Granderson: Herschel Walker’s candidacy is more interesting now that Senate control is decided by Dems
The Republican National Committee has chosen former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as its man for 2014, the party’s most prominent and outspoken surrogate, according to GOP sources. Gingrich, who lost in his 2004 bid for president, will run for the Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions.
President Obama announced in January he will run for a second term. The White House has not yet made Gingrich available for interviews seeking approval to run, a White House official said.
Walker is perhaps the most unlikely of the Republican 2012 candidates. He was a congressman with a conservative voting record, but he has been the target of an investigation over a sexual harassment allegation, and he has been a longtime critic of the Tea Party movement.
The Walker campaign sought Wednesday to allay concerns that his candidacy could derail the GOP’s chances for control of the Senate. “It’s clear that the Republican Senate candidates will be the majority, and it’s equally clear that our Senate candidate will be the majority in that majority that’s comprised of a collection of Democrats.”
Gingrich had some strong words for Wisconsin’s Democratic senators during a recent interview. “The Republicans just are not going to be able to win the Senate in 2012, and it’s not going to be because of the Republican Party. It’s going be because the voters in the state of Wisconsin, particularly the voters in the state of Wisconsin, are so fed up with this level of corruption and crony capitalism that they’re going to look at a Republican Senate candidate from the state of Wisconsin and say, ‘Let’s give ’em a shot,’ and I think they’ll do just that.”
Walker and other Senate GOP candidates were caught off-guard by the Democratic Party’s unexpected victory on Tuesday. The party’s defeat at the polls was fueled by anger at the Affordable Care Act and its role in the rising cost of health care coverage.
Some Republicans are bracing for a GOP Senate takeover that could benefit from Gov
