A Crisis of Confidence

GOP candidates like Herschel Walker reveal something deeper than Republican rot: faith in representative government is failing.

Everyone knew going into the Georgia Senate debate that things were likely to get weird. After all, this contest has been very, very strange. Former University of Georgia hero Herschel Walker’s bid for the office has been, to put it mildly, one of the most bizarre campaigns in modern history, contending with Christine O’Donnell’s “I’m not a witch, I’m you” push.

There has been no shortage of revelations that should have ended this contest. Walker’s endless lies. His secret children. His documented history of domestic abuse and violent tendencies. And, of course, reports that he has violated the most “sacred” principles of the Republican Party itself. That he has survived all of this and still stands to possibly win the election, despite his scandals and despite his obvious lack of competence, is an indictment of the party itself.

But listen. I don’t know that any of us expected Walker to pull out a prop police badge onstage in Savannah.

It’s embarrassing.

Cringe-inducing.

And none of it matters. Not even a little bit.

This moment is so telling in so many ways. The barrage of untalented Republican candidates still in contention and possibly ready to assume control over the government is maddening. But also it reveals a much larger truth.

American confidence in representative government isn’t just fading, it’s dying by the second. And the consequences of that trend are nothing short of seismic. Because it is the ultimate goal of this authoritarian movement and the beginning of the next chapter in this dismal and dangerous story.