Perdue speaks of his faith with Falwell

LYNCHBURG, Va. - With less than a month to go before the Nov. 7 election, Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue - counting on strong support from Georgia's Christian conservatives - made a pilgrimage to Virginia for an appearance with the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

In a nearly 30-minute speech to the Rev. Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church, Mr. Perdue spoke about his path in finding religion and making it a part of his life, which he said happened about midway through his life before he served in elected office.

"I'm not a governor who happens to be a believer, I'm a believer who happens to be governor," Mr. Perdue said.

He said his faith helped prompt him to run for public office.

"I had no aspirations, no ambition to be governor of Georgia, and yet, I had ambitions to be obedient," he said.

He also spoke about love and trust and how telling the truth can be helpful.

"That's what has inspired us to work in this place which God has given us, to ensure the children in Georgia know they're loved," he said. "Even if they're in state custody or foster care, up for adoption, we want them to know they're loved."

Mr. Perdue said his faith will sustain him long after his political career is over.

He said, "the media often asks, 'how do you reconcile politics and your faith?'" I said it's pretty simple. I was a man of faith before I became governor, I'll be a man of faith afterwards and I don't think there's any difference there."

It is the second time Mr. Perdue appeared has appeared in church as the Rev. Falwell's guest in nearly two years, and he was embraced warmly by the televangelist again Sunday night.

The Rev. Falwell described Mr. Perdue to the church's evening audience of about 300 worshippers as "a man of strong faith, godly leadership and a great American."

Mr. Perdue last visited Lynchburg in 2005 as a featured speaker for Liberty University's convocation.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said Sunday that he expected the visit would play well with Georgia's Christian conservative voters.