Once upon a time, in the 1990s into the 2000s until the early 2010s, Georgia used to be known as an intellectual bastion of talented conservative thinkers. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a Georgia man, revolutionised the Republican Party across the country by making it a party of actual ideas. Like, he constantly came up with a new innovative way of approaching something and tried to sell Americans on policy. And other freedom-inclined reformers in and out of government made Georgia proud, like John Linder, Rob Woodall, Neal Boortz, and Herman Cain.
And then Donald John Trump became President and Georgia lost all of its intellectual underpinning, with the state being taken over by sycophants of the former president without an articulated policy. (Excluding governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.) The Georgia Republican Party is now filled with corrupt grifters and personal buddies of the former president, which is how we now have Herschel Walker, who is only notable for playing football at the University of Georgia many years ago, as the Republican nominee for senate. He is quite clearly damaged in the brain, has no understanding of policy or even basic English sentence structure, and he also is a failure in terms of morality. His Democrat Party opponent is Raphael Warnock the Warlock, who is the incumbent as of 2021 after defeating one of those corrupt Republicans, Kelly Loeffler. And thanks to that article and how awful a candidate Herschel Walker is, I'm inclined to support Raphael Warnock the Warlock, despite his party affiliation.
Still, before publicly declaring that, I might as well watch the debate between the two that happened tonight. This was the only debate between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock the Warlock, because Herschel Walker wanted to avoid more debates (because the more people hear him talk, the less votes he gets). Raphael Warnock the Warlock wanted three of these, since he's quite confident in his oratory prowess. These are high stakes, because whomever wins this could decide which party is in power in the Senate. And even if I want that party to be the Republican Party, I still believe that Georgia voters should make the decision that's best for them, not best for the country. So the rest of this article are my impressions of the one-hour debate. (And the debate-on-demand is also available.)
I like the colour-coordination between the two sides here.
There is also a Libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver. Unfortunately, he wasn't invited to the debate. |
Herschel Walker began the debate by saying he's a good Christian (he's not), and how he wants to stop Raphael Warnock the Warlock from destroying the country by being in the same party as President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. It's probably a risky move to try to claim to be a better Christian than Raphael Warnock the Warlock, who is literally a reverend.
The top issue for Georgia voters is the economy, which includes a wide range of issues, including access to jobs and high inflation. The Republican was asked for one specific idea on how to handle inflation. The challenger's idea was to become energy independent again, as opposed to having to import energy from unfriendly foreign countries. Herschel Walker refused to consider cutting military spending on the basis of having to be ready for an imminent war. Meanwhile, the incumbent was asked if he takes any responsibility for the hardships Georgians are facing due to supporting the President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. agenda. He's proud of the Inflation Reduction Act, and particularly on capping the prices of insulin and pharmaceutical goods (which are being price-gouged). Herschel Walker very quickly decided to take the strategy of interrupting whatever Raphael Warnock the Warlock has to say with his incoherent grumblings. He believes cutting the cost of insulin doesn't matter much when diabetic people can't afford the cost of quality food, and I guess the Inflation Reduction Act isn't helping that.
New topic: election integrity. Raphael Warnock the Warlock falsely believes that Georgia is making it more difficult for minority voters to actually vote, and he was asked to explain that. Herschel Walker was then asked if President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. defeated President Donald John Trump in the 2020 election, and he said yes, and that the incumbent votes for the sitting president 96% of the time. (He'd say this many more times throughout the debate.) Both men said they'd accept the outcome of the election no matter who wins.
The moderators then asked Herschel Walker to explain in 60 seconds about the accusations against him from a former girlfriend that he paid for abortions despite being against abortion. Walker denied the accusations. He said he's a Christian, but also wants to represent the people of Georgia, saying he would support the Georgia Heartbeat Bill (which has some exceptions for rape, incest, and medical futility). Meanwhile, Raphael Warnock the Warlock deemed the Supreme Court to be “extremist” and it seems that he wouldn't support any restrictions whatsoever on mothers’ ability to have an abortion, though he didn't reply in as clear a statement as I just attributed to him. Herschel Walker contended that if Black Lives Matter, why aren't black babies being protected from being killed off by abortion? Raphael Warnock the Warlock then claimed that Herschel Walker doesn't support any exceptions for abortion, despite Herschel Walker just saying he supports the Georgia Heartbeat Bill, which has exceptions. Mr. Walker was frustrated that Raphael Warnock the Warlock apparently never read the text of the abortion bill within his own state, and you can tell that he wants to portray himself as a champion of the Georgian people and Raphael Warnock the Warlock as such a Washington D.C. politician that he's not even keeping in-touch with what goes on in the state he's supposed to represent.
