U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock campaigned for office in 2020 promising a “storm of change” if he won. His latest 30-second TV spot ditches the tempestuous language in favor of a more realistic approach.
“I’m Raphael Warnock. I’m a dad. A senator. A pastor. But a magician I’m not. So in just a year in the Senate did I think I could fix Washington? Of course not,” Warnock said in the ad.
“But every day I focused on what I could do for our state. Creating jobs. Fixing infrastructure. Expanding healthcare. I approve his message because that’s not magic, that’s doing the job for Georgia.”
Is it part of a recalibration? Facing a tough reelection battle, Warnock has emphasized policies such as capping the price of insulin and suspending the federal gas tax over more polarizing measures.
And he’s split with President Joe Biden on his plan to close a military training center in Savannah and his plan to rescind an executive order that gives officials the authority to turn away migrants at the U.S. border.
Warnock might be the most vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbent up for a vote in 2022, and he must grapple with unease over rising inflation along with frustration from some liberals upset at the pace of Biden’s agenda.
MSNBC host Chuck Todd called the spot the best of the “letting the base down gently” ads this election cycle from Democrats under pressure to meet unfulfilled promises to expand voting rights, combat climate change, eliminate student debt and other overhauls.
Republicans saw it in a much harsher light. Mallory Blount, an aide to GOP Senate frontrunner Herschel Walker, said “if this is your messaging strategy, you’re already losing.”
And Stephen Lawson, a strategist for a pro-Walker outside group, said the new ad amounted to an early concession speech.
“This is the equivalent of throwing a Hail Mary in the first quarter of a football game.”
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