Herschel Walker went into Friday night’s debate against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock with one job — to convince the Republicans still undecided about him that he is capable of the basics of the job of being a U.S. senator.
Despite the fact that he’s a professional motivational speaker, the former football star had spent much of this campaign sequestered away from big stages and hard questions. He refused to debate his GOP primary opponents, while his campaign team kept him behind closed-door events at first, and then mostly in front of friendly audiences and true believers.
Walker made national headlines in those early months with comments so incoherent they were fodder for the nightly news, Saturday Night Live, or both. “Bad air” and “why are they still apes” were just a few of the word jumbles that were the only view most Georgia voters had of Walker up to this point, along with the scandalous personal headlines that have followed.
