Georgia on the minds of voters

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 18th of October, 2022.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: the very close Senate race in Georgia.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock finally debated with Republican candidate Herschel Walker in Savannah for the campaign’s only debate before the election.

Two moderators asked hard hitting questions last Friday night. They discussed the candidates’ stances on abortion, the 2020 election, and scandals involving Warnock’s church and Walker’s personal life.

REICHARD: WORLD’s Washington correspondent Carolina Lumetta was there, and she joins us today to talk about what she learned in Savannah. Carolina, welcome.

CAROLINA LUMETTA, REPORTER: Hi Mary, thanks for having me.

REICHARD: It’s a busy midterm elections cycle. What makes the Georgia race so significant?

LUMETTA: It's one of these key states that's going to determine control of the Senate next year. Right now it's a 50-50 chamber and the Democrats stand to lose some seats. So it's essential for them to try to keep Georgia from flipping. Another interesting thing here is the political identity of the state. They've had a lot of recent Democratic wins, but there's still a pretty deep Republican base. Now, Georgia voters do not register with a party, which makes determining overall affiliation kind of difficult. I can say though, that the state has shifted from strongly democratic to almost evenly divided. In 2020, now President Joe Biden won the state by a margin of only 0.2%. One rally speaker I heard over the weekend insisted that the state is actually Republican. But a democratic canvasser told me that she moved to Savannah specifically because it is a blue liberal city in a state that's going the same way.

REICHARD: Let’s talk about these candidates in more detail. What strengths and what weaknesses do each of these men have that voters in Georgia need to consider?

LUMETTA: So on paper, both candidates are Christian black men and they’re courting similar demographics with the vote. Now, Warnock made history for being the first black senator from the state after he won a special election last year. So he's got some pretty strong name recognition. He's a committed Democrat, runs on a pretty liberal platform, and he's a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was the same church that Martin Luther King Jr. preached at. And his opponents point out that he votes the same way that President Biden would.

Now, Walker is running on the fact that he is not a politician. He made his name for being a football star. He's now running as a family values guy. The twist here is that he wasn’t actually really involved in many of his kids’ lives. There were at least three who were born out of wedlock and he didn’t admit to their existence until the campaign. There have also been some domestic violence allegations and some new allegations about paying for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Now, he is a pro-life candidate, but his base likes this. They say he has moved past his mistakes, he is repenting of them and they trust him to be their next senator.

Here's Sarah Laine Moneymaker who I spoke to at a pre-debate rally in Savannah.

MONEYMAKER: He is running as a conservative, he is running as pro life. He is supporting the Constitution. And we're going to hold him accountable to make sure that when he's elected, he is going to continue to honor those promises. There are very few candidates that I trust. And I trust people until they prove that they are not trustworthy. Herschel Walker has not done anything to abuse my trust.

Now, others said that they actually respect Walker even more for his checkered past. Here's Ben Adams, a Savannah resident who helps out with the County Republican Party.

ADAMS: ...Because he didn't run away from it. He didn't shy from it. He stood up as a man. And all I can do is respect the man standing tall as a man and owning up to his mistakes in his past.

Well, then I asked Adams about his view of Senator Warnock. Here's what he had to say about that candidate.

ADAMS: He's a pastor that lies. He's a pastor that does not stand on the values that is God in Christ. You cannot tell me that you're. So he believes in pro choice, whatever that is, as a pastor, but I know in my raisings that God loves all His children. And he does not push the death of children especially. And now you're running for an office, and you have a guy who has a checkered past who's had mistakes, who's owned up on them, and went to get help and you're tearing them down and you're using those past mistakes, to help further your political career as a pastor, that's wrong.

Now, Mary, Adams touched on a few key things about Warnock's platform. He is a very strong proponent of abortion. He said it's a necessary medical service and at the debate on Friday he said there's no space for the government in a room with a patient and her doctor. Now, Walker rebutted that there's a baby in the room, too. But he also softened his stance on abortion, saying that he would allow for exceptions for rape and incest. The other scandal here that Warnock is struggling with is that the ministry arm of his church—Ebenezer Baptist Church-has been accused of evicting tenants during the pandemic for outstanding balances as low as $30. Now, he refused to answer questions about this during the debate

REICHARD: Polls show Warnock with a slight lead, but the race is still very much a tossup. What issues are Georgia voters you spoke with talking about?

LUMETTA: So, voters in both parties are still mostly concerned about what are called the kitchen table issues, mainly the economy, how much do groceries cost, how much does it cost to fill up the tank. Now, Warnock is also struggling to get out the vote among apathetic liberal-leaning voters. So Democratic canvassers that I talked to are working hard to get people just to register. They say it's down to a numbers game and they're really hoping that Warnock's position as an incumbent will help. Now Walker has strong support from the conservative Republican base. He also has former President Donald Trump's endorsement. But this might not be enough to win those same voters who are still on the fence.

I talked to some people on the streets in Savannah, who also just don't plan on voting because they said it doesn't really matter. They don't trust most politicians. They see both as having lied. And so they're not planning on heading to the polls in November.

Now other voters like Commander James Putney, he's a chaplain for the Chatham County Veterans Council. And he told me that he's simply praying for both candidates. He received a phone call from the Georgia branch of the Republican National Committee, and they asked him to open a pre-debate rally on Friday with a prayer for Herschel Walker. Now, Putney described himself as 100% Democrat, and he plans to vote for Warnock. Here's what he had to say.

PUTNEY: I'm not a Walker fan. He was okay with me for football. You know, I mean, when that's when I stopped there. But I'm a Warnock fan. And I won’t even say fan. I'm just for Warnock in this case.

So why am I here? Because the Scripture said the Earth is Lord’s and the fullness thereof. And all that dwells within. God don't care if you're Republican or Democrat. There ain't but one God and he said pray for everybody. The earth belongs to him. So should I not pray for Walker? Is he not a child of God?

REICHARD: Carolina Lumetta writes for WORLD and focuses on political coverage for the weekly newsletter, called The Stew. Carolina, thank you.

LUMETTA: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

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