Raphael Warnock's victory was a rebuke to Donald Trump. It was also about the future.
 | By John Guida Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
In the last major battle of the 2022 midterms, Raphael Warnock prevailed as the victor and will serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. |
Herschel Walker lost, but it wasn't just a defeat for him. It was also, as Ross Douthat writes, "yet another case study in why the Republican Party desperately needs to move on from Donald Trump." |
As Douthat explains, the outcome in the Georgia runoff, which gives the Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate, "helped make the runoff a fractal of the larger 2022 pattern: Under Trump's influence, with Trump's preferred candidates, the Republican Party first sacrificed a potential Senate majority and then sacrificed one more Senate seat for good measure." |
Charles Blow also sees Trump's failing in Walker's fall. Trump recruited Walker and assumed celebrity "would cover all flaws." |
But it did not, Blow writes: "Trump's brand, his celebrity worship and promulgation, was not enough to push Walker over the edge. But while Walker failed, Trump failed even worse." |
Maybe, Douthat notes, "At a certain point — maybe it isn't here yet, but it's closer — the leader who loses just starts to look like, well, a loser." |
But the runoff was about much more than Trump. Warnock's win has other implications, as Ross Barkan laid out in a pre-election guest essay. There are "two overriding reasons" for the significance of a win for Warnock and his fellow Democrats, Barkan writes: "to safeguard their gains in the judiciary and to bolster their national bench." |
Furthermore, Barkan peeks ahead and says, "It's tantalizing to consider whether the Georgia senator holds answers to the various major and minor crises looming over the future of the party." |
Warnock is not the only Georgian to look out for in the future. As Michelle Cottle wrote in a pre-election piece, the Georgia runoff cast also included Gov. Brian Kemp. In a "postural shift," he came out and supported Walker (which he avoided in the general election). |
"Keep an eye on Mr. Kemp," she writes. "The 59-year-old Georgia governor is positioning himself to be a major Republican player — one that, unlike so many in his party, is not a complete Trump chump." |
It was another night with the political spotlight shining on Georgia. It belonged to Warnock. With Warnock, Kemp and Trump, we turn to the political road ahead. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment