Walker, Herschel

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      Herschel Walker, Butcher of Language

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      I have written that political debates have outgrown their utility, and I stand by that.They are now more about theater than substance. They are more about making moments than making points. The cameras and the commentators wait for the zingers and the flubs, the clippable, quotable passage, the 10 seconds that stand out for their dramatic effect rather than for their deeper meaning.Debates have become a choreographed dance of managing expectations, of setting individual hurdle heights for individual candidates, so much so that on debate stages the candidates cease to compete against each other and simply compete against the expectations set for themselves.Debates have been bastardized beyond belief.And debate prep has followed suit: Candidates are trained to remember and regurgitate attack lines — and ignore the rules.What’s the worst that can happen? You can be admonished, but only briefly, because every minute of admonishment detracts from precious live TV time.So there is no incentive to be an honorable actor other than to avoid appearing to viewers like a bully and bulldozer, and unfortunately, that works in a Donald Trump era.Republicans now want a fighter above all, even if the fighter is of questionable character and of loose allegiance to the truth. Aggression is attractive. You may be wrong, but if you’re loud, it returns you to right.Friday night’s debate between Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, was no different. It was a stage play loosely based on policy. It didn’t change the fundamentals of the race — that Warnock is the only candidate of the two qualified to be a senator — nor should it have.And yet I am still stuck in the position of analyzing the debate because it is a major event in a race I care about. So I’ll begin with Warnock because his performance was the easier of the two to analyze.He didn’t answer directly when asked what limits he favored on abortion, whether he would back President Biden if he runs again in 2024 or whether he would support expanding the Supreme Court.The preacher has become a politician.And his wavering left him open to attack. When he didn’t answer directly, Walker made sure to mark the moments.Equivocation, as a strategy, was a miscalculation for the Warnock campaign, but it pales in comparison to the staggering ineptitude that Walker presented.First, we just must come at this directly: Herschel Walker is an absolute butcher of the English language.When challenged on reducing the cost of insulin, Walker responded: “I believe in reducing insulin, but at the same time, you got to eat right, because he may not know and I know many people that’s on insulin, and unless you have a eating right, insulin is doing you no good.”Say what? English translation: “Healthy diets can help treat and prevent Type 2 diabetes.” The nearly two million people suffering from Type 1 diabetes, not caused by diet and for which whom insulin is needed to stay alive? Oh, well.When Warnock accused Walker of pretending to be a police officer, Walker whipped out a badge and said, “You know what’s so funny? I am worked with many police officers.” A moderator then chastised him for bringing the “prop” to the event.At another point, Walker said: “Well right now, people have coverage for health care. It’s according to what type of coverage do you want because if you have an able-bodied job, you’re going to have health care. But everyone else have health care, it’s the type of health care you’re going to get. And I think that is the problem. And what Senator Warnock wants you to do is to depend on the government. What I want you to do is get off the government health care and get on the health care he’s got.”Huh? As a United States senator, Warnock’s health care is government health care.I could do this for the rest of the column, but I won’t. The point is this: I find myself straining to understand what he’s saying, my mind filling in the words he leaves out or fixing the ones he uses incorrectly.Walker is devastatingly inarticulate. That is the fact of the matter, and a disqualifying one. This is not a dialectic issue, of which I am more understanding. Regional and cultural dialects are real and not a measure of intelligence.That’s not what’s happening with Walker. With him, there is a base inability to convey his ideas in complete thoughts or sentences. And like a child, when his words fail, he fills in the gaps with energy and emotion, hostility and humor.This cheap rhetorical trick works for Republicans. They want the fighter more than the philosopher, the class jock over the class president. As long as the candidate is on their side, it doesn’t matter if he’s up to par, because at the end of the day, they are voting for the power over the person.They will elect a man without command of the English language or the issues if it gives them command of the seat and the Senate. Walker’s debate performance was just designed to allay their fears, to make them think better about doing the unthinkable.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and Instagram. More

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      Five Key Moments From the Walker-Warnock Debate in Georgia

