Savannah Morning News: “Herschel in hiding? Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign a disaster thus far, soon to worsen”

Criticism of Herschel Walker’s candidacy continues to grow all across Georgia as voters learn more about Walker’s “disaster” candidacy for U.S. Senate. As Savannah Morning News editor Adam Van Brimmer notes, “Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign a disaster thus far, soon to worsen.”

The Trump-tapped candidate was already going through his most “brutal” week yet — as Republican rivals went “for the jugular” on Walker’s baggage “demolition derby” style, massive lies in the Trump-tapped candidate’s business record were put on full display, and his comments on evolution triggered a wave of national ridicule.

Herschel in hiding? Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign a disaster thus far, soon to worsen

Savannah Morning News, Adam Van Brimmer, 3/23/22

• Herschel Walker, the wannabe U.S. senator, is avoiding contact – with opponents, with the media, with good sense – like the way Georgia Bulldog fans sidestep wedding invites that fall on a gameday.

• Walker isn’t so much running for U.S. Senate as he is running from it. He won’t debate his Republican primary opponents. He won’t appear for events that aren’t in a tightly controlled environment. He won’t speak to groups other than those guaranteed to be friendly to him. He won’t sit for Q&As with anybody other than Fox News, Newsmax or other fringe media.

• Given some of his comments that have been shared publicly, he might soon become even more reclusive.

• Walker told a Rotary Club in Carrollton that NATO hasn’t been involved in supporting Ukraine or deterring Russia’s invasion, a false assertion showing ignorance of current events. More recently, Walker questioned the validity of evolution by saying that if man did indeed evolve from apes, then apes would no longer exist – as if evolution were a linear construct.

• But when the response to such blunders isn’t a sheepish grin and a clarification and is instead a wall of silence and fewer public appearances, you can start to draw conclusions about Walker’s fitness for office.

• Wrote one of his GOP primary opponents, Kelvin King, “Herschel Walker talks about working hard and fighting for the interests of Georgians, yet he works behind the scenes to ensure a level of celebrity comfort and elusiveness, separating himself from the questions and engagement that Georgians demand. This is a campaign – not an autograph tour for those who can pay an access fee.”

• For Walker, the campaign promises to be an adulation tour, and that should scare Georgia Republican voters.

• He’s not debating King or the other GOP Senate candidates, Gary Black and Latham Saddler, because…disastrous showings in forums and town halls are the only defenders that can deny him the nomination end zone.

• As an elite athlete, though, Walker understands the value of practice. Unless he’s planning to pull a David Perdue and refuse to debate his general election opponent – which proved a losing strategy for Perdue – Walker not dueling with his GOP opponents means no scrimmages ahead of the big game that is an on-stage showdown with the quick-witted and eloquent incumbent, Sen. Raphael Warnock. 

• Think back to Warnock’s 2020 debate against Kelly Loeffler, where she framed every answer with “Radical liberal Raphael Warnock” while he masterfully articulated his vision and policy positions.

• Walker has yet to define his political stances. He’s been anointed by Donald Trump…He’s voiced a desire for bipartisan cooperation but has shown little understanding of issues.

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