Georgia US Senate runoff - no surprise

 

[VIDEO] Raphael Warnock wins a full term in the US Senate. He defeats former NFL legend Herschel Walker in last nite's runoff election. In the November midterms both men failed to garner 51% percent of the vote.

Warnock who is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church is known for his pro-life positions and has stated as much on several occasions. Walker I just characterize as not very quick on his feet had some baggage during most of the 2022 campaign which includes him masquerading as law enforcements and allegations that he's paid for abortions.

With this said Warnock was the incumbent and was in a strong position anyway and I wasn't sure Walker was going to be able to overcome that. He didn't.

And now we see a congratulatory tweet from Warnock and my own alma mater...

Congratulations to our brother and now 2x Georgia Senator, Dr. @ReverendWarnock '91!! We are proud of the continued example of integrity, service, & leadership that you set for our students, Georgia, and our nation.

Students, your vote ALWAYS matters. ONWARD. #EtFactaEstLux pic.twitter.com/XlvZyjvj8r

— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) December 7, 2022

NBC News: Why Georgia US Senate candidate Herschel Walker flash a police badge

 

[VIDEO] Let me just state that I hear conventional wisdom that debates really don't move a needle either way between any two or more candidates. Voters who watch these debates have already made up their mind about who they're voting for.

I saw a clip of the Georgia senate debate between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock - my Morehouse brother who is also pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church which is MLK's church - and former NFL and Dallas Cowboys star Republican Herschel Walker. Sen. Warnock made a crack about Walker posing as a police officer and Walker pulls out his badge. The badge was derided by debate moderators as a prop, so many believed that badge Walker showed was a fake.

Well, Walker discusses with NBC his badge which he claimed was given to him by the Sheriff of Johnson County who verified that Walker was given an honorary badge and can be called upon if needed. So I would never say if Walker's badge was fake, however, it was bad form to flash it during a debate like that. If he already isn't a great candidate, then why add fuel to the fire that he may well be posing as if he really is a police officer.

Anyway I was surprised to see NBC do this story. I don't know how much impact this police badge thing will have on this senate race. We shall see if Mr. Walker is able to defeat the incumbent Warnock.

It's debate season

 

[VIDEO] Dave Rubin discusses debate between JD Vance & Tim Ryan out of Ohio. They're in a contest for a US Senate Seat and Vance had to correct Ryan's charges with regards to an abortion that occurred in Ohio. A minor child was sexually assault and an abortion had to be performed and as it turns out the pervert was an illegal immigrant. Ryan had nothing after that.

Of course the appropriate question is not necessarily why is this child having an abortion is why do we have a sex offender running around as an illegal immigrant. That's not to say all illegal immigrants are criminals, it is to say if we've got our borders wide open who's to say a criminal didn't somehow get into the country.

Another issue to be raised. A little girl had her life altered forever and I could never imagine her trauma. As opposed to just saying it should be legal for her to have an abortion - and just think the victim was 10-years-old - why should this be a consideration for her. How do we keep her safe from pervs like the aforementioned illegal immigrant? A child is vulnerable from those who are predators....

Perhaps its a good thing Vance is raising some of these issues instead of the typical attack to suggest that the so-called right to abortion is under fire. And like Vance I do agree in reasonable restrictions on abortion.

Oberweis for US Senate

[VIDEO] There was once an ice cream man known as Jim Oberweis. He's an infamous figure in Illinois politics having run for US Senate, Governor, and a US House seat only to lose all of those races. In the first two he proved to be controversial his Senate race involved lots of talk of illegal immigration and his race for Governor well didn't help the GOP side at all.

He actually won a race recently, he's now a sitting state senator in Illinois and now he wants to be a US Senator. While I'm not sure he's a shoo-in he may well be a better candidate than many other's who have ran against long-time US Senator Dick Durbin in recent years.

BTW, I forgot to note earlier this year he was in charge of a push to oust a state party chairman for the GOP. While ultimately he appeared to back off the state GOP has a new chairman anyway and this was to enforce adhearance to the state GOP platform. All the same this state now has gay marriage anyway and it took a few Republican votes to get there as well.

Via CapFax!

Black, Green and Dangerous For Dems

From Charles Thomas at his Precinct7 blog:

For Illinois democrats trying to hold on to the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in the 2010 general election, the emergence of LeAlan Jones is up there near the top on the list of "worst things that could happen".
...
Jones is the Green Party's nominee.  And with so much voter anger and frustration aimed at the major parties, that alone would be enough to make him a factor in the race.

But he's also an African-American who wants to replace the only black member of the Senate, Roland Burris, who was appointed to take the seat vacated by President Barack Obama, who was the only elected black person in the chamber until 2008.

With white male major party nominees in Illinois--democrat Alexi Giannoulias and republican Mark Kirk--many black folks here and around the country are distressed and even outraged by the likelihood that the U.S. Senate will revert to its usual count of zero African-Americans.

And many of those black voters might express those feelings on November 2nd with a vote for Jones.

In fact, a June Public Policy Polling survey suggested Jones was favored by 14% of the electorate during a poll of 552 Illinois voters.

