Senate Control

Georgia’s runoff election could give Democrats a true majority in the chamber.

For a lot of African Americans, Walker puts on display a lot of the worst stereotypes that white conservatives in the South harbor toward them: that his talents are only in athletics, and that he is, in his own telling, “not that smart.” If a candidate as controversial as Walker wins, the takeaway will be that if you have enough star power, speak the language of the party’s base and have Trump’s backing, you too can be in the Senate.

I was with Walker about three weeks ago in a heavily conservative, heavily white northern Georgia county. When I follow Walker to those kinds of events, we’re really the only two African Americans there. A white man walked up to me and was like, “Where are all the Black people?” He seemed to understand that Walker was a Black candidate who was not garnering much Black support in a state where you actually need at least a little bit to win. I’ve even talked to Black conservatives who are shaking their heads in disappointment. Though not on the record, of course.

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