Herschel Gets Stopped for No Gain

[Bicycle Bill]

With 99% of precincts reporting, Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican Herschel Walker in the run-off election for the contested Senate seat from Georgia.  Tallies show Warnock leading with 1,806,827 votes (51.3% of the ballots cast) to Walker's 1,714,547 (48.7%).

And Walker has already issued a concession statement, in which he said running for Senate was the “best thing” he’d done in his entire life.  He went to say, “We’ve had a tough race...  You never stop dreaming and believing in America..  This is much bigger than Herschel Walker.”

I assume Trump will be on Truth Social by mid-morning tomorrow with yet another lie about how this election was stolen and should be ignored, overturned, and revoted.

-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

After all the insanity, he gave a really good concession speech - telling his supporters not to stop believing in America, in the Constitution and in elected officials. A very clear rebuke of his mentor, it seems to me.

Now that he’s done I’m back to feeling sympathy for how he was misused by Trump in this whole debacle of a campaign. I never knew was a POS father he is and all that but thanks to Trump I do now, and that’s what I’ll think of when I think of him - not his accomplishments on the football field once upon a time.

[Burning Petard]

I heard one 'ordinary voter speaking out' on CNN yesterday.'Course one never knows how they were prepped before the camera was rolling."What has happened to the Republican party in Georgia? They had two years to prep for this senatorial election. And the best black candidate they could find was a carpet bagger from Texas who thinks family values is abandoning his children, who thinks right to life means waiting outside in your car while your girlfriend gets an abortion?"

For me the take away is that even with this kind of comepetion, 'almost' half the voters still voted for the GOP. This was only a local skirmish people, not the war. (Yes I know what day this is.)

Snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

Yes it’s unsettling that I had to wait for the projection to be announced before I could unclench - someone like Walker should have been unelectable, not less than one percent from a senate seat. Our politics are very messed up presently and the recovery from Trumpism will be long and ugly I’m certain. Danger is still all around us.

But I’m tired of the permanent state of anxiety so for a while to come I’m tuning out and tuning into music and literature and nature.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Masochist that I am, I watched the CNN reporting from polls closed to the end. I was seriously worried at one point and had that same 'this cannot be happening' feeling had in November 2016 when Trump 'won.'

I thought Walker's concession speech was surprisingly good - maybe expectations were a low bar to get over; but I was primed for a Trumpian 'I was robbed!' speech. But I am certain that Republicans learned their lesson - Trump is toxic. I'm pretty sure that had the Rs fielded a conventional Romney-type candidate - or even Bush2-type - we'd be looking at another 50:50 Senate.

One perverse side of me wants Trump to run again in 2024 because I think he'll be easier to beat. But no, I can't seriously want that, can I?

[Crackpot]

The Good news is Trump now even has my cousin questioning his support. Bad news is it’s still early.

[Burning Petard]

For BSG and others who just want to get away from the political chaos for a while, I strongly recommend they look at 'Beguiled By Beauty' by Wendy Farley, 2022, Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster.

Just sayin'

Snailgate

[Econoline]

[Big RR]

One perverse side of me wants Trump to run again in 2024 because I think he'll be easier to beat.

Be careful what you wish for; I thought that in 2016.

[Bicycle Bill]

One perverse side of me wants Trump to run again in 2024 because I think he'll be easier to beat.

Be careful what you wish for; I thought that in 2016.

My feelings exactly ... although there is the old saying about "better the devil you know."

Imagine someone who thinks like Trump, and has worked with the system long enough to know how play the game instead of blundering along like a punch-drunk, blindfolded prizefighter — someone who ISN'T his own worst enemy.  Now THAT truly scares me.

So long as Trump is the face of the GOP, there is less of a chance of that happening.

-"BB"-

[ex-khobar Andy]

One perverse side of me wants Trump to run again in 2024 because I think he'll be easier to beat.

Be careful what you wish for; I thought that in 2016.

Of course - and that's why I said perverse.

And yet to be purely pragmatic: the more I read about Herschel Walker, the more horrified I became at the idea that this guy had won a primary with 68% of the vote. And he was facing more-or-less standard issue Republicans - not even 'centrists' in the Romney mold but Trump-supporting central casting types. He was an appalling candidate who was, among other things, confused as to whether he was running for the House or the Senate. To say that Walker is thick as two short planks does a disservice to short planks, everywhere. And then he lost by only 2 point something percent to Warnock, who seems by all accounts to be a decent guy.

I'm horrified that Walker was the nominee. I am grateful that Walker was the nominee. It is possible to hold two opposing thoughts simultaneously.

[BoSoxGal]

Agreed - there is a very high likelihood that a slightly better GOP candidate would have won the seat, or even if the party - including Trump - had encouraged early and absentee voting even Walker might have won it.

I’m grateful for the mess they made of it because I truly believe Warnock may end up being one of the best senators in years to come especially on issues of economic justice and racial healing. I suspect by 2028 Georgia will have shifted leftward enough that Warnock has a more comfortable margin when he is next elected - which will be his fifth win!

[Sue U]

After all the insanity, he gave a really good concession speech

I thought Walker's concession speech was surprisingly good - maybe expectations were a low bar to get over; but I was primed for a Trumpian 'I was robbed!' speech.

If there is one thing that sports ought to teach, it's sportsmanship: playing by the rules and being gracious in both victory and defeat. At least Walker seems to have absorbed that much from his time on the field. The fact that he seemed to be unable to stake out a clear position with respect to his preferences as between werewolves and vampires is probably what made him unelectable, though.

[Long Run]

I heard one 'ordinary voter speaking out' on CNN yesterday.' * * * the best black candidate they could find was a carpet bagger from Texas

And there is an ordinary voter showing they are at least as ignorant as the person they voted against. The main point, though, remains that the quality of a candidate still matters in competitive jurisdictions.

[Scooter]