Republican Sen. David Perdue will need every vote he can get if he’s to keep his Senate seat during one of Georgia’s critical runoff elections this January. But when given the opportunity to appeal directly to his constituents and show them why his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, is unfit for the job, Perdue did not even show up.
Perdue declined to debate Ossoff on Sunday evening, allowing Ossoff to participate in a one-sided televised event in which he repeated Democratic talking points that went unchallenged. Ossoff was also able to slam Perdue as an uninterested “coward” who couldn’t even be bothered to debate important topics during one of the most consequential races of this year.
“It shows an astonishing arrogance and sense of entitlement for Georgia’s senior U.S. senator to believe he shouldn’t have to debate at a moment like this in our history,” Ossoff said while standing alone onstage.
During a different portion of the debate in which candidates typically pose questions to each other, Ossoff said it’s “a strange situation to be asking a question of a sitting United States senator who is not here to debate as he asks for the votes of the people to be reelected.”
Perdue’s presence alone would have undercut this narrative. His absence, however, only served to confirm it.
The Republican senator backed out of Sunday evening’s debate, as he did with another debate scheduled for before Election Day, after a fiery October debate during which Ossoff called Perdue a “crook.” In a statement, Perdue’s office said he declined to attend this week’s debate so that he could join President Trump’s rally instead.
“As lovely as another debate listening to Jon Ossoff lie to the people of Georgia sounds, Senator Perdue will not be participating in the WSB-TV debate but will instead join the 45th president, Donald J. Trump, for a huge Get-Out-The-Vote rally in Northwest Georgia,” Perdue spokesman John Burke said in a statement.
Perdue’s office also argued Ossoff’s lone performance was an “epic failure” and that it proved “just how unserious — and unprepared — he really is.”
These are all points Perdue could have made directly had he debated Ossoff on stage. Perdue would have been able to sell himself and point to Ossoff’s political inexperience and left-leaning agenda as reasons why Georgians should not trust or elect Ossoff.
True, Perdue has been doing this exact thing repeatedly through various campaign events and attack ads. But a direct, face-to-face debate would have been an excellent chance for Perdue to hit those points home.
At this point, it is unlikely that either Georgia Senate debate will make that much of a difference. Few, if any, voters in the state are still undecided. But the importance of optics should not be discounted, especially when the race is as close and important as Perdue’s. And, unfortunately, Perdue has not helped himself on this front.