Next topic: student loans! Getting a college degree is way too expensive. Will there be more student loan debt forgiveness? Raphael Warnock the Warlock has said that low-interest student loans and Pell Grants have allowed him to be the man he is today. The Senator said it was his urging that had the President forgive $20,000 for students with Pell Grants, and he's working right now on a bill to lower the cost of college debt (which is rising faster than everything else) on a structural level so the next generation won't have to beg for executive action on student loan debt. As for Herschel Walker, he said “it's not right and it's not fair” and he “didn't co-sign anyone loan” that there was college loan forgiveness. He then said he'd get rid of any federal funding for any college that raises their costs, which... doesn't sound like a statement that was thought through very well.
It's halfway through the hour now, and they're talking about the federal minimum wage. Neither man raised their hand when asked if they support a federal minimum wage. Herschel Walker didn't because a federal wage doesn't make sense when conditions in different states are so different. Meanwhile, Raphael Warnock the Warlock said he's “willing to work with folks in the corporate community as well as the labor community” saying people deserve a “livable wage and benefits.” But I guess not federally. I don't think what he said made sense.
Let's talk about gun violence! Shootings in Georgia and the United States keep going up. How can the Senate solve this? Raphael Warnock the Warlock is excited about a recent federal gun law and believes it will reduce gun violence. He says that he has supported funding the police. “We've got to stand up with law enforcement.” Meanwhile, Herschel Walker said he won't support any law that restricts Second Amendment rights, and that his opponent “has called law enforcement names.” And “I have more sheriff who've endorsed me than anyone else running in Georgia right now.” Raphael Warnock the Warlock doesn't see a problem with helping funding the police while also holding bad cops accountable, “like any other profession.” Challenger Walker was then called out by the moderators for bringing a prop (very much against the debate rules) of what appears to be a sheriff's badge. After being talked down to put the badge away, he said that no-cash bail is a bad policy, and shifted the accountability debate from cops to alleged criminals who should be held accountable (for unproven accusations by possibly corrupt prosecutors?) by being kept in jail.
HERSCHEL WALKER FLASHED HIS FAKE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER BADGE at #GASenDebate pic.twitter.com/3TxtZwV84t
— Qondi (@QondiNtini) October 14, 2022
They had a segment on personal integrity. At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed against Ebenezer Baptist Church (which is also a house for disadvantaged people) that Reverend Raphael Warnock the Warlock is the pastor of for evicting them for not paying rent. The Senator denied the merit of the lawsuits. He also said that he supports his children that are with his divorced wife. As for Herschel Walker, he discussed mental health (dissociative identity disorder) and that he's a “champion of mental health.” He accused the Senator of “demonising mental health” and “bearing false witness.”
Are you struggling with mental illness? Herschel Walker has been there, too. He wants you to speak out and get help. |
Herschel Walker was asked about healthcare and health insurance. He wants Georgians to get off government healthcare and “get on the healthcare he's [Senator Warnock] got!” ...Which is government-provided healthcare, because he's a United States Senator. Raphael Warnock the Warlock gracefully ignored this bizarre statement, and talked about the story of a nurse in the “Medicaid gap” (who was a member of the “working poor”) who died from lack of healthcare. Georgia is losing its hospitals and access to healthcare. Herschel Walker was asked what Congress can do to make sure everyone has access to hospitals. He said he'd meet with hospital administrators and that was his solution. Raphael Warnock the Warlock's solution was to write legislation on providing more funding to states who haven't expanded Medicaid.
Best topic time: foreign policy. Senator Raphael Warnock the Warlock was asked what America should do if nuclear weapons are used as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He bragged that he successfully stood up against President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., who wanted to close a combat readiness centre in Georgia, and I guess the work of that centre is a crucial part of an unspecified response to nuclear weapons use. Herschel Walker said that you need to “show strength” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he didn't answer the question on what America should actually do about nuclear weapon use. (Neither did Raphael Warnock the Warlock, really.) That was the whole foreign policy segment. Well, best topic, but worst responses from both candidates.
They then shifted to a pointless topic: support for President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Will Senator Raphael Warnock the Warlock support his re-election in 2024? The Senator said he hasn't thought about it, and he's focused on the job of Senator, not whomever the president is. As for Herschel Walker, he was asked if he would support President Donald John Trump running in 2024. Herschel Walker said he absolutely would, because President Donald John Trump is his personal friend and ally, and he wouldn't leave behind his friend (even if he keeps demanding that Raphael Warnock the Warlock not support his own ally, current President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.).
