Herman Cain last month informally gave an endorsement to U.S. Senate candidate David Perdue, stating “you have a businessman who, like me when I ran, had never been in office, he is truly the outsider, and his name is David Perdue.” The radio host went on, saying, “the choice, in my mind, boils down to – do you want a congressman or do you want an accomplished businessman who has turned a company, he has run corporations, he knows how to solve problems.” The support is much welcomed by Perdue, who is running as the ‘outsider’ in the race, a title that all GOP candidates seemingly want these days, (no small surprise considering the approval levels facing Congress). Although not technically a formal endorsement, Cain joins a laundry list of well known figures of both media and political backgrounds who have thrown whatever sway their words may carry into the race.
Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel boasts an endorsement from popular RedState.com blogger and radio host Erick Erickson, who like Cain joined the candidate of his choice on Monday, traveling throughout the state doing last minute campaigning before Tuesday’s primary. Not to be outdone, Jack Kingston holds an endorsement from wildly popular tv/radio host Sean Hannity, who called Kingston, “a solid Ronald Reagan Republican and my choice in the Georgia Senate race”.
On the political side, Handel received much publicized endorsements from former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who visited Georgia in April, as well as potential 2016 Presidential candidate Rick Santorum and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Perdue of course has cousin and former Governor Sonny Perdue in his camp, a huge boon due to Sonny’s connections and still partially intact political team in south Georgia. Kingston received the much valued support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, perhaps solidifying him as the ‘establishment’ candidate but also providing the most by way of financial aid. The Chamber poured a significant amount of money into a series of well-produced TV spots over the past month.
But the question, as always, is how much do these endorsements really matter?
In a way the endorsements themselves paint a picture of the angle each candidate is coming from. Perdue is the ‘Washington outsider’, a coveted role that has seen him remain steady atop the polls and a near lock to reach the runoff. Kingston is the ‘establishment candidate’, but the lack of endorsements from sitting House members shows an attempt to distance himself from the general disdain the public has for Congress as a whole at the moment. Handel then, is somewhere in the middle, playing off the strength that always comes from being a woman candidate by bringing in the polarizing Palin and well respected Brewer, and a late endorsement from Santorum, (who did not fare well in Georgia in 2012) should help bring in some votes from the religious right. The three candidates in truth don’t vary much on most key issues, so endorsements also serve as a way to differentiate between one another.
The cards though, are all on the table. All the speculation over low turnout, botched tv campaigns, and supposed gaffes comes to an end when the polls close at 7:00pm. How much these endorsements actually helped, (or hurt) their candidates will be revealed in a very tangible way as the last votes trickle in from Cobb County and we see which two candidates will square off in what figures to be a nasty runoff. It’s the kind of finality that feels ‘right’ after months of polls, debates, and blog posts, and the best, (or worst) part is, we get to turn around and do it all over again.
