After Senator Barack Obama's well received speech to a packed house of nearly 80,000 Democratic delegates and activists at Denver's Invesco Field, Gov. Sonny Perdue may wish he had minced his words on Obama's problem with party unity.  Perdue, a former Democratic delegate from the 1996 Convention was trotted out by Sen. John McCain's campaign to weigh in on the problems Obama would have winning in a state like Georgia.  While discussing that he added in his own thoughts on the opposing party's unity.

Ironically, Perdue rode into office on the backs of disgruntled Confederate hold-outs angry at his predecessor for changing a Confederate themed flag and angry members of Georgia's teachers union.  That initial coalition was always too fragile to hold, but his actions since being elected have satisfied neither group.  In the legislature, Republican Senators have done battle on behalf of Perdue with the more unhinged House faction of the Republican party, that seems to win points for effort and moxy from the base if nothing else. 

Now Perdue, facing a $1.5 billion budget crunch, has informed cities and counties that they won't be getting an annual $400 million plus offset for local property tax payers.  Many Republican legislators worry that Democrats have an issue in November's elections that can tie the inaction that stems from a lack of unity at the Capitol into a real campaign issue by pointing out increasing local property taxes.  And county and city governments have been challenging Perdue's claims that this money doesn't effectively hold down taxes and warning property owners that they may see a second, larger tax bill later in the year, possibly before election day.

You have to hand it to the McCain campaign.  When it comes to problems with party unity, they couldn't have found a more seasoned expert than Sonny Perdue.