friends and family to go vote.”

Perdue said prior to departing that he expects a breakthrough on a second COVID-19 relief bill sometime this weekend.

“We’re really close,” he said. “Both sides are really trying to get this done.”