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      The debate between Senator Raphael Warnock and his less experienced Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, had its share of sharp clashes, as the two candidates in one of the country’s most-watched Senate races faced off for their one and only debate.Mr. Walker, a football star and first-time candidate, surpassed low expectations, largely hewing to his strategy of tying his opponent to President Biden, whose approval ratings remain underwater in the pivotal swing state. Mr. Warnock, a pastor-turned-politician, tried to cast Mr. Walker as unfit for office because of his policy positions and personal baggage.Here are standout moments from the debate.A badge comes out.Mr. Walker’s veracity has been a major issue in the campaign, as he has been accused of misrepresenting topics, including his résumé, his charitable donations and his number of children. Mr. Warnock tried to use an exchange over crime to accuse his opponent of lying.“We will see time and time again tonight — as we’ve already seen — that my opponent has a problem with the truth,” Mr. Warnock said. “And just because he says something doesn’t mean it’s true.”A frame grab from the debate shows Herschel Walker with what appeared to be a badge.Fox 5 AtlantaMr. Warnock then referred to the time his opponent claimed to have been a police officer and an F.B.I. agent. Mr. Walker had made the claims as recently as 2019, when he told an audience that he was an F.B.I. agent — which he has never been. He has also claimed to work with the Cobb County Police Department in Georgia. The department told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that there was no record of him working there.In response at the debate, Mr. Walker pulled out what appeared to be a badge before being reprimanded by a moderator for violating a prohibition against using “props.” Mr. Walker replied, “Well, it’s not a prop. This is real.”The State of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsWith the primaries over, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election on Nov. 8.The Final Stretch: With less than one month until Election Day, Republicans remain favored to take over the House, but momentum in the pitched battle for the Senate has seesawed back and forth.A Surprising Battleground: New York has emerged from a haywire redistricting cycle as perhaps the most consequential congressional battleground in the country. For Democrats, the uncertainty is particularly jarring.Arizona’s Governor’s Race: Democrats are openly expressing their alarm that Katie Hobbs, the party’s nominee for governor in the state, is fumbling a chance to defeat Kari Lake in one of the most closely watched races.Herschel Walker: The Republican Senate nominee in Georgia reportedly paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, but members of his party have learned to tolerate his behavior.A shift from Walker on abortion.The most notable exchange over abortion rights wasn’t about accusations that Mr. Walker paid for an ex-girlfriend’s procedure. Instead, it was an apparent change in policy.In May, Mr. Walker said a ban on abortion should have no exceptions, pushing for a more expansive proposal than the six-week prohibition passed by the Republican-controlled State Legislature. “Like I say, I believe in life. I believe in life,” he told reporters.On the debate stage, he softened that position, implying that he backs the six-week bill that includes exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. He then turned to Mr. Warnock’s stance, saying the pastor backs no limits on the procedure and is ignoring “the baby in the room as well.”.css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.Learn more about our process.Painting one another as ‘desperate.’In one notable exchange, Mr. Walker tried to flip the script on Mr. Warnock, after the pastor skirted questions about whether an Atlanta apartment building owned by Ebenezer Baptist Church had evicted tenants. The apartments are for people experiencing homelessness or with mental disabilities.Mr. Warnock tried to cast Republicans as “desperate” for trying to “sully” a church attended by civil rights icons, including former Representative John Lewis, of Georgia, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Mr. Walker wasn’t cowed, returning to the issue a question later to cast Mr. Warnock as the “desperate” one.“It’s OK to speak the truth. Do not bear false witness, senator,” shouted Mr. Walker, who said the evictions were “written about in the paper.”Walker reverses on the 2020 election.In an election that has been influenced by the positions of former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Walker made another notable reversal.In the past, Mr. Walker has repeatedly questioned the results of the 2020 election and spread false stolen-election theories. Immediately after the 2020 race, he did not declare Mr. Biden the rightful winner.“I can guarantee you, Joe Biden didn’t get 50 million people to vote for him, but yet, people think that he’s won this election,” Mr. Walker said in a Fox News interview in December 2020. Mr. Biden won more than 81 million votes.Mr. Walker has since tried to temper those statements. In May, during his primary, he told an interviewer, “I think something happened; I don’t know what it was, but I said something happened so people are angry.”But on Friday night, when asked whether Mr. Biden had defeated Mr. Trump, he sounded a different note.“President Biden won and Raphael Warnock won,” he said.On questions of democracy, both candidates said they would respect the results of the election, regardless of its outcome.Looking ahead to 2024.The two men veered from one another on a question of whether they would support their party’s leaders if they won the presidential nomination in 2024.Mr. Walker quickly answered in the affirmative, saying “President Trump is my friend.” He used the moment to hit Mr. Biden — and by extension Mr. Warnock — for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, a move he described as abandoning an ally.For Mr. Warnock, however, the question appeared more difficult. He did not answer directly, saying he had not “spent a minute” thinking about it and noting that he was more focused on the election at hand. More

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      How Republicans Learned to Love Herschel Walker

