Herschel Walker, a Republican running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, will “probably go down as one of the worst candidates in our party’s history,” Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) said in an interview with CBS News.
“I showed up to vote this morning,” Duncan said. “I was one of those folks who got in line and spent about an hour waiting, and it was the most disappointing ballot I’ve ever stared at in my entire life since I started voting.”
Mike Evans, a onetime member of Trump’s evangelical advisory board, declared he would not vote for Trump again in an essay submitted to the Washington Post. “[W]e considered our relationship with him transactional… We wanted Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade. We wanted his support of our biblical values.”
Trump, Evans wrote, “kept and exceeded his promises to us.” But those rewards came with a price: “We had to close our mouths and eyes when he said things that horrified us. I cannot do that anymore.”
I would not know who Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan or Mike Evans were if they walked up and slapped me in the face. I only begin this blog post with their mentions to illustrate a point. Evangelicals must cease supporting political candidates based on pragmatism. This blog post, to the delight of some like my youngest daughter, Miss Constance Falls, will be a relatively short post. I encourage you to read my previous post, where I devote an entire blog post to the dangers of pragmatism.
I have been very transparent about my wavering about the legitimacy of Evangelicals voting for Donald J. Trump. I can say I cannot remember a policy decision which I disagreed with President Trump. I believe he was correct about the crisis at the Border, his response to COVID-19 warp-speed vaccination (not all the hoopla about masks, though), his Supreme Court nominations, his economic policies, etc., etc.
As Evans wrote, I concur that Trump honestly exceeded my expectations policy-wise, but like Evans, I cannot close my mouth and eyes anymore for a Trump presidency. I cannot and will not. I am humble enough to understand two vital points:
Evangelicals of goodwill and fierce loyalty and fidelity to the Lordship of Jesus Christ can and do come to different landing points in this matter.
Only heaven and eternity await to reveal if I am right now, whether I was right in 2016 when I did not vote for Trump or whether I was right when I did vote for him in 2020.
The only thing I am supremely confident about is with 100% biblical fidelity I did not vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016 and for Joseph Biden in 2020.
Concerning Herschel Walker, I am both happy and sad. I am pleased, because the Donald Trump effect is waning. Thankfully USA TODAY published an article on December 13, 2022 revealing DJT’s influence in all things Republican Party is dramatically decreasing. I want to add my Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, to this list.
Ted Cruz’s conduct surrounding January 6th has me completely off the Ted Cruz bus. I once thought he was a strong contender to become the Republican nominee but no more. Ted Cruz has been a fervent supporter of Herschel Walker as well.
I am sad about the Walker saga because all Walker had to do was be honest, even if his past included paying for or encouraging female associates to get an abortion. All of us, in time and space, have a past, except for one solidarity person. That person is, of course, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
All Walker had to do was own his past shortcomings, and Georgians, by and large, would have forgiven him and given him the benefit of the doubt. Now, I am not naïve to postulate that every Georgian would have extended grace to Herschel, but I am confident that given the margin of victory that Governor Kemp beat Stacey Abrams (and boy, I am glad for that), Walker could have easily defeated the incumbent, Raphael Warnock.
When will people realize the lie about the alleged act, real or imagined, will always be worse than the alleged act? Bill Clinton did not learn that lesson. Pete Rose did not learn that lesson. Our first parents: Adam and Eve, who began the human experiment, did not learn that lesson.
I would submit that Herschel Walker would be strolling through Washington D.C. this very day house hunting if he was just vulnerable and owned up to his post foibles and spoke powerfully about the person he is today, that he had learned from his past transgressions.
I could and do need to say more about the necessity of character. Lord willing, down the road, I will but suffice it to say in this short blog post character has always mattered. I submit, with Donald Trump, the Republican Party has strayed away from a core principle.
Yet, whatever the Republican Party does in the future, I would not be a party to politically alignment with any candidate the caliber of Herschel Walker or Donald Trump.
This is not Ricky Kyles being high and mighty. Ricky Kyles is a rank sinner. That is undoubtedly true, but leadership requires an exemplary character with no open sins. I do not believe Walker or Trump have comported themselves to be given leadership roles.
If you find my blog posts God-glorifying and His people-edifying, please share them on your social media platforms, sign up as a subscriber to my blog posts, and provide feedback to my posts, be the comments: assents or dissents.
As always, let me know what you think. Until then, keep your hands to the plow and seek to serve for an Audience of One.
With Fear and Trembling,
Ricky Kyles, DEd.Min
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