That Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock is in a close race with Herschel Walker is no laughing matter

The Tuesday Talking Points!

As I read the news while eating dinner a little while ago, the headline below showing U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in a dead heat with his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, damn near made my stomach turn:

Now, I will be writing about the Kemp vs. Abrams race later this week, but as my faithful readers know, I've been watching the Georgia Senate race closely not just because Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) is my Morehouse Brother who graduated a couple of years before I did in the 90's, but because he is an extremely intelligent and hardworking public servant who has represented his home state with fervor and class since winning the 2020 special election. 

Sen. Warnock (left) and Herschel…

I don't know Herschel Walker personally, and I am sure that he has a redeeming quality in something other than having run a football at the University of Georgia 40 years ago—but I'm hard pressed to find anything about him that would make him an effective member of the U.S. Senate.

Seriously, if you have watched or listened to Walker on the stump, then you know that the man really struggles to communicate. I find it odd that a 60-year-old man would aspire to a position that requires verbal and written communications skills when he knows that he struggles to string together coherent compound and complex sentences?

Walker has also shown that he has no interest in the issues; when asked a few weeks ago to share his thoughts on gun control after the Uvalde massacre that saw 19 children and two adults killed by a lone gunman, I almost choked on my glass of water when I heard him say, "what I like to do is see it and ‘everythang’ and stuff…”

See what, and “everythang,” Herschel? What else is there to see that wasn't visible on every news channel in America? 

Seriously, does America need another Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala), the former Auburn football coach who is the living embodiment of a dumb jock, in the Senate? Of course it doesn’t, but the latest polls seem to suggest that if Democrats don't show up to the polls on a mission come November, that Walker will have six years to bow, grin, vote like his handlers tell him, and buck dance to the delight of his political masters. If you need a good laugh before bed, check out this video of “Brotha Herschel” proving that all Black folks don’t have rhythm (clip from Roland Martin's show):

Now, some will read today’s post and conclude, "Hobbs, you're being really mean to Herschel Walker just because he is a conservative." I assure you that such is not the case, as I am friends with several Black Republicans who find Walker's ignorance disturbing—even if they can’t come out publicly and admit it.

The GOP is operating under the old saying, “see a fool, use a fool” in Georgia, to solid results so far…

No, my critique of Walker comes from pure reason, and my conclusion is that he is no more qualified to be an effective senator than I would be to perform brain surgery—he is just as out of his depth in the political world as I would be in an operating room! 

But sadly, for many Americans, intelligence no longer matters, which is why I can only shake my head at the following numbers as reported by The Hill:

"Among Black voters, Warnock has a significant edge. Eighty-three percent said they support the Democratic incumbent, compared to only 7 percent who are backing Walker. When it comes to white voters, however, Walker has the advantage. Sixty-five percent support him, while 29 percent support Warnock."

😠

I mean, what makes 65 percent of white Georgia voters prefer a Black Senate candidate who was caught lying about being an F.B.I. agent and a sworn law enforcement officer? I mean, who lies about that?

What makes 65 percent of white Georgia voters prefer a Black Senate candidate who lies about being the valedictorian of his high school class? Or, lies about being a graduate of the University of Georgia? Or, lies about owning the largest Black owned chicken plant in America, one with over “800 enployees,” when the corporation’s application for PPP loans two years ago listed just eight enployees?

What makes 65 percent of white Georgia voters prefer a Black Senate candidate who once expressed a desire to get into a shootout with the police that responded to a serious domestic violence incident at his home? In the #MeToo era, one in which women are demanding (and commanding) respect in every field of endeavor and justice for violent assaults, the idea that Walker is so very close to having a Senate vote on issues that impact women is frightening. 

Now, the rhetorical questions that I ask above are easy to answer; as the great Frederick Douglass famously said:

"...If (the Black man) comes in ignorance, rags, and wretchedness, he conforms to the popular belief of his character, and in that character he is welcome. But if he shall come as a gentleman, a scholar, and a statesman, he is hailed as a contradiction to the national faith concerning his race, and his coming is resented as impudence. In the one case he may provoke contempt and derision, but in the other he is an affront to pride and provokes malice."

Indeed, Mr. Douglass! Which is why I implore all of my readers in Georgia to vote for “the gentleman, the scholar, and the statesman,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, and with a nod to the legendary ATL group Outkast, take "your momma and your cousin, too" to the polls this Fall!