GA-SEN 2022 Megathread: Werewolves and Vampires

[Progressive Pessimist]

The suburbs versus the black farmers! Let's go!

[Progressive Pessimist]

Republicans won't care about that Walker revelation, but it might matter in the general election. I have some faith in Georgia voters not to overlook that...for now...

[Progressive Pessimist]

Herschel Walker’s wife voted in Georgia (apparently illegally since the couple lives in Texas).  Voter fraud!

https://www.ajc.com/politics/walkers-wife-voted-in-georgia-as-couple-lives-in-texas-records-show/YCYYMDRYXBBTPCHMQUN36HWEKE/

The GOP won't care, but I imagine that this will make anyone whose capability of voting is threatened by Georgia voter suppression laws furious, as it should.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'm not as intimidated by Walker as much as I used to be. He has some very clear, exploitable baggage that will only bubble further and further to the surface as this election gets underway. I would agree with a tilt D rating for now. I would say lean D, but I have to factor Georgia's election laws into the rating.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Buddy Carter endorses Walker.
https://mobile.twitter.com/bluestein/status/1430517737298739204

I swear that algorithms write statements for Republicans these days. Punch in those numbers!

[Progressive Pessimist]

Herschel Walker forced to cancel a fundraiser with a woman who has a swastika-shaped image in her Twitter profile.

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has canceled a fundraiser hosted by a woman whose Twitter account featured a swastika-shaped image used to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

"The previously scheduled event has been called off," said Mallory Blount, a spokeswoman for Walker's campaign. "Herschel is a strong friend of Israel and the Jewish community and opposes hatred and bigotry of all forms. Despite the fact that the apparent intent behind the graphic was to condemn government vaccine mandates, the symbol used is very offensive and does not reflect the values of Herschel Walker or his campaign."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that Walker would attend an event in Texas this weekend hosted by Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, a film producer. Her Twitter account included a profile picture of a rendering of a swastika made out of medical needles. The image has been used by opponents of vaccine mandates. Viviano-Langlais has since removed the image.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Walker spokeswoman had defended Viviano-Langlais' profile picture as an "anti-mandatory vaccination graphic" in a statement to the AJC.

.....

Georgia Democrats attacked Walker over the issue Wednesday. "Herschel Walker defended a swastika, and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol," Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Dan Gottlieb said in a statement.

Off to a good start, I see.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Question for anyone on the ground or who has seen ads - is Warnock focusing on abortion? I feel like he has not been hitting Walker nearly enough on the issue, but maybe I just haven't seen ads about it.

I'm curious if he is afraid that emphasizing it may alienate religious black voters, especially with him being a reverend.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1567995070607167488

As concerned as I have become about this race recently, I am still anticipating their debate. Perhaps a clear contrast between the two candidates is exactly what some people need to see. I can see Walker making some unfortunate gaffes or looking as completely out of his depth as he is. Perhaps we here overstate how debates affect campaigns, but I can see something significant coming out of the one with these two.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Maybe his incredibly simplistic way of speaking has something to do with it? He may sound like a high-schooler who phoned it in on their class presentation, but you know what he's trying to say? I don't know, I'm reaching here, but stupid s*** like that can make certain voters identify with a politician.

It's just hard for me to understand that ... this is polling higher than Warnock right now.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1568989995821563909

Tbf it’s only 1 poll

There have been at least three polls showing Walker ahead recently.

[Progressive Pessimist]

For all of his flaws, this is actually smart by Walker to create the narrative that it’s democrats talking about these issues. For culture stuff to be effective, the narrative needs to be that democrats are extreme and they insist on talking about it instead of bread and butter issues.

That's a complete strawman though because Warnock has been talking about capping insulin and running on Democratic legislative accomplishments.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I just saw an ad hitting Walker on abortion during Jeopardy! on Atlanta's channel 11.