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      Follow our live coverage of Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock’s debate in Georgia.Since Herschel Walker launched his bid for Senate last year, Georgia voters have learned about his ex-wife’s allegations of domestic violence, his multiple children born out of wedlock and, most recently, assertions from a former girlfriend that he paid for one abortion and urged her to end a second pregnancy, while claiming to oppose abortion.Mr. Walker, a former football star and first-time candidate, has denied the latest claim and expressed shock about what he has cast as a stunning partisan broadside. But some Republicans close to him were hardly surprised: They had been discussing the arrival of this moment with the candidate for months.Mr. Walker’s team was braced to defend him against accusations that he threatened his ex-wife, a claim that’s been public for years. But some advisers also knew about the specific abortion claim made by the mother of one of Mr. Walker’s children, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Those who knew said they warned Mr. Walker to prepare for the possibility that those details would become fodder in a political campaign, but Mr. Walker refused.The issue mostly frustrated him, these people said. Mr. Walker privately denied the abortion, but instead of discussing a strategy to handle the claim, he maintained that the details would never become public. At times he would argue that if his ex-girlfriend’s account did leak out, it would not be believed because he had a child with the woman, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.The Walker campaign declined to comment.Now, as he prepares on Friday to debate his Democratic opponent for the first time, the party is reckoning with the reality of a political gamble Republicans in Georgia and Washington made months ago. In the face of former President Donald J. Trump’s backing and Mr. Walker’s star power, Republican leaders, led by Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, deemed resistance to Mr. Walker futile.In a race that could determine control of the Senate, they chose short-term political expediency over confrontation with Mr. Trump or his chosen candidate.The Georgia Senate race serves as an allegory of Trump-era Republicanism: Old-guard party leaders did not so much lead their voters as follow them; the evangelical wing was quick to compromise; Mr. Trump rewrote the conventional rules; and celebrity substituted for experience.“The most rational-minded folks were wanting to pump the brakes on what felt like a runaway train,” said Geoff Duncan, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, who was referring to Mr. Walker’s campaign. “Republicans were perfectly happy winning the first half of the football game, in the primary, and not paying any attention to the second half, which is the general.”Mr. Duncan, a Trump critic, said he wouldn’t vote for Senator Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, but was not yet sure if he would support Mr. Walker.The race remains a tossup; polls show Mr. Walker’s support dipping slightly, but in a tight race that could make the difference. Party leaders have stood by him. He continues to evince the brash confidence of a star athlete.The State of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsWith the primaries over, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election on Nov. 8.The Final Stretch: With less than one month until Election Day, Republicans remain favored to take over the House, but momentum in the pitched battle for the Senate has seesawed back and forth.A Surprising Battleground: New York has emerged from a haywire redistricting cycle as perhaps the most consequential congressional battleground in the country. For Democrats, the uncertainty is particularly jarring.Arizona’s Governor’s Race: Democrats are openly expressing their alarm that Katie Hobbs, the party’s nominee for governor in the state, is fumbling a chance to defeat Kari Lake in one of the most closely watched races.Herschel Walker: The Republican Senate nominee in Georgia reportedly paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, but members of his party have learned to tolerate his behavior.“They don’t realize that they’ve woken a grizzly bear,” Mr. Walker told Fox News aboard his campaign bus this week. “I’ve won at everything I’ve set my mind to.”The Republican has frequently mentioned his mental health issues — he has been diagnosed with disassociative identity disorder, he said. He has not denied the domestic violence allegations and has suggested the disorder is to blame for previous outbursts and erratic behavior. He describes himself as a once-troubled man “saved by grace.” Democrats have said Mr. Walker has “a pattern of lying” and is not qualified to serve. The race could turn on which version of Mr. Walker voters believe.“There are always risks with first-time candidates,” said David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. “But potential reward never comes without risk.”A Personal ConnectionFrom the beginning, Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Walker in the race. Mr. Walker’s hero status in Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship for the University of Georgia, made him just the sort of celebrity candidate Mr. Trump likes to promote. As a Black Republican, he was a step toward diversifying the overwhelmingly white party.But the draw was hardly just political. The two men have known each other for decades, and — just as he’s done for White House jobs and other political endorsements — Mr. Trump let his personal connection override any background checks and other research typically involved in such high-profile job searches.Mr. Walker grew close to Mr. Trump when he was a young athlete who had left college early to sign the richest contract in pro football with the New Jersey Generals franchise in the United States Football League in 1983. Mr. Trump purchased the team months later.Donald J. Trump and Herschel Walker, after Walker signed a contract with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League.Dave Pickoff/Associated PressMr. Walker became something of a surrogate uncle to Mr. Trump’s children, who