After last night

This is a postscript to my November 9 installment of “After last night” on this year’s midterms.

• In a perfect coda to the disappointing outcome of the 2022 midterm elections, Raphael Warnock won reelection to the Senate from Georgia last night. He did it by taking 51.4 percent of the vote in his runoff against Herschel Walker for a full six-year term. Walker fell about 100,000 votes short out of 3.5 million cast.

• Republicans won every statewide office but for the Senate seat. Governor Brian Kemp led the way. Georgia is not a blue state. When it comes to a Republican path to electoral success, however, I’ll have what Kemp is having, if you know what I mean. Even so, Kemp and his organization proved unable to pull Walker over the finish line in this contest.

• Hundreds of millions of dollars were raised on behalf of Warnock. Walker was vastly outspent. A total of at least $400 million was spent on the race. For the runoff, From Oct. 20 through Nov. 16, Warnock raised twice as much money as Walker. The Warnock reported raising $51.9 million, while his Walker reported raising $20.8 million. Warnock was supported by a barrage of ads attacking Walker’s character.

• In victory Warnock declared: “I am Georgia. I am an example and an iteration of its history. Of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the possibility.” I’ll give him “the brutality.”

• After November 8 Republicans had no prospect of securing a majority in the Senate. At best they could maintain the status quo. At worst, they would fall to an outright minority at 49-51. That is where they are this morning. It’s not a good place to be.

• These are the first midterm elections since 1934 where the president’s party didn’t lose a single incumbent Senate seat. Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, Slow Joe must be a political dynamo.

• On the one hand, Joe Manchin is no longer the man. On the other hand, he is up for reelection in 2024 as Democrats face a more hostile map. We can look forward to his departure from the scene one way or another at that time.

• According to the left-wing media, a star is born. Warnock for president! According to me, Warnock is a ludicrous, America-hating figure with the gift of gab. He’s a Jeremiah Wright kind of guy whose time has come. Indeed, the time has met the man. Warnock is laughing his Ossoff.

• Walker’s career in elective politics reminds me of the Minnesota Vikings’ 1989 trade for Walker. It did not go well for the Vikings. It hurt, big time, for a long time to come.

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