LaGRANGE, Ga. — Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker may be like many college football fans in the state and have his mind on the Georgia/Tennessee game. The top two ranked teams in the country are playing in Athens Saturday afternoon in what could accurately be described as the biggest non-championship game at Sanford Stadium ever. Om a stage in front of Kimble’s Foods on a warm Friday afternoon in West Georgia however, Walker’s words were focussed on current United States President Jospeh R. Biden’s policies and Walker’s current opponent Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
“Right now I’m battling a man that I believe is a Marxist,” said Walker about Warnock. “He wants to abolish the family.”
Walker earned cheers and chants of “Herschel, Herschel” from the crowd as he gave himself props for debating Warnock in Savannah last month. That debate, hosted by NextStar, has been the sole debate between the men thus far. Election Day is Tuesday, November 8.
About Warnock he added, “The guy that I’m running against is trying to separate my family,” Walker said. “He calls our men and women in blue thugs. We need our men and women in blue.”
Walker also spoke about President Biden’s failure to secure the border, “Have you seen that border,” men in women’s sports and the rising prices of groceries. “I’m going to tell all of you to vote for me and we’ll all get to the promise land together,” Walker said.
A little help from my friends
Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi joined walker on stage. Bondi was ceremonially booed when she said, “I am a Florida Gator, but I’m here to represent Herschel Walker.” The Gator portion of her statement setting the stage for what was to come.
Gabbard, from Hawaii, didn’t talk football. “I’m standing here for Herschel Walker because he’s a man of the people. The clear choice is for freedom and to protect it against those who attempt to take it away.”
She also made sure to mention that she was a former Democrat and had recently switched her political allegiance because of the direction the Democratic Party is going in. “Now is the time for us, we have to take a stand,” she said. “We don’t work for the government, they work for us.”
Georgia State Senator Randy Robertson (District 29) was also in attendance in support of Walker. He asked how many people in the audience had already voted and then said, “Tuesday gets us halfway down the field and two years from now gets us where we need to be.” The former was in reference to Election Day with the later being in reference to the 2024 presidential election.
Similar to Warnock Thursday night in Decatur, Walker was preaching to choir in LaGrange. Georgia Bulldogs caps and jersey were sprinkled throughout the crowd. Some fans waited for a chance to have Walker sign a yard sign after the rally was over. “I’ve made up my mind,” said John McConnell, 85. “Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know who you want to vote for at this point. It’s been corner to corner coverage.”
Asked what he likes most about someone that will be chosen to represent Georgia in the United States Senate, McConnell answered, “Honesty, that’s important to me.”
Small slice of the pie
Of the more than 2 million in-person early ballots that have been cast statewide, Troup County (population 69,426, according to the United States Census), where LaGrange is the county seat, has only had just under 10,000 (9,989) early ballots cast, according to date from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Walker did not take questions from the media following the rally.