Herschel Walker-signed Georgia hat A UGA hat Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker signed for a supporter at the Northeast Georgia Livestock Barn in Athens, Ga., on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Walker spoke about gas prices and the November election. News Joshua L Jones

It might sound like a bad idea to put fans of your political opponent in an ad, but there’s a catch when it comes to the latest ad from Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and his opponent, Republican nominee Herschel Walker.

Walker’s biggest claim to fame in Georgia is that he was a star football player for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1980s, winning a national championship and a Heisman Trophy. These days, Walker has parlayed that fame into a political career and was hand-picked by Donald Trump to be the person to unseat Warnock in this year’s election.

Walker certainly has a lot of backers but his campaign has been beset by controversy and lies, with a fresh one coming seemingly every day. In addition to the ongoing abortion scandal, Georgia’s Republican nominee for Senate has attempted to hide undisclosed children, embellished his business accomplishmentslied about academics, and falsely claimed he was a trained FBI agent. To say nothing of his bizarre comments about climate changecelebrities, and social media.

So when Warnock put out an ad full of Georgia alums who rooted for Walker on the football field, it might not have sounded like a good idea. However, the ad’s concept, that while Walker is a great football legend but not a good candidate for political office, helps to drive home that it’s better to elect a reputable person than the famous guy who keeps making stuff up.

We’ll see if that message gets through. In recent polls, Warnock has been slightly ahead of Walker, though we all know how quickly those things can change.

[Jacob Rubashkin]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.