While familiar gubernatorial foes Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams have already been hurling barbs at one another for months, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP opponent Herschel Walker have mainly just circled, bracing for their campaigns to heat up later in the summer.
That sense was on display in Walker’s first official campaign ad spot, where he does not mention Warnock by name, instead pushing some of the candidate’s talking points and pushing a more positive message that has been a trademark of his campaign in its early days.
Titled “Together,” the ad features Walker stating that “Georgia is my family, the United States is my family, so I’m going to fight to take care of them.”
Warnock’s team have attempted to put forward a message that Walker is unqualified for Senate, and pointed out past personal difficulties that the former UGA football legend has gone through. Walker allies, meanwhile, have tried to tie Warnock to unpopular President Joe Biden and the current state of the economy, with a particular focus on inflation and surging gas prices.
But Walker himself, as evidenced by his first ad spot, has remained positive throughout. Will that attitude reverberate with voters in the current combative political climate? And can he maintain it as the campaign ramps up headed into the fall when he and Warnock finally collide? That remains to be seen, but for now Walker is preaching a feel-good message.