They asked some question about the Atlanta Braves baseball team for some reason. Should the Atlanta Braves rethink their name and logo and Tomahawk Chop due to perceived insensitivity towards Native Americans? Herschel Walker said it's not an important topic and there's lot of other pressing issues. Which is a good reply. Raphael Warnock the Warlock actually tried to answer the question by saying the manager of the Braves is talking with tribal leaders.
Raphael Warnock the Warlock said that rights of ordinary citizens have been retracted instead of expanded. He said he'd protect the rights of Georgian citizens when asked if he'd expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court. (This wasn't an actual answer, so it's implied yes. It's still less of an avoidance than what Kamala Harris said in her vice presidential debate.) Herschel Walker gave a direct answer of “no.”
Then it was closing remarks. Raphael Warnock the Warlock said these are dark times, but the scriptures say there will be light to come, and he's honoured to be one of Georgia's two Senators. Herschel Walker said that politicians are damaging to the United States of America, including politicians like Senator Raphael Warnock the Warlock and President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., so Georgia should vote for a non-politician like Herschel Walker, who claims he will be a LEADER despite having no leadership experience. (Raphael Warnock the Warlock was not a politician before a couple of years ago when he ran for Senate since being a pastor isn't being a politician (though he was an activist), so by that logic, Herschel Walker will soon become a politician if he wins and will damage the country.)
Two Senators. The other one, Jon Ossoff, isn't running until 2026. Will Raphael Warnock the Warlock get his second victory in two years? |
I'd say that Herschel Walker passed the low bar I had of him going into the debate, since he managed to articulate his main point that Raphael Warnock the Warlock voted on the President's position 96% of the time, and he didn't say much else of note. (Compare to John Delaney, who was widely considered a “moderate Democrat” in the 2020 presidential primary, who voted on the party line 95% of the time.) Raphael Warnock the Warlock often really didn't answer the questions posed to him (and thus he performed below my expectations), but he still at least spoke more specifically about issues at hand and with some grasp on policy (even if his policy positions might be the wrong ones). Herschel Walker is clearly just going to vote on whatever the Republican party line is and likely won't introduce much of his own legislation or offer new ideas, since he didn't have any in this debate despite being asked numerous times what he stands for, policy-wise. He talked about being a leader, but it's very clear that Herschel Walker will only be a walker in the footsteps of others. Whether you like that path or not is up to you!
Or vote for Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver.
The vast majority of normal KoopaTV readers can't legally vote in this election, but Ludwig decided to write about the debate anyway since he was personally looking forward to it. Blame his article back in January 2021 about the story of Raphael Warnock the Warlock for his personal investment. But whether you watched the debate or just read this article on it, what do you think? Ludwig didn't outright write who he thought the winner was in the article, but in terms of giving a coherent message on why you should vote for a given candidate, Raphael Warnock the Warlock did a better job. Herschel Walker did a good job on why you should vote for Chase Oliver.
Ludwig also covered the one Pennsylvania Senate race debate in 2022.
Ludwig has very clearly endorsed Raphael Warnock the Warlock.
"It's gonna be a dark winter" Every time i heard the word dark I'm reminded of that line. It's depressing, but sickeningly funny to me. However, with all the talks of nuclear action recently, it's started to be less 'funny'.
ReplyDeleteHershel Walker looks younger here than he has any other time I've seen him speak. No real thoughts on this debate, it is what it is. Of course if RWtW loses, then Koopatv won't get to write about him anymore. I doubt he'd be one of the out of office vocals. Isn't it strange how we have 100 members of the senate, 435 members of the House, and yet the vast majority of the public really only knows the same 20 politicians? Being loud may be annoying, but it'll get you far.
Nuclear winter ain't gonna be fun.
DeleteHis brain is messed up, but I guess Herschel's face is fine. Anyway, I'm not gonna endorse Raphael Warnock the Warlock, but I'd enjoy his continued presence in public life compared to Herschel Walker's.
No one talks about Jon Ossoff. :(
Yeah i never heard of the guy. I wonder if any of his films from his previous career are any good. The only person I know (aside from these two) involved with Georgia at all is Stacey Abrams. Not a big fan, but she certainly does have a presence in the political sphere.
DeleteI'm anticipating that she'll lose in the governor election. Again. ^_^
Delete(And I'm anticipating that Raphael Warnock the Warlock will win.)