And just today he talked about supporting Graham's proposal, saying he would definitely vote for it even though he thinks it should be up to the states:

https://www.ajc.com/politics/herschel-walker-supports-15-week-proposed-national-abortion-ban/IKTH4YNFMZCDZO47XZGXX5Q7CI/

Even if Warnock is skittish about emphasizing abortion too much, he should at least hit Walker on the blatant hypocrisy in that statement.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Wonder if Ossoff campaigns for Warnock in next few weeks

I don't see why he wouldn't. Put him in the suburbs and then dispatch Barack and Michelle Obama to Atlanta. I know Obama campaigning on the behalf of others didn't do much last year, from what it seemed, but for a candidate that black voters will respond to better than MacAuliffe or Murphy, like Warnock, it could help boost turnout. There really isn't any downside at all. I hope he campaigns all across the country soon...maybe not Arizona though, they've never liked him.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Warnock makes this look incredibly easy.

It's funny how Georgia quickly swapped with Pennsylvania this week when it comes to the Senate race I am more concerned about.

[Progressive Pessimist]

!!!

https://twitter.com/sollenbergerrc/status/1577071370457923584?s=46&t=aXWGyRz...

Oh s***! This is pretty huge. It won't matter to the GOP base (Scott DesJarlais is still in the House after all) but this is just about the most hypocritical thing you could do in the eyes of non-cultists, especially in a post-Dobbs environment.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I know we often like to dismiss the impact these kinds of stories can have on elections, especially in this age of polarization, but in a race that is going to be as close as this one, this type of story could seriously harm Walker's chances.

I mean, the ads write themselves don't they?

"Anti-choice Herschel Walker cares more about fetuses than his own illegitimate children...except when he doesn't! He paid for an abortion during one of his many affairs! A hypocrite lacking in character like this doesn't deserve to represent Georgia!"

Not sure why this thread is full of Warnock optimism over the last 2 pages. Other than the late breaking news above did I miss something?

Warnock has been leading in more polls again, after lagging Walker for a little while, as well as noting some decent ads and fundraising strength by him. And now we have this too, on top of everything.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Damn, Herschel and Oz both with October surprises in one day.

You didn't think the Democrats had used up all their oppo research, did you?  The main thing I'm wondering is which one will be next.

We need something on Laxalt. I would say Masters too, but that might be excessive.

[Progressive Pessimist]

What really frustrates me about the whole "I found God and was forgiven" bulls*** that Christian right politicians/candidates always plays at when exposed for hypocrisy is that they don't acknowledge the hypocrisy. They look at their controversy and make it all about them instead of the aspect of them potentially being elected to public office and acting upon the hypocrisy they were exposed as having or what they put others, like their families, through.

Walker paying for a mistress' abortion, while not a very upstanding thing in terms of having an affair, wouldn't be a big deal if he hadn't espoused sanctimonious "pro-life" sentiments when running for office, to then, if elected, possibly vote in favor of potential bills that would reflect that- like the Graham bill he said he would vote for. It doesn't matter how "redeemed" he is, he would be accountable to voters and saying to them that he wants to make it illegal for Americans to get away with what he actually did. And for voters to be livid at that is completely justified.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The real copium in this thread is thinking that this debate was significant enough to change Walker's fortunes. I'll concede that it has more staying power than every other debate that has happened so far, and may only be eclipsed by the Fetterman vs. Oz debate, due to the national attention Walker's past with abortions have yielded, but all anyone is talking about still is the fake badge and the awkward exchange in which the moderator chided him for it. Now, Walker could double-down on it and hand out fake badges all he wants but it's real relevance is going to be in memes and mockery on late night comedy shows. And I doubt any of that alters the polls in his favor. A low expectation exceeding debate performance sure did a lot for Masters, looking at it objectively, didn't it? The only change in the polls of that race was in the Libertarian's favor. Unless a truly horrific gaffe or self-implosion happens, Americans just aren't moved by debates anymore, for better and worse. If they did Trump never would have been President. I expect the Georgia race to be exactly where it was before, and Walker's abortion hypocrisy will not be so easily forgotten.