And what perhaps is most important about the survey is that Jones' showing means he should be invited to participate in the televised debates.   Black voters, in particular, who do not know an African-American is on the ballot will realize as much after they see and hear the young, articulate black man standing alongside Kirk and Giannoulias.

Giannoulias, whose democratic party relies on the usually dependable and heavy African-American vote, has the most at risk.  That's why, sources say, democratic party operatives are reaching out to Jones, who will not confirm or deny that such contacts have been made.

I think I can understand it somewhat both major party candidates for US Senate are evenly matched. One can't help but stretch the truth on his military service. The other has an unfortunate association with his family owned bank which was taken over by the feds.

This election is depressing no one seems able to break out of the pack. And the polls are going back and forth because both of these individuals just having nothing that makes them wildly electable.

BTW, the man who they're replacing may be forced to vacate the seat. A federal judge has all but ordered a special election  for that senate seat. The seat Giannoulias and Kirk are running for is currently held by Roland Burris and was the seat that catapulted Barack Obama to the Presidency.

I can always look at it this way, in an eagerness to insure that a black is sitting in a US Senate seat a corrupt governor appoints a black and it quickly becomes a racial issue. The Democratic majority in the state backs off so as to not anger an important voting block and drops a special election because they want another Democrat to win. Two blacks run in the primary one each in both major parties and both lost. So blacks would have to suck it up and vote for two white men in the general election anyway.

If this was about a Black Senator we've lost this race anyway. Especially since the appointed Black Senator wasn't able to mount a bid to retain the seat and other Black candidates were unable to break out of primaries. And the only other choice is a third party candidate who also is Black, but that's not likely to happen because he's not a Democrat.

Wow 2010 is turning into something else in Illinois isn't it?

Allegations pose first campaign test for Cheryle Jackson

Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, this senate race coming up next year isn't important. Perhaps this Senate seat for which Ms. Jackson is seeking election may not be a competitive seat, especially since I think Republicans may have a pick-up here. This Senate seat may not have much effect on the balance of power in the US Senate between Republicans and Democrats.

This senate seat however is an important one for racial history. In perhaps the last 40 years four blacks have taken their seats in the US Senate. Three have been elected with one appointed. Also three black US Senators have come from Illinois. Two have been elected and one was appointed, and we won't discuss the one who was appointed I've talked about him enough.

Today we'll talk about the new candidate for US Senate on the Democratic side, she used to be apart of Ousted governor's administration. And that was before she become President of the Chicago Urban League. Today it appears that she had a role in the bungled attempt to offer state funds to a church that was ravaged by fire a few years back.

Are the fingerprints of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle Jackson on one of the state's biggest political fiascos under now-indicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

Jackson -- the Chicago Urban League chief who was Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff for communications until late 2006 -- emphatically says no.

But a series of previously undisclosed e-mails between Blagojevich staffers call that assertion into question. The e-mails were flying as the then-governor's staff scrambled to fulfill his promise to give $1million in state aid to Pilgrim Baptist Church, a Bronzeville landmark destroyed by fire.

Blagojevich's promise, made with TV cameras rolling in January 2006 as he was seeking re-election, blew up in his face last year when the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that the money intended for the church went instead to a clout-heavy private school, the Loop Lab School, that had rented space from the church in a building next to its sanctuary at 3300 S. Indiana.

Well the mix-up over where this money was supposed to go came to a head last year. Just before Ousted governor was arrested, impeached and then removed from office. Of course Ms. Jackson denies her role in that affair, in fact she is sure to let people know that she left the Blagojevich administration the year that he was re-elected. Also she makes sure to note that Blago didn't stand for what she believed he stood for and that prompted her departure. Let's continue:

Loop Lab School -- run by a pardoned ex-felon named Chandra Gill -- was leasing space from Pilgrim Baptist Church at the time of the fire. The school used the $1 million from Blagojevich's administration to move out of Bronzeville and buy a downtown office condo that was supposed to become the school's new home.

Blagojevich's response to the news that the school got the $1 million meant for the church was to claim he was blindsided by the disclosure. He blamed everything on a bureaucratic mix-up by two former staffers and offered what he called a "win-win" solution, deciding to let the school keep the money and promising to direct another $1 million to the church.

But the church still hasn't gotten that state money. And the Loop Lab School never reopened in the office condo downtown.

The state is taking steps to try to get back the grant money from the school. Also, the auditor general found that Blagojevich's administration broke state rules on how grants are awarded.

In another e-mail written the same day the Sun-Times story broke, [Blago deputy Chief or Staff Kristin] Richards said Jackson was the one who directed, early on, that Loop Lab School get the state money instead of the church. The decision to route money to the school came after the American Civil Liberties Union questioned the legality of giving state funds to a church.

So, this is turning into a huge mess. It may not derail Cheryle Jackson's chance. John Ruberry seems to believe a worse dilemna may be Alexi Giannoulias offering loans to organized crime figures.

While there may be the opportunity to elect another black to the US Senate, with the wounds some of the candidates have on the Democratic side I can see why Mark Kirk and the Republicans may believe that this Senate seat may be another pick up. This one might be made easy in spite of Illinois' blue tint.