In a recent Upshot piece, The New York Times' Nate Cohn found that Donald Trump proved to be a 5-point drag on the GOP candidates he favored in the House.
The campaign of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia seems to agree. Warnock is locked in a head-to-head Dec. 6 runoff against Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker, the former Georgia football star who is now better known as a deadbeat dad with a wicked violent streak and a penchant for word salad.
But instead of focusing one of its first ads on Walker's considerable deficits, the Warnock campaign chose in its latest spot released Thursday to feature Trump, after he damn near served up a goose egg to the GOP in a midterm cycle the party was favored to sweep.
In fact, the entirety of the ad is devoted to Trump's endorsement of Walker during the November 15 rally in which Trump announced his third presidential bid.
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“We must all work very hard for a gentleman and a great person named Herschel Walker, a fabulous human being who loves our country and will be a great United States Senator,” Trump says in the video. “Get out and vote for Herschel, and he deserves it.
As Trump drones on about Walker being "an incredible athlete," who will be "an even better senator,” the words "Stop Donald Trump. Stop Herschel Walker" appear in big bold letters over a photo of a beaming Walker glad-handing Trump.
In effect, the ad suggests the first step toward stopping Trump is stopping Walker and aims to find early enlistees in that existential effort. It’s not only a smart point, it’s a plausible one.
Warnock only graces the screen at the end to say he approved the message.
Warnock bested Walker in the general election by some 35,000 votes but failed to break the 50% threshold necessary to avoid a runoff. Warnock's success during the runoff will depend on his appeal to disaffected Republicans and independents who are dismayed by the direction of the national GOP under Trump and will struggle to cast a vote for Walker, a deeply flawed candidate who is wildly unfit for office.
The ad aims to either engage that cohort of voters in the effort to defeat Walker or, at the very least, disengage them from the effort to elect Walker. It will also remind Georgia Democratic base voters, including the critical under-30 crowd, how much is at stake during the runoff on Dec. 6.
Chip in $3 right now to defeat Herschel Walker and deal another blow to Donald Trump.
How will we win the Georgia runoff? Just like Democrats always do: By organizing to get out the vote. Whatever time you can give, Daily Kos has great ways for you to participate in GOTV efforts from anywhere in the country. Click here to find out!
Election Night 2022 was full of surprises—mostly for people pushing the last couple months of traditional media narrative of a "red tsunami." The problem is that Americans are not super into the GOP. Markos and Kerry have been saying the media narrative was wrong for months, and on Tuesday, Daily Kos and The Brief team was validated.