I hope to see some polls very soon though. If there is in fact movement towards Walker from this I will eat crow while simultaneously feeling even worse about humanity and American voters in particular, than I did before. You can quote me on this.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Seriously Walker literally sounds like an 8-year old describing a movie he saw in that.

"So there's vampires and werewolves but werewolves can kill vampires and these kids are watching TV and this guy comes out and he kills vampires and he has a garlic necklace and crosses and holy water and uses that to kill vampires..."

There's a Youtube video I'll link of a toddler describing 'Star Wars: A New Hope' after seeing it for the first time. Walker talking about this move ('Fright Night?') reminded me of that. That girl was more eloquent though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBM854BTGL0

[Progressive Pessimist]

Why is he celebrating high turnout when his office wanted to block early voting over the weekend? Fraud.

Honestly, the fact that people like Raffensperger were/are celebrated by Democrats is a testament to how low the bar has become for Republicans. He merely refused to aid Trump in stealing an election by "finding votes", which in an ideal world would be the bare minimum for a public servant. Other than that, Raffensperger has been a supporter of other perennial Republican efforts to make voting difficult or inconvenient for Democrats. And Brian Kemp of all people post-2020 seems to have gotten a pass on an otherwise atrocious history on voting rights. His tenure as SoS was tainted by everything from tossing tens of thousands off the voter rolls, to investigating voter registration groups to disrupt their efforts during elections, to literally arresting Democrats who dared to win local elections, a brazen abuse of power that harkens back to the days of Jim Crow. Raffensperger might not be as bad as Kemp, but he is no friend to supporters of fair elections.

Yep. The danger with Trump now is essentially any Republican who "fights" with him is essentially given a pass by "moderates" in the end, even if that Republican in question is still incredibly conservative.

DeSantis is another example of this, and possibly the most dangerous one.

[Progressive Pessimist]

How much credence should we give the “Republicans historically have performed better in Georgia runoffs, 2021 was the exception” (therefore, Walker has a better chance?) line of thinking?

Probably very little given how unprecedented this year's elections overall were, especially when it comes to the now apparent fact that Democrats are performing better in non-November elections.
That has proven to be true, as many were saying in trying to be dismissive of the Democrats' special election performance from earlier in the year, but it still isn't a given that better GOP turnout in November elections are all it takes to guarantee a win in the average election.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Either Obama needs a future in insult comedy or the jokes at Walker's expense are just too easy.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Whoever ran Warnock's GOTV for DNC Chair.

But the Kemp machine!

[Progressive Pessimist]

I didn't post here since last night, shortly after polls first closed, but I'm kind of glad that I decided to avoid watching the returns as they came in. Even though the result is almost exactly what I predicted (I was off by .1% in both directions-still rare for me to ever get that close!) I don't think I could have taken the suspense if going back a ways in this thread is any indication.

But anyway, for me it wasn't disturbingly closer than expected and is still a solid result in a state that will probably only get more favorable for Democrats from here on out. Stay peachy Georgia! Thanks for sending Walker back to Texas or Transylvania, or wherever. You're (mostly) a bastion of sanity in the Deep South, especially compared to your neighbor who will remain unnamed.

And as much as Walker is a mouth-breathing, amoral hypocrite I will hand it to him for graciously conceding. It was actually the best result for him to lose just as much as it was for Georgia to not have to face the humiliation of being represented by him for six years. He seemed to enjoy campaigning but he would have been unhappy and sorely out-of-place in the job of Senator much like Trump in being President. Sure he enjoyed the title and the perks, but he doesn't give a rat's ass about policy or public service. But I digress, Walker is now spared of his obligation to please his friend, Trump now. I'd be more than happy to hear him out if he ever starts up a movie review podcast. I think that is what his future holds. Forget politics for everyone's sake, Herschel!

Also, I know Warnock still has work to do in the Senate, but nobody deserves a vacation more than him. Four elections in two years!? That sounds exhausting.