often spent stretches of their summers with him. Eric Trump, and his brother, Donald Trump Jr. — whom Mr. Walker occasionally calls “Little Donald” — have spoken warmly to associates about trips with Mr. Walker to Disney World..css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.Learn more about our process.When Mr. Walker talks about his connection to Mr. Trump he emphasizes their friendship. “He’s eaten at my home,” Mr. Walker said in a May interview with Revolt.TV. “I’ve eaten at his home. My family has eaten at his home.”Mr. Trump was even more effusive when Mr. Walker appeared as a contestant on Mr. Trump’s reality television program. “I am not a gay man — and I love you,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Walker when booting him off the Celebrity Apprentice. ‘The World Is Changing’As he was preparing to announce his campaign last year, Mr. Walker bristled when friends and advisers tried to ask about his past, refusing even in private to take responsibility for his actions, according to Republicans who have been close to Mr. Walker. He grew frustrated with direct questions and raised doubts about the loyalty of his own team. One Republican strategist whom Mr. Walker spoke with last year said that Mr. Walker kept repeating how easy the race was going to be.Christian Walker, Mr. Walker’s son, says he knew his father’s past would be difficult for the family and counseled him not to run, although he did not know about the abortion issue.“I absolutely tried my best to attempt to get him prepared,” Christian Walker said in an email to The Times. “The best way forward was honesty. That clearly didn’t happen.”(Mr. Walker has repeatedly said that he loves Christian, though he appears to have grown frustrated as Democrats seize on his son’s public criticism. “I hope they’re paying him,” Mr. Walker said this week, “because I’ve been paying his rent for a long time.”)Mr. Walker had reason to be optimistic about his bid. Internal polling showed that he enjoyed an approval rating of higher than 90 percent among Georgia Republicans. The combination of his local star power and vocal support of Mr. Trump made him virtually untouchable in a Republican primary.People lining up to take a photo with Herschel Walker at a recent campaign event.Nicole Craine for The New York Times“If your name is Herschel Walker, and you’re a pro-life conservative, with his name ID, celebrity and impressive fund-raising ability, the primary was over the day he entered the race,” Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition and a former state party chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said.Mr. Trump, too, was unconcerned with Mr. Walker’s past. “Twenty years ago would’ve been a bigger problem. I don’t think it’s a problem today,” he said in September 2021, according to “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” by Maggie Haberman, a Times reporter.Asked to explain, the former president — who was recorded bragging about groping women, accused of sexual assault and twice impeached — said: “Because the world is changing.”A Fleeting ResistanceMr. McConnell, the second most powerful man in Republican politics, had other ideas about who should run.From the moment two runoff losses in Georgia cost Republicans their Senate majority in January 2021, the state was at the center of Mr. McConnell’s plan to wrest back control in 2022. Even before Senator David Perdue of Georgia had publicly conceded defeat, Mr. McConnell asked him to consider running again this year, according to a person briefed on the conversation.But Mr. Perdue didn’t entertain the idea for long. In February, he flew to Florida for a visit and a round of golf with Mr. Trump. Within days, Mr. Perdue announced he would not be running and soon after Mr. Trump publicly urged in a statement, “Run Herschel, run!”Mr. McConnell did not take no for an answer.Over the summer, news stories began to reveal new details about accusations that Mr. Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife’s life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior. (Notably, Mr. McConnell’s longtime political adviser, Josh Holmes, shared on Twitter one Associated Press article, calling it “about as comprehensive a takedown as I’ve ever read. My lord.”)Days earlier, Mr. McConnell met with Mr. Perdue at the Capitol, checking if the former senator’s decision not to run was still in effect. It was. Mr. Walker officially entered the race in August, and the two men were soon speaking frequently. Mr. McConnell grew more comfortable as Mr. Walker was solicitous of his advice, according to two people briefed on the calls. Within two months, he had formally endorsed Mr. Walker.In embracing Mr. Walker, Mr. McConnell accepted a candidate who, from the start, was sure to make the race about the Republican nominee instead of the Democratic one — anathema to his preferred strategy. By the spring of 2022, Mr. McConnell was publicly defending Mr. Walker’s tumultuous past.“Almost every candidate has had troubled periods,” Mr. McConnell said in an April interview with Axios, when asked about his ex-wife’s allegations of violence. He cut off further questions: “I think Walker is completely electable.”Mr. Walker qualified to run for the Senate at the Georgia State Capitol in March.Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated PressOthers still disagreed. Georgia’s straight-talking agriculture commissioner, Gary Black, got into the primary race a few months before Mr. Walker. As momentum for his opponent grew, Mr. Black insisted his party was about to cede the advantage.Mr. Walker, he argued, was a political novice with a turbulent history who wouldn’t be able to make the race about the Democrats.“If Herschel Walker is the nominee,” Mr. Black warned in an interview days before the primary, “this race will be about Herschel Walker.”Mr. Black’s team made its case to National Republican Senatorial Committee officials in the fall of 2021, showing a video of Mr. Walker’s ex-wife speaking about the time he held a gun to her temple and threatened to shoot. Party officials made them turn it off; the meeting was supposed to be about general election strategy, one official said.The same clip has been aired repeatedly by Democrats.Lisa Lerer More

