Bye, bye, Herschel Walker
Thanks to the failed senatorial candidacy of Herschel Walker, the Republican Party has egg on its face 鈥� again.
There鈥檚 something sweet about that.
Not just because Democrats now have the outright majority (51 to 49) in the U.S. Senate. But because Republicans got caught trying to play the oldest, most cynical game of them all.
They ran a Black man against another Black man (Raphael Warnock) because they thought Georgia鈥檚 Black voters aren鈥檛 smart enough to choose between a qualified public servant and a Donald Trump-picked, ex-football player with an embarrassing lack of knowledge about much of anything.
In the end, Georgia鈥檚 Black voters gave Warnock their stamp of approval.
That means in the future, Democrats might not have to barter with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to get legislation through the Senate. And that also means Democrats will have majorities in as many as two dozen committees.
In the meantime, Republicans will be looking for ways to avoid snatching more defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Republican National Committee has embarked on some post-election self-examination and self-reflection and other hyphenated stuff.
I鈥檓 betting it won鈥檛 work any better than that now infamous 鈥淕rowth and Opportunity Project鈥� report it hatched after the Republican Party鈥檚 disappointing results in 2012.
It was called an autopsy back then.
It was a 100-page report that had been culled from thousands of 鈥済roup listening sessions鈥� and surveys of Hispanics, hundreds of conference calls, and the combined works of more than 200 consultants.
In short, the autopsy concluded that Republicans don鈥檛 seem to treat folks of color and women with the respect they deserve.
鈥淚f Hispanic Americans hear that the GOP doesn鈥檛 want them in the United States, they won鈥檛 pay attention to our next sentence.鈥�
That was in 2012. Guess who arrived on the scene (by way of an escalator) in 2015? Donald Trump with his vitriol about Mexicans 鈥渂ringing drugs 鈥� crime and them being rapists.鈥�
None of it meshed with that 2012 autopsy. That didn鈥檛 matter to Republicans. They had a fire-breathing rabble-rouser and that鈥檚 what mattered.
鈥淚n the modern media environment, a poorly phrased argument or out-of-context statement can spiral out of control and reflect poorly on the Party as a whole,鈥� the autopsy said.
Anytime Mr. Trump found himself in front of a microphone, he shredded those words.
And Republicans buried their 鈥淕rowth and Opportunity Project,鈥� because Trump better fit the will of the Republican Party.
That brings us right back to 2022, and the thousands of Black voters who feel the Republican Party, once again, has shown it refuses to value them.
Herschel Walker was so bad at campaigning that Republican Senators Lyndsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) began appearing alongside him 鈥� as if they were his campaign鈥檚 training wheels.
If they spoke, that meant Walker couldn鈥檛 embarrass himself, I suppose.
At one point, Graham curiously asked, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a Republican, aren鈥檛 you tired of being called a racist all the time by everybody?鈥�
Then, at Walker鈥檚 rallies, people started showing up carrying signs that read, 鈥淩epublicans are not Racist.鈥�
Here鈥檚 a tip: If somebody volunteers, without being asked, that they aren鈥檛 thieves, hide your wallet or purse. They鈥檙e probably thieves.
Republicans should stop insulting Black people, by not valuing them or their votes. And worse, they refuse to respond when they get called out for it.
Chances are any Republican reading this might attack me for saying all of this.
That鈥檚 fine.
It still won鈥檛 change the fact that within months, Republicans will release a brand new 鈥渁utopsy鈥� in which they鈥檒l freely admit they aren鈥檛 treating people of color and women with the respect they deserve.
Then along will come Trump, or a Trump-lite, and lead the party down a path that attracts folks who鈥檒l delight in seizing on (the false belief) that Critical Race Theory is being taught in the nation鈥檚 schools; or that there should be no abortions even to save the life of the mother, or rape and incest victims.
It never fails.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.