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As part of his strategy for the runoff election in December, Herschel Walker should meet with the libertarian candidate from November's general election, Chase Oliver, and try to obtain his endorsement.
He should also inform Republicans that a 50 Republican-50 Democratic Senate has significant advantages over a 51 Democratic-49 Republican Senate.
In November's General Election, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., received 37,674 more votes than Herschel Walker (49.44% of the total vote to 48.49%).
Since neither candidate won 50% of the vote plus one voter, the race is heading to a Runoff in December between the top two candidates, Sen. Warnock, and Herschel Walker.
The libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver, received 81,364 votes (2.1% of the total vote) in the general election. He will not be on the ballot in the runoff election.
Herschel Walker's strategy for the runoff will likely have two parts.
First, his main focus will be on getting as many of his voters to the polls. Second, and to a lesser extent, he will try to convince the Warnock's voters from the general election to back Herschel Walker instead or to not vote at all (i.e., stating that Warnock should not serve in office).
At this point in the race, though, a low probability exists that a Warnock voter in the general election will switch to a Walker voter in the runoff.
The only true undecided voters are the 81,364 voters who supported Libertarian Chase Oliver. Since Oliver is not in the runoff, Oliver's voters from the general election will have to choose between Warnock and Walker.
The number of these voters is significant.
It's more than twice the number of votes which separated Warnock and Walker in the general election. If the turnout in the runoff election is the same as that of the general election and Herschel Walker does not receive Oliver's votes, Sen. Warnock would win the election.
However, if the turnout in the runoff election is the same as that of the general election and Herschel Walker receives Oliver's votes, Herschel Walker would win the election.
Herschel Walker should meet with Chase Oliver and convince him that having Herschel Walker in the Senate seat would benefit those who voted for Oliver.
Since Oliver was the libertarian candidate, most of his voters were probably libertarian.
Walker should point out that his Republican principles align with many libertarian philosophies such as a desire for smaller government, individual liberty, and fiscal conservatism.
It may be beneficial for Walker to speak with Blake Masters (the Republican candidate in Arizona) who was able to convince Marc Victor (the libertarian candidate in Arizona) to drop out of the race and endorse Masters. Masters' advice for convincing Chase Oliver could helpful in securing Oliver's endorsement.
It may also help for Walker to get advice from former Congressman Rand Paul and current Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Herschel Walker should also convince Republicans of the benefit of a 50-50 Senate.
Currently, many Republicans may not think that this race is important because Democrats would be able to pass bills out of the Senate if Sen. Warnock wins or loses (the Democrats would have 51 votes in the Senate if Senator Warnock wins or, if Herschel Walker wins, Democrats would have 50 votes plus Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote).
A Herschel Walker win has two important advantages. The first is that a Herschel Walker win makes it more difficult for Democrats to pass bills along party lines.
In a 50-50 Senate, every Democrat would have to vote for a Democratic bill for it to pass.
If the Senate is 51-49, the Democrats can lose a vote (such as the vote of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.) and still pass the bill.
The second difference is with the makeup of Senate committees and subcommittees.
With a Sen. Warnock win and a 51-49 Democrat advantage in the Senate, Democrats would have a majority on each Senate committee and subcommittee.
Consequently, legislation could be passed out of committees/subcommittees and investigations could be started out of them without a Republican vote.
With a Herschel Walker win and a 50-50 split in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats, the parties would have to agree to a power-sharing deal.
In the last Senate, which was 50-50, the parties agreed to have an equal number of seats on each committee.
Ideally, though, Republicans would negotiate a better power-sharing deal in which they do not cede all of the Committee chairmanships to the Democrats.
The December Senate Runoff in Georgia will be a close one.
In addition to his current strategy, Herschel Walker should target every voter, including libertarians, and make every argument as to why a Herschel Walker win and a 50-50 Senate would benefit Georgia, Republicans, and the country as a whole.
(Related Newsmax Herschel Walker stories may be found here, and here.)
Michael B. Abramson is a practicing attorney. He is also an adviser with the National Diversity Coalition for Trump. He is the host of the "Advancing the Agenda" podcast and the author of "A Playbook for Taking Back America: Lessons from the 2012 Presidential Election." Follow him on his website and Twitter, @mbabramson. Read Michael B. Abramson's Reports — More Here.
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