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      Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker Prepare to Debate in Georgia

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      ATLANTA — One is a seasoned public speaker, accustomed to delivering sermons nearly every Sunday from the pulpit of the famed Atlanta church where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. The other is a political novice whose meandering, often nonsensical oratory on the stump tends to inspire as much mockery as it does applause.The stark stylistic differences between the polished Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, and his less politically refined Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, the former University of Georgia football great, add unpredictability and intrigue to their highly anticipated debate on Friday night.Their matchup, just three days before early voting begins in Georgia, will be the first — and probably the only — debate in the state’s race for Senate, which has emerged as one of the most pivotal contests for control of the chamber. The one-hour event, hosted by Nexstar Media in Savannah, Ga., will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.The debate will test whether Mr. Warnock can expand what polls suggest is a narrow advantage over his rival, and whether Mr. Walker can quiet doubts about his qualifications for the office after a wave of explosive reports describing past behavior of his that has contradicted his public stances.Over the summer, The Daily Beast reported that Mr. Walker had fathered three children he did not previously disclose, and more recently, an ex-girlfriend of Mr. Walker’s told The New York Times that he had paid for her to have an abortion and had asked her to have a second abortion, even though he has campaigned on his opposition to the procedure with no exceptions.The State of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsWith the primaries over, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election on Nov. 8.The Final Stretch: With less than one month until Election Day, Republicans remain favored to take over the House, but momentum in the pitched battle for the Senate has seesawed back and forth.A Surprising Battleground: New York has emerged from a haywire redistricting cycle as perhaps the most consequential congressional battleground in the country. For Democrats, the uncertainty is particularly jarring.Pennsylvania Governor’s Race: Attacks by Doug Mastriano, the G.O.P. nominee, on the Jewish school where Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate, sends his children have set off an outcry about antisemitic signaling.Herschel Walker: The Republican Senate nominee in Georgia reportedly paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, but some conservative Christians have learned to tolerate the behavior of those who advance their cause.Ahead of the debate, Mr. Walker has tried to manage expectations. Last month, he half-jokingly told reporters that he was “a country boy” and “not that smart,” saying that Mr. Warnock was “going to show up and embarrass me.”But if Mr. Walker has succeeded in setting a lower bar to clear against Mr. Warnock, who grounds many of his stump speeches in policy-heavy talking points, the face-off will also offer the Democratic incumbent a ripe opportunity to attack his opponent directly — something he has so far done only in advertisements..css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-ok2gjs a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.Learn more about our process.Democrats have flooded the airwaves with millions of dollars in negative advertising against Mr. Walker, underlining allegations of domestic violence brought forth by his ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, and his son Christian Walker.The two candidates have engaged in months of back-and-forth over whether, where and when they would debate. One day after the May 24 primary election, Mr. Warnock committed to debates in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah. Mr. Walker, who did not debate his Republican primary opponents, would not commit to any of the three events but maintained a positive front when asked about them.“I’ve told him many times, I’m ready to debate him any time, any day,” Mr. Walker told Brian Kilmeade of Fox News in July.His campaign did not respond to invitations from the hosts of the debates in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah that Mr. Warnock had committed to. The Walker campaign agreed in August to attend the Nexstar debate, and Mr. Warnock followed suit in September.In a Thursday morning campaign memo, Mr. Warnock’s campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, said that Friday’s debate would “put on full display the clear choice” between the two candidates, arguing that Mr. Walker’s “pattern of lies, disturbing behavior and positions prove he is not ready to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.”Mr. Walker, who has traded time on the campaign trail for hours of intensive debate practice over the last few weeks, is likely to underline the policy differences between himself and his Democratic opponent by tying Mr. Warnock to President Biden, who is widely unpopular among Georgia voters. Mr. Walker has repeatedly criticized both Mr. Warnock and Mr. Biden for their economic policies, blaming them for higher food and fuel prices in Georgia.In a fund-raising email to supporters on Thursday, Mr. Walker encouraged supporters to tune in to the debate and vowed to “defeat the disastrous Biden agenda” if elected to the Senate.Still, he ended with a plea for more financial support to bolster his campaign in its final weeks.“It’s going to take more than one event on a Friday night to convince voters there’s a better choice to turn our country around,” he wrote. More

