On Thursday, former president Barack Obama made one final visit to Atlanta to campaign for Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election.
The two-term president returned to Georgia and brutally mocked Republican Senate nominee and former University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker. Specifically, he made fun of Mr Walker’s speech a few weeks ago where he said he would rather be a werewolf than a vampire.
“This is a debate that I must confess I once had myself - when I was seven. Then I grew up,” Mr Obama said to uproarious laughter.
Mr Warnock and Mr Walker are engaged in the final race of the 2022 midterm election. Neither candidate received a majority of the vote in last month’s general election thanks to Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
As a result, the two are engaged in a runoff that will take place Tuesday. The race will determine whether the Senate will remain a dead-even 50-50 where Vice President Kamala Harris breaks ties or whether Democrats will have a one-seat majority.
Multiple news reports have come out about Mr Walker’s numerous personal foibles, from his allegedly paying for one woman’s abortion to escorting another one to an abortion clinic. In addition, his son Christian Walker alleged that Mr Walker forced him and his mother to move around for fear of violence.
And there is now evidence that many voters might be fed up with Mr Walker’s antics. A new CNN poll showed that 52 per cent of likely voters in Georgia prefer Mr Warnock to Mr Walker.
But the breakdown of other statistics shows some even bigger red flags for Mr Walker. Only 39 per cent have a favorable opinion of Mr Walker, tying him with former president Donald Trump.
Conversely, 50 per cent of voters have a favorable opinion of Mr Warnock even though 41 per cent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of President Joe Biden. This comes despite the fact that Mr Walker has tried to peg Mr Warnock as someone who votes in lockstep with the president, noting how he votes with Mr Biden 96 per cent of the time.
In addition, Mr Walker faces questions on his judgment, as only 33 per cent of likely voters think he has good judgment and 41 per cent of voters think he would effectively represent Georgia in Congress.
Mr Walker also lags behind Mr Warnock significantly on matters of trust, as 52 per cent of likely voters think Mr Warnock is honest and trustworthy compared to 41 per cent who think Mr Walker is.
Similarly, many of the counties that Mr Warnock won in his 2021 runoff and in November have seen prodigious turnout in early voting. Fulton County, where much of Atlanta is located, has seen 21.1 per cent of its voting population already turnout. Mr Warnock won Fulton by 49 per cent of the vote.
DeKalb County, which Mr Warnock won by 70 per cent of the vote in November, has seen 26 per cent of its population already cast their ballot.
Conversely, Bartow County, where Mr Walker won by 50 per cent, has only seen 17.7 per cent of its voters already cast their ballot. However, 20.6 per cent of voters in Jackson County, which Mr Walker won by 56 points, already voted.
