Sonny Perdue

And he, we had a big strategy meeting to discuss a press conference, and, um, I don't even remember the subject.

It was something pushing back on Governor Perdue's budget maybe or, or some initiative.

And I didn't love the way we were approaching it or, um, the, the sort of tactics and the message we were thinking about employing, but I didn't say anything.

And he went around the room asking for feedback, and I just sort of kept my mouth shut.

That was one of those times where I, you know, my anxiety wakes me up at, like, 4:50 or whatever.

I look at my phone, and I see the headline, like, "Trump says he'll sell weapons to China," and I think, "Huh, that's gotta be, like, a bogus leak." And then I realized that it was the US ambassador to China, uh, former Governor Perdue, who had said it on the record on some TV show.

[laughs] It's just like, it's a crazy thing.

It's like they're gonna use these weapons to invade Taiwan.

They should subpoena people around her because this...

It's like this is just a taste of the corruption that's going on.

Like, if the ambassador to Greece is acting like this, can you imagine what the inner circle is doing, the people like Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and Howard Lutnick and the guys with real juice and political power?

I'm gonna put some of these things in front of you, and I'm daring you to tell me which of these is crazier or not crazier than ordering strikes on alleged Venezuela drug boats and going to war with Iran without...

That was a very challenging time, but I look back on it, and it was also one of the most rewarding times in my entire career.

You really have to step into the role and the responsibilities that you're given, especially when you're serving in the government, and this is one that I'm very honored to be able to have overseen, of course, with Secretary Perdue, who was Secretary of Ag at the time, and the rest of our team at USDA.

Yeah, the, a lot of disinformation floating around about that, and I do feel like the meatpacking plants were kind of the focal point during this time of crisis.

You know, what do you think that the average farmer, rancher, and consumer during this time wasn't seeing, Mindi?

And you know, yesterday we had a call and I was like, "You just never knew you were gonna know all these details about the meat industry and inspection," you know? So but at the end of the day, I just, I appreciate her and her support of food safety and our programs, and, and so it's so refreshing to work with her.

I've had the opportunity to work with two great leaders as secretary.

Sonny Perdue was amazing.

He was awesome.

But I'm looking for the guy that's not gonna talk to people that they're gonna be in a situation where they need to make f- $7 or $15 an hour.

I want the guy in charge to go the same line with Sonny Perdue, Nathan Deal, Brian Kemp, who has created an opportunity, opportunities in the State of Georgia for people to make as much as they possibly can.

That's why we like Rick Jackson.

Look, I like Keisha Lance Bottoms.

We actually, when we were thinking of things to show during election day, there was debate over like, is this just gonna be a landslide? Which is shocking, think of Georgia.

Think of Georgia and how ruby red it's been since Sonny Perdue changed the size, since one of the governors changed the size of the Confederate flag on the state flag.

And now it is John Ossoff is a incumbent who looks like he's going to have a pretty easy walk back to his office in DC.

It definitely seems like it.

Yeah.

Chuck, um, we have to point out to our listeners what they, many of them already know, and that is the constitutional and offices in this state have been held in a lock grip, with very few exceptions, by Republicans since Sonny Perdue was elected governor back in 2002.

So, um, it, I think Republicans feel somewhat optimistic that they're gonna be able to control a lot of those down-ballot races, Chuck.

Yeah, I, I think it's clear that a lot of these down-ballot races probably will go Republican because as, the lower you get on the ballot, the closer these people are to you, uh, the more likelihood that you might know them, they affect your daily life.

Chuck Cook, one of the things that's got to have been frustrating for Democrats is the way in which Republicans have controlled so much of the apparatus of state government.

Of course, we had Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, uh, win those US Senate seats, which is hugely, uh, important.

But, you know, I go back to 20, uh, 02 when you had, uh, Sonny Perdue in an upset victory over Roy Barnes.

Roy Barnes became the last Democratic governor of the state.

Our guest today has seen the governor's office from the inside.

Eric Tanenblatt is the global chair of public policy and regulation at Dentons, and he served as chief of staff to Governor Sonny Perdue during his first year in office.

Eric, welcome to Politically Georgia.

Happy to be here.

[laughs]

...

when Sonny Perdue won that race, even hardcore Republicans.

I was a lowly, you know, college reporter sent out by the AP just as a sort of, you know, let's just have someone there at Sonny Perdue's party [laughs] in 2002, um, in Buckhead, I think it was at the Grand Hyatt, um, just covering it just in case, and there he did, and he, and he, and he shocked everyone by winning.

GSU Panthers.

I'm fascinated, I'm fascinated by the fact that we have Governor Sonny Perdue in studio, and Bert calls him Sonny.

[laughs]

We have Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the air.