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      Raphael Warnock Is a Study in Restraint in a Georgia Senate Race Rife With Controversy

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      ATLANTA — A stream of jaw-dropping allegations have saturated the Georgia Senate race for months. Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate, has been accused of having children he did not publicly acknowledge, lying to his own campaign about them, misrepresenting his professional success and, last week, paying for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion despite his public opposition to the procedure. He denies it all.It’s a pileup that might embolden any opponent to unleash. But when asked last week about the latest hit to Mr. Walker, Senator Raphael Warnock, his Democratic rival, held back.“We have seen some disturbing things. We’ve seen a disturbing pattern,” he said during a news conference on Friday, avoiding any predictions about how the claims against the Republican could affect his standing with voters. “It raises real questions about who’s actually ready to represent the people of Georgia in the United States Senate.”Mr. Warnock, a pastor known for enlivening audiences on the stump and from the pulpit, has plenty of reasons to practice restraint these days. Despite the state’s Democratic shift in 2020, his victory in November could hinge on winning over moderate, even conservative-leaning voters who are tired of the Trump-era drama. For Mr. Warnock, that means casting Mr. Walker, a Trump-endorsed first-time candidate and former football star, as unqualified on account of his tumultuous personal history.While he still spends time ginning up support among his Democratic supporters, whose turnout he will badly need on Election Day, Mr. Warnock has also campaigned extensively in deep-red parts of the state. He keeps his message to those groups broad, focusing on kitchen-table issues like health care and improving infrastructure. He is more likely to bring up the Republicans he has worked with in the Senate — Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Tommy Tuberville — than he is to mention President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris or Senator Chuck Schumer.“He has taken very seriously the idea that he represents the whole state,” said Jason Carter, a close Warnock ally who ran for governor in 2014. “That has an impact on how you carry yourself.”Mr. Warnock, center right, at an Artists for Warnock meet-and-greet in Atlanta last month. While allegations against his political rival pile up, he has saved his harshest attacks for campaign ads. Nicole Craine for The New York TimesWhile the headlines about Mr. Walker have been harsh, it is not at all clear that they will sink his Senate ambitions. Christian conservatives along with the Republican establishment in Georgia and Washington have stuck by him. Recent polls suggest the race remains close, though most show Mr. Warnock with a slight lead. A poll conducted by the University of Georgia and several state news outlets released Wednesday found that the senator led Mr. Walker by three points, with support from about 46 percent of likely voters. A candidate must clear 50 percent to win, and many Georgians are bracing for the race to go a runoff. A debate between the contenders on Friday night could also change its course.One question hanging over that debate is whether Mr. Warnock himself will directly go on the attack. Until now, he has largely saved the vitriol for the airwaves. His campaign has run a barrage of highly personal negative advertising and Democratic-aligned groups are spending a combined $36 million on an anti-Walker push. The ads highlight accusations from Mr. Walker’s son of domestic abuse and an episode in which Mr. Walker held a gun to the temple of his ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, and threatened to kill her. Mr. Walker has not denied the domestic violence allegations, saying that his behavior was a consequence of his struggles with mental illness at the time.On the campaign trail, both candidates’ strategies sit in stark contrast.While Mr. Walker often meanders in speeches, this week relaying a lesson about gratitude through the story of a bull jumping a fence, Mr. Warnock peppers his practiced stump speeches with calls to expand Medicaid. While national Republican figures like Rick Scott and Tom Cotton have come to Georgia to bolster the candidacy of their party’s nominee, Mr. Warnock still campaigns solo.The State of the 2022 Midterm ElectionsWith the primaries over, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election on Nov. 8.The Final Stretch: With less than one month until Election Day, Republicans remain favored to take over the House, but momentum in the pitched battle for the Senate has seesawed back and forth.A Surprising Battleground: New York has emerged from a haywire redistricting cycle as perhaps the most consequential congressional battleground in the country. For Democrats, the uncertainty is particularly jarring.Pennsylvania Governor’s Race: Attacks by Doug Mastriano, the G.O.P. nominee, on the Jewish school where Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate, sends his children have set off an outcry about antisemitic signaling.Herschel Walker: The Republican Senate nominee in Georgia reportedly paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, but some conservative Christians have learned to tolerate the behavior of those who advance their cause.When asked if he would welcome a visit from any national Democrats, Mr. Warnock dodges the question.“I’m focused not on who I’m campaigning with but who I’m campaigning for,” Mr. Warnock said during a recent news conference. “The people of Georgia hired me.”Republicans have tied him to his party anyway. “Raphael Warnock, who campaigned with his puppies two years ago, has proven to be simply a lap dog for Joe Biden,” Mr. Cotton said on Tuesday to the crowd of more than 100 Walker supporters. “Herschel Walker will be a champion for the people of Georgia.”Black Radio United for the Vote held an event at Clark Atlanta University last week where Mr. Warnock spoke. He rarely deviates from practiced answers to reporters’ questions.Nicole Craine for The New York TimesMr. Walker, too, has painted the senator as ultraprogressive and a champion of Mr. Biden’s policies. During a recent campaign stop in Smarr, Ga., Mr. Walker condemned Mr. Warnock’s support of the Inflation Reduction Act, calling the White House ceremony marking its passage over the summer a “party in Washington.”“And as you’re looking at this, the split screen is the stock market is crashing,” Mr. Walker said to rousing applause. “What we’ve done right now is put the wrong person in Washington making the deals for us.”Mr. Warnock has had to contend with personal challenges of his own, including a legal dispute with his ex-wife, Ouleye Ndoye, this spring. She sued him to change the terms of their child custody agreement after her move to a different state and asked to increase his monthly child support payments to reflect his higher salary since he became a senator.During his first campaign in 2020, after an argument between the two, Ms. Ndoye said Mr. Warnock ran over her foot. The police did not find any physical damage to Ms. Ndoye’s foot, and Mr. Warnock was not charged. The incident has since been turned into an attack ad from a PAC affiliated with Mr. Walker, in which Ms. Ndoye calls Mr. Warnock “a great actor.”Mr. Warnock’s campaign declined to comment on the claim, and Ms. Ndoye did not respond to a request for one.Even when speaking to those most likely to support him, Mr. Warnock delivers his message carefully. At a recent Women for Warnock event in the event space of a West Atlanta community center, African American seniors said “amen” and cheered after nearly every point he made, vowing to vote early, bring friends to the polls and adorn their yards with Warnock signs as they hugged and took selfies with the senator. Some were members of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he is senior pastor.Afterward, when asked during a news conference whether he had a message to voters who were nervous about Mr. Walker’s past but frustrated with Democrats’ policies, he said simply “I’m working for Georgia” and turned to a point about his effort to cap prescription drug costs.Mr. Warnock rarely holds one-on-one interviews or deviates from practiced answers to reporters’ questions.He has also focused his message to voters on his work with Republicans in Washington. In stump speeches and news conferences, Mr. Warnock mentions a provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that he and Mr. Cruz wrote to authorize funds that would connect a portion of the Interstate 14 highway to link Texas and Georgia. He also talks up legislation he co-sponsored with Mr. Rubio to address the high maternal mortality rates in both of their states.Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican, and Mr. Warnock last year. Mr. Warnock has made bipartisan credentials a major part of his campaign message.Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesBut Mr. Warnock’s cozying up to Republicans can come with risks. Mr. Warnock mentioned his partnership with Mr. Tuberville in a recent advertisement. But after Mr. Tuberville made racist comments in a speech at a Trump rally over the weekend, Mr. Warnock was asked on a liberal podcast to respond and labeled the comments “deeply disappointing.”“Not only is this rhetoric inappropriate. Quite frankly, it’s dangerous,” he said, calling for Mr. Tuberville to apologize.Mr. Warnock’s bipartisan message is meant to appeal to a broad swath of voters, his proponents say, giving Georgians a reason to vote for him — and not merely against Mr. Walker.“He is walking a fine line. And it’s not just because he’s trying to distance himself from President Biden,” said Derrick Jackson, a Metro Atlanta state representative and vice chairman of the General Assembly’s Black caucus. “He’s talking about voting for something, instead of voting against something. And there’s an art to that.”Monica Davis, a 62-year-old retiree from Johns Creek, an Atlanta suburb, is among those Mr. Warnock would like to win over. A self-described Republican, she said she planned to vote for Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, but was struggling with whether to vote for Mr. Walker.“I believe he’s a candidate because he is a sports hero. I think there are a lot more qualified candidates,” she said, adding that she was “disappointed in the Republican Party that chose him.” She remained unsure of Mr. Warnock.“I might just not vote on that particular category,” she said. More

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      Why Men and Boys Are Struggling

