Thank you, Georgia

As sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines

If you read my piece on Herschel Walker a few weeks ago, you already know I’m pleased with how the runoff election in Georgia turned out. Mostly, what I’m feeling right now is relief.

I saw a lot of people on social media last night who couldn’t fathom how the race was so close to begin with. All they saw was Herschel stumbling in his speeches, rambling about vampires and werewolves and how our good air got into China’s bad air and so the bad air ended up here. Not to mention his many, many character flaws.

Fair points. But they ignore two things:

1) Georgia has a Republican governor, and Republicans have a majority in both houses of the state legislature and the U.S. House delegation. It’s not surprising that any Republican in Georgia would get a lot of votes.

2) Herschel Walker was (maybe still is) the most beloved athlete in the history of the state. The only others who come close are Henry Aaron and Dale Murphy. College football is the most important sport in Georgia, and UGA is the most important team, and Herschel Walker brought UGA a national championship. He had a massive store of goodwill before the race even started.

I don’t know—and don’t care, for the time being—what this means for Herschel’s legacy, or Donald Trump’s chances in 2024, or even Democrats’ long-term future in Georgia and the South. Today I’m just going to savor the win. Georgia means the world to me, and I’m so glad folks there did the right thing.

All rise for the national anthem.

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P.S.: We posted a new episode of SouthBound this morning with my guest Mary Gauthier, the brilliant singer-songwriter from Nashville by the way of New Orleans. That link goes to the WFAE website, but the podcast is available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever else you get podcasts. If you haven’t listened to SouthBound before, today’s a great day to start—Mary is just tremendous.

Thanks!—TT