A strange story is developing in several of our United States as the 2022 midterm election inches ever closer.
It involves the possibility that the Republican Party, once thought to be a shoo-in to capture both congressional chambers, could be on the verge of blowing that opportunity in the U.S. Senate.
Wyoming GOP Sen. John Barrasso fielded a question today on Fox News Sunday about the idea that his party’s nominees for at least three key Senate races might be too, um, incompetent, crooked or corrupt to win their races. Barrasso shrugged it off, sticking to the party line.
But wait …
Herschel Walker is the GOP nominee in Georgia; he is running against Sen. Raphael Warnock. Walker is a former football player … and a damn good one, too! He also has a lot of issues to face down as he runs against the man who preaches in the same pulpit where the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stood.
Walker has fathered four children with four women, none of whom were married to him. He also is facing accusations of domestic abuse. Oh, and listen to some of the rambling answers he gives to policy questions; it’s as if he took a few too many hits to the head during his gridiron days.
Then we have Mehmet Oz, who’s running in Pennsylvania, where he doesn’t even reside, for the Senate seat against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. I’ll just say this out loud: I believe Oz is a medical quack. He built his reputation as a celebrity physician. The man got endorsed by Donald J. Trump (who also endorses Walker).
He also is full of nutty statements and he also has developed a strange relationship with Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the world’s most brutal despots.
One more GOP nut case is Eric Grietens, a former Missouri governor who resigned that office in 2017 after a woman he was dating accused him of abusing her. His ex-wife has made a similar complaint. Moreover, he has conducted a patently stupid campaign, including a gun-centered ad that portrays him as urging voters to go “RINO hunting” for Republicans In Name Only.
Fox News Anchor Asks GOP Senator if Party is on the Verge of Blowing Midterms Thanks to Herschel Walker, Eric Greitens, and Dr. Oz (msn.com)Fox News Anchor Asks GOP Senator if Party is on the Verge of Blowing Midterms Thanks to Herschel Walker, Eric Greitens, and Dr. Oz (msn.com)
The stakes are huge. The Senate is split 50-50. Warnock seeks to hold his seat; Oz wants to succeed GOP Sen. Pat Toomey; Greitens looks to succeed GOP Sen. Roy Blunt.
Meanwhile, another formerly vulnerable Democrat, Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona, appears to be solidifying his lead out there.
Sen. Barrasso wouldn’t take the bait laid before him by Fox News Sunday, which is what one would expect from a MAGA-loving Republican.
The Republican Party is fully capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by running certifiable nut jobs for public office. It has done so again.