Recently, I read an article, which reported that amongst senior citizens, (my demographic, as I recently joined the ranks of the octogenarians), Walker was preferred over Warnock by a significant margin. What was surprising about the report was the reasons it gave and did not give for this preference.
It did not mention abortion. If you are a senior for whom this is the only issue that matters, Walker is certainly your man. I suspect his personal behavior on the issue; indeed, his sheer hypocrisy, will not matter. But if other issues are you main or of equal concern, the three the article mentioned are worth exploring, because they mostly make no sense. Indeed, based on two of these three, our demographic’s best interests would be served by supporting Warnock. One, for example, was “fear for the survival of our democracy”. If that is a concern of yours, as it is of mine, the Trump wing of the Republican Party is what we have to fear, and Walker has aligned himself with that wing. They not only supported, to one degree or another, the coup attempt that Trump clearly was behind, they also do not support our resisting Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and suggest they will use the next session of Congress to try to undermine it.
This is very dangerous for the survival of the nation and the world. China is watching and is very anxious to recover Taiwan. If Xi, China’s version of Putin, acts on that desire, it could easily lead us into a major war, with possible atomic consequences. We do not need to give tyrants the idea that we will turn a blind eye to aggression. Our parents set the right example here, in both World War II and Korea, and they mostly voted Democratic.
The second reason the article gave is protecting Social Security. Since the Great Depression, starting with Social Security, which they called “socialistic”, the Republican Party has generally been opposed to programs that help the middle and lower classes and closely identified with those that make the rich richer. (All in the name of smaller government, to be sure.) Walker is no exception here. As Republicans are promising to use their new-found power in the House to undermine Social Security and particularly Medicare, by holding the government hostage over the debt ceiling, it is not in our best interest to support anyone who agrees with such policies, and you may safely assume that Walker will do exactly as his handlers instruct him to, if the opportunity presents itself.
The third reason the article listed is inflation. I can understand that one, inflation is a special headache for seniors, especially those living on fixed incomes. And I understand that Republicans would have harped on the issue and tried to blame it on Biden, leading up to the recent election. Truth is Biden’s policies are not the primary cause for our inflation. In the first place, it is a worldwide problem, largely brought on by Covid and intensified by Putin’s war in Ukraine, and it is beginning to ease. Beyond that Republicans do not have any plans for what to do about it, except cut taxes for the rich, which necessitates cutting social programs for the rest of us. (Precisely what the current Conservative government in Great Britain is proposing to do because of their much higher inflation rate.)
When we were young, Georgians were mostly “Yellow Dog” Democrats. After 1963 and the Civil Rights Act, they became Yellow Dog Republicans. But in the last election that seemed to crack a bit. Many Republicans who voted for Kemp also voted for Warnock. If all those Republicans who voted for Kemp had also voted for Walker instead, there would be no run-off, and Walker would have won as handily as Kemp did. The same was true nationally for other “weak” (as McConnell described them) candidates the Trump wing of the party put forward, most of whom lost in an election where Republicans garnered more votes for House members than did Democrats. (The “redwave” that did not materialize.)
If you are a senior citizen, I encourage you to consider voting for Warnock. Walker is a weak choice; his ignorance is his greatest virtue, and he will not represent our state effectively and certainly not look after the interests of senior citizens.