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      More from our inbox:Herschel Walker: Hypocritical and Unqualified? September Dawn Bottoms for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “The Crisis of Men and Boys,” by David Brooks (column, Sept. 30):I have been a psychotherapist working with men in individual and group treatment for 30 years in prisons and the community. My clients have committed criminal sexual offenses. I agree with Mr. Brooks’s analysis that men are in trouble, but I do not think it is new.The socialization of boys to embrace a narrow set of ideas and behaviors restricts their ability to experience the fullness of humanity. The “weak” characteristics identified with females are stifled in boys, and those emotions and behaviors are the best of being human: gentle, loving, compassionate, empathic and interdependent. Our society teaches boys that their value is when they are in control, have power and engage with the world in an aggressive way.My clients, and many men, have suffered from this, and it manifests in feelings of isolation and loneliness. This isolation leads to anger, and without the ability to cope it can become very destructive.I appreciate Mr. Brooks’s discussion and encourage all of us to see boys and men as complex, emotional human beings. The message I always share with my clients is that men and women are not that different. We all want love, validation, a sense of belonging and people to share our lives with. It is really that simple.Eileen ReddenSouth Windsor, Conn.To the Editor:Toxic masculinity is just that — toxic. David Brooks identifies “being the main breadwinner for your family” as an obsolete ideal. I agree. Even more toxic, however, is an ideal that is not obsolete — real men don’t ask for help. Instead, they soldier on, man up, push through, take one for the team. “I’m OK” is a very old lie.We need more popular culture male role models — strong superhero types — to come forward and share weakness and a need for help. “It’s OK to not be OK” is acceptable for women but not for men. Run through your own memory list of popular sports figures who have come forward with mental health issues: Michael Phelps … and then Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Amanda Beard and Serena Williams. Even a quick Google search of lists is sure to yield more women’s names than men’s.We also need more role models from “ordinary life” — community leaders, high school and college faculty and coaches, counselors and social workers, law enforcement, the military — beer-drinking dads and big brothers who will help balance the genders waiting outside those mental health support centers we were enlightened enough to build.Susanne MurphyGuilford, Conn.To the Editor:David Brooks cites research by Richard V. Reeves documenting the slower brain development in boys when compared with girls. One of Mr. Reeves’s recommendations is that boys start school a year later than girls. Though some find this recommendation controversial, it seems to me to be just common sense. In fact, I wish that almost 70 years ago I had been “redshirted.”In addition to being a boy, I have an August birthday and consequently was one of the younger students in my class. I struggled in elementary school and had a mediocre record in high school. However, I came into my own in college and eventually earned a doctorate.Today, it is not uncommon for parents to give their slower-developing child an extra year before starting school. Though that decision should be made on an individual basis, it is important that parents have sufficient information to make an informed choice.Richard WinchellSt. Charles, Ill.To the Editor:Re “Boys and Men Are in Crisis Because Society Is,” by Michelle Goldberg (column, Oct. 4):As the father of two young adult men, I am grateful that attention is beginning to be paid to the crisis that men and boys face. As Ms. Goldberg indicates, we can address longstanding racial and gender inequities that have negatively affected women, Black and Indigenous people, and other groups while also working to adjust societal structures to ensure the full integration of males into society.We should carry out every effort to lift up boys and men who are increasingly being left behind. Don’t the boys and men in our lives deserve this?Edwin AndrewsMalden, Mass.To the Editor:A modest proposal. If men and boys are less likely to excel in school, are more likely to live with their parents and are lonelier than women, why don’t they raise the unwanted children that women are being forced to bear? It makes perfect sense, and as a primary parent, I guarantee they’ll never be lonely again.Anastasia Torres-GilSanta Cruz, Calif.Herschel Walker: Hypocritical and Unqualified? Ben Gray/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “Republicans’ Unholy Alliances,” by Maureen Dowd (column, Oct. 9):As a prospective father who had no intention of being a part of his child’s life, Herschel Walker made the proper call by paying his girlfriend to have an abortion if that was her wish. It doesn’t, however, change the fact that he has had children with different mothers who have never been a part of his life.It doesn’t change the credible allegations of his violence toward his ex-wife, and it doesn’t change the fact that he is running as a strong anti-choice candidate with no exceptions for rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk.There are two reasons that Herschel Walker is the Republican nominee for a Senate seat in Georgia. He was a great college and N.F.L. running back, and Donald Trump urged him to run. Nobody believes that Herschel Walker is qualified or competent enough to be in the Senate.Many of his public statements are incoherent, but as a conservative radio host and former N.R.A. spokesperson, Dana Loesch, said: “I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.”As Republican leaders, always concerned about their brand, rush to defend Mr. Walker, I wonder if more than a few of them secretly hope that he fails.Elliott MillerBala Cynwyd, Pa.To the Editor:Re “In Georgia’s Senate Race, Evangelicals Find a Way With Walker” (front page, Oct. 10):It is one thing to say the ends justify the means and overlook the personal failings of candidates like Herschel Walker because he’ll support your policies. It is another to say you’re still living up to the code of conduct the Holy Scriptures expect while you’re doing it.Maybe evangelicals need to reread Mark 8:36 — “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his soul?” — before deciding if Mr. Walker is really the best choice for their eternal salvation.Michael ScottSan FranciscoTo the Editor:Herschel Walker is a liar, is a hypocrite (at least on abortion), demands that people pay attention to what he says, not what he does, and is allegedly a physical abuser. Oh, wait. That does sound exactly like someone running for office who a lot of people would vote for.John MatulisKing of Prussia, Pa. More

