Raphael Warnock goes there on the Herschel Walker abortion allegations
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-largeUpdated: Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:21:03 GMTSource: CNNAfter largely avoiding the abortion controversy surrounding Republican opponent Herschel Walker, Georgia
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-largeUpdated: Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:21:03 GMT
Source: CNN
After largely avoiding the abortion controversy surrounding Republican opponent Herschel Walker, Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is going right at the issue in a new TV ad.
"For you, Herschel Walker wants to ban abortion," the ad's narrator says before clips are played of comments Walker made in support of a national abortion ban. The ad then plays news clips of allegations that Walker paid for a woman's abortion, with one noting that "even his own son says that he is lying." The ad ends with Walker inspecting a check during an NBC News interview and confirming it is his signature on it, though he denied it was reimbursement for an abortion.
Walker has repeatedly denied he paid for a woman's abortion, and CNN has not independently confirmed the allegations.
That Warnock -- after weeks of dodging questions about the abortion allegations -- has decided to not just bring it up, but run ads on it, tells us a few things.
1) We are very late in the game. With just over two weeks left before the critical Senate election, Warnock doesn't want to leave any issue uncovered that could help him win. The final stretch of a campaign is where anything goes and, well, this very much fits the bill.
2) Warnock is worried. The allegations against Walker don't appear to have sunk his campaign as some predicted they might. Walker is still within striking distance of Warnock, with most polling shows him behind narrowly. Although the allegations have received plenty of coverage in local and national media, Warnock and his team clearly want to ensure that every single voter is aware of what Walker is alleged to have done when they go into their polling place.
Will it work? Well, it's worth noting that in a race like this one -- that has been fully engaged between the two parties for months -- there aren't a huge number of persuadable voters left. Most people are in their partisan camps -- and have been there for a while.
What Warnock is hoping is that this ad hits home with the small sliver of undecided voters still out there. And the message to them isn't just that Walker allegedly paid for an abortion. It's that he has voiced support for a national ban on abortion, too. The real takeaway from the ad -- Warnock hopes -- is that Walker is a hypocrite. He has one set of rules for himself and a totally different set of rules and expectations for everyone else, the argument goes.
Hypocrisy is often a very powerful negative message in the context of campaigns. Voters loathe when politicians tell them how to act, but then don't follow that advice in their personal lives.
The only caveat is that Walker has already taken a massive amount of criticism in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate and is still standing. It's possible that his past as a Georgia football hero insulates him in ways that other candidates can only dream of.
