Finish Line: Time for final pitches in Georgia Senate run-off race

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Is everyone as tired as I am of hearing about the run-off race in Georgia? I feel for Georgia voters listening to non-stop loops of political commercials. Just one more day, Georgia, then this can be behind you. Tomorrow is election day with the cheers from the victorious campaign and the tears from the campaign that gets defeated. It’s the same as it always is.

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Today Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock will make several stops to make one last pitch to their voters in hopes that motivating the ones who didn’t early vote will get out and vote tomorrow. The race has been a nasty one all along, from the general election to the run-off. Women have come forward to accuse Walker of nefarious actions, including paying for abortions, and Gloria Allred even got involved at the eleventh hour of the general election. Joe Biden said in Massachusetts on Friday that Walker doesn’t “deserve” to be a U.S. senator. That’s a decision for Georgia voters to make, though, not the overbearing hyper-partisan president.

Walker is mocked for his way of speaking to audiences and his intelligence is questioned. He has baggage and probably wasn’t the best choice of candidate but he is who the voters chose in the Republican primary. Warnock is no gem, either. He has a serious whiff of potential corruption hovering over him. He managed to double his personal income in his first year in office. How is he allowed to do that? Something I noticed on the Sunday morning political shows over the weekend was that the media, other than Fox, refer to Warnock as “Reverend” Warnock, not “Senator” Warnock. I mean, he’s running for re-election in the Senate, not to be pastor in his church. It sure seems like the corporate media is trying to tip the scales toward the moral superiority of a man of the cloth. This man of the cloth, though, has (alleged) domestic violence baggage. Like I said, neither are great candidates.

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The Georgia run-off race is important, though. It’s important for Republicans that Walker win. That way it will be a 50/50 Senate and Republicans will have equal representation on all Senate committees. And, it gives Senators Manchin and Sinema leverage to reel in the out-of-control spending of Democrats and shut down their progressive activism in legislation.

The Georgia run-off race is important to Democrats, too. If Warnock wins, they will have a 51-49 majority. Democrats won’t have to accommodate Republicans at all. Tough votes won’t have to rely on Kamala to be the tie-breaker. They can ram through their wish list of progressive nirvana legislation and Republicans have little say over it. It also means a fast track for judicial nominations. I think we saw during the previous administration how important that is.

Some legislation goals will require 60 votes in the Senate, so that is a saving grace if Warnock wins. Democrats, to refresh your memory, want to codify Roe v Wade, pack the Supreme Court, give Puerto Rico statehood, and vote on reparations for African-Americans. That’s just off the top of my head. They also want to shove climate change legislation down our throats and give blanket amnesty to all illegal immigrants, all eleven million or more. So, there is all that to think about and you can bet that Warnock will happily go along with all of it and the rest of Biden’s extreme agenda. Funny thing that happened in Boston as Biden was talking to the union workers about the importance of their phone banking but he mentioned they may not want to bring up to Georgia voters that Warnock votes almost 100% with Biden. Biden’s agenda isn’t popular in Georgia.

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The Walker-Warnock race is the most expensive in 2022 cycle. The vast majority of Warnock’s campaign contributions have come from out of state. The coastal elites are big supporters of Warnock. Most of Walker’s campaign contributions are from Georgia residents.

Warnock has raised more money than any other federal candidate this election cycle, according to OpenSecrets data. Warnock’s campaign reported raising $150.5 million through Nov. 16, according to pre-runoff filings with the Federal Election Commission, three times the $58.3 million Walker’s campaign reported raising through the same period. Warnock also reported three times as much cash on hand – $29.7 million – heading into the final weeks of the runoff election.

From Oct. 20 through Nov. 16, Warnock raised twice as much money as Walker. The incumbent Democrat reported raising $51.9 million, while his GOP challenger reported raising $20.8 million.

Outside groups have spent about $60 million to sway voters for or against their preferred candidate in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff. That’s more than one-third of the $146.3 million outside groups spent on the race on or before the 2022 general election day on Nov. 8.

The biggest spenders are super PACs aligned with Democratic and Republican Senate leadership. The National Rifle Association has also spent big in the runoff compared to the group’s anemic spending during the general election, and two pro-Warnock “pop-up” super PACs have already dropped nearly $2.3 million into the runoff.

Georgia Honor, a super PAC funded by the Senate Majority PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), has spent nearly $52.5 million boosting Warnock and opposing Walker in the U.S. Senate race. More than $14 million has come in the three weeks since election day.

The vast majority of that has gone to attacking Walker, with one ad calling the GOP nominee “unfit for office” and pointing to his “long record of violence toward women.” Walker’s ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, told CNN in 2008 that he held a razor to her throat and once, a gun to her temple, threatening to pull the trigger.

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Like I said, it’s ugly. If the buzz in the air is correct, Warnock will squeak out a victory. He is the incumbent and raises tons of money. He has the ground game organization from his campaign two years ago. It was not good news for him that, as the incumbent, he didn’t garner 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off race. I hope Walker can pull out a victory, though. He’s going to be a solid Republican vote if he goes to the Senate and that’s important. And, it will be important as we approach the 2024 presidential election.

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