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      Groups Saturate TV With Negative Ads About Warnock and Walker

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      ATLANTA — Democratic and Republican groups in Georgia are spending millions of dollars on highly personal negative advertising in the final weeks of the race between Senator Raphael Warnock and his challenger, Herschel Walker, disparaging the candidates by drawing more attention to their pasts.Days before the candidates are set to meet on a debate stage, groups aligned with each party are flooding the airwaves with a pair of ads that underline accusations of domestic violence against Mr. Walker, a Republican, and marital disputes involving Mr. Warnock, a Democrat. Their messages are shaping the final few weeks of campaigning in one of the country’s most closely watched races that could determine control of the Senate, and at times one of the most hostile.The advertising back-and-forth follows more than a week of negative headlines focused largely on Mr. Walker. After The Daily Beast first reported that Mr. Walker paid for a woman’s abortion, The New York Times confirmed the report and learned that the woman had ended their relationship after she refused to have a second abortion despite Mr. Walker’s urging.Now, as Democrats spend big to elevate those claims, Republicans are hitting back to paint Mr. Warnock as a candidate also plagued by scandal.A PAC supporting Mr. Walker, 34N22, is spending $1.5 million on an advertisement that shows footage from a police body camera after a 2020 incident between Mr. Warnock and his ex-wife, Ouleye Ndoye, who claims in the video and ensuing police report that he ran over her foot. Paramedics on the scene were unable to locate evidence of physical injury to Ms. Ndoye’s foot. Mr. Warnock was not charged with a crime.“I just can’t believe he would run me over,” she says through tears. “I’ve tried to keep the way that he acts under wraps for a long time, and today he crossed the line. So that is what is going on here, and he is a great actor. He is phenomenal at putting on a really good show.”The Democratic-aligned groups Georgia Honor and Senate Majority PAC are spending a combined $36 million to dominate the airwaves with anti-Walker advertising, including an advertisement that takes lines from a tweet that Mr. Walker’s son Christian Walker posted after the initial reports about his father’s paying for the abortion. In it, he accused Mr. Walker of domestic abuse against him and his mother, Cindy Grossman.A voice-over on the ad repeats the accusation as similar text flashes on the screen: “He threatened to kill us and had us move six times in six months running from his violence.” The ad also shows pictures of a police report that outlines an episode in which Mr. Walker arrived at Ms. Grossman’s home with a gun.“Six moves in six months running from Herschel Walker’s violence,” the voice-over says again against footage of an empty apartment and moving boxes.Mr. Walker and Mr. Warnock will debate in Savannah, Ga., on Friday. Early voting in Georgia begins on Monday. More

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      Evangelicals Find a Way Forward With Herschel Walker

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      The time had come for the Christian supporters of Herschel Walker to make a way where there seemed to be no way.It was the morning after the Republican senate candidate’s ex-girlfriend came forward to say he had paid for her to have an abortion, though he supports banning the procedure without exception. Dozens of people gathered in a fluorescent hall of First Baptist Atlanta, a prominent Southern Baptist church. Pastor Anthony George sat on a platform, with Mr. Walker at his right hand. The pastor recalled God’s protection of King David, the ancient Israelite king, and claimed similar promise for Mr. Walker. The candidate shared a testimony of how Jesus changed his life. The pastor invited people to the front to pray for him.They surrounded him and extended their hands toward the former football star. “This is the fight of his life, holy God,” the pastor prayed. “And we call forth your ministering angels to be his defenders.” The people clapped and gave shouts of amen.The scene, a private event revealed in videos shared on social media, reflected the evangelical language of sin and salvation, persecution and deliverance. It was a ritual of sanctification, the washing away of sin and declaration of a higher call.The Senate race in Georgia has become an explicit matchup of two increasingly divergent versions of American Christianity. Mr. Walker reflects the way conservative Christianity continues to be defined by its fusion with right-wing politics and tolerance for candidates who, whatever their personal failings or flaws, advance its power and cause. Mr. Walker has wielded his Christianity as an ultimate defense, at once denying the abortion allegations are true while also pointing to the mercy and forgiveness in Jesus as a divine backstop.Former President Donald J. Trump is backing Herschel Walker’s bid for U.S. Senate in Georgia.Audra Melton for The New York TimesSenator Raphael Warnock, his Democratic opponent, is a lifelong minister who leads the storied Ebenezer Baptist Church, home to the Christian social activism embodied in the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He has inherited the legacy of the Black civil rights tradition in the South, where faith focuses on not just individual salvation, but on communal efforts to challenge injustices like segregation.“We are witnessing two dimensions of Christian faith, both the justice dimension and the mercy dimension,” said the Rev. Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr., professor in moral leadership at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.The loyalty to Mr. Walker reflects an approach conservative Christians successfully honed during the Trump era, overlooking the personal morality of candidates in exchange for political power to further their policy objectives. After some hesitation in 2016, white evangelicals supported Mr. Trump in high numbers after reports about his history of unwanted advances toward women and vulgar comments about them. They stood by Roy Moore, who ran a failed campaign for Senate in Alabama, after he was accused of sexual misconduct and assault by multiple women.Understand the Herschel Walker Abortion AllegationsCard 1 of 6The Daily Beast articles. More