Republicans have a lot of reasons to be excited right now about the 2022 elections, but the quality of Republican candidates is not one of them. There are candidates who pass the test of public character despite some poor judgments, and candidates who fail on issues central to their jobs. For pro-lifers in Georgia, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker provides a particularly painful test. The Georgia Senate election presents an age-old question in a representative democracy: Does personal, private character matter? I submit that it does — but as with so many questions involving political judgment, the answer requires more than just a bumper sticker.
Walker has now been accused by two as-yet unidentified women of paying for them to have abortions of children he fathered with them out of wedlock. Can pro-life voters pull the lever for a man who would kill his own children? There are really three questions. One, did he do it? Two, what is the role of private character in Senate races? Three, what are the public stakes?
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