With so many major races this year for the U.S. Senate, I haven’t had the time to focus on the Georgia U.S. Senate race. Mainly because it’s pretty safe to say that U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R. GA) is a harder target than his former colleague, Saxby Chambliss and his current colleague, David Perdue (R. GA). But Georgia Democrats think they found their candidate in Jim Barskdale (D. GA):
Jim Barksdale vowed to champion policies that would help Americans who have been left behind economically in his first televised debate since joining the race to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson nearly two months ago.
The Democratic Party-backed investment manager had some awkward moments during his debut in the public spotlight, which came at the Atlanta Press Club’s Senate Democratic debate, which will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting at 6 p.m. on Sunday. He sought to hit home the message that if elected he would focus on boosting the middle class by renegotiating trade deals, raising the minimum wage and investing in infrastructure spending.
“I have been blessed with wealth and it’s my job as a steward of that wealth, a steward of everything that I’ve had, to make sure that it’s used for the common good,” he said.
Barksdale revealed he used to vote Republican but said the right’s economic policies have harmed Americans.
“The key message is that the trickle-down economics that we were sold to and that I bought into for the many years that I voted Republican has not worked, and as Cheryl (Copeland) said, it’s left too many people behind,” he said.
Barksdale has kept a low profile profile so far but yesterday, he launched his first major ad campaign:
Now the Atlanta investment manager is devoting a chunk of the more than $1 million he’s pumped into his campaign to baldly introduce himself to a wider audience.
The above ad is headed to TV screens across the state – the campaign appears to have bought ad time in every significant Georgia market – as Barksdale tries to put a lid on two other little-known Democratic competitors in the May 24 contest.
The political newcomer embraces Bernie Sanders-like rhetoric about the hair-raising scourge of Wall Street. And he capped his message with a flourish of a touring cap that, in his words, validates his outsider status.
Here’s the transcript for the ad:
I’m Jim Barksdale. I’m not a politician and I can prove it. I wear this hat.
I’m an investment manager, and I stood against the Wall Street crowd to protect my clients’ retirement.
Now I’m running for the Senate to stand against the Washington crowd and their bad trade deals, wasteful spending and mass incarceration.
I approve this message because most of all, I’ll stand against the crowd to ensure equal opportunities for all Americans.
And I’ll keep this hat, too.
In the year of Donald Trump, who knows what could happen. We’ll see if this is a race that could be emerging. In the mean time, click here to check out Barksdale’s campaign.