海角大神

For Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, it鈥檚 been a rough week. Already saddled with聽reports of alleged domestic abuse, revelations of previously unacknowledged聽children, and admitted mental health challenges, the Georgia football legend聽now faces reporting that he paid for a former girlfriend鈥檚 abortion 鈥� a charge聽he denies.

The allegation raises the specter of hypocrisy, given Mr. Walker鈥檚 support聽for a ban on abortion with no exceptions, a view he says is faith-based.

The Daily Beast聽聽to back up the abortion story, and subsequently reported that the same woman gave birth to a child fathered by Mr. Walker, which he also denies.聽After the initial allegation, the candidate鈥檚 son 海角大神 Walker, a conservative influencer, came out forcefully against his father. Late Friday, The New York Times reported that the elder Mr. Walker had urged the woman to have a second abortion, but she chose to have their son. At time of writing, Mr. Walker had not responded to requests for comment from the Times.

The stakes are sky high.聽聽show Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, senior聽pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, slightly ahead. If Mr. Walker falls聽short in his effort to capture this seat, the GOP鈥檚 odds of winning back聽control of the 50-50 Senate grow steeper.

But in modern politics, personal failings aren鈥檛 an automatic disqualifier. Former President聽Donald Trump, whose endorsement vaulted Mr. Walker to the Republican聽nomination, demonstrated that late in the 2016 election, when he survived the聽leak of a video in which he bragged about crudely grabbing women. Then there鈥檚聽former President Bill Clinton, who survived his own sex scandal, and years聽later said聽聽about it but felt it was necessary to save聽his presidency.

So far, at least, many conservatives are standing by Mr.聽Walker, saying his policy聽positions matter more than his private life. In this polarized era, that鈥檚 an increasingly聽common stance. Mr. Walker鈥檚 defenders also complain that the media have been聽silent on Senator Warnock鈥檚 personal life, including a聽.

Still, in a close race, a scandal that turns off independent voters or even a small percentage聽of the base can make the difference. The postmortems after these midterms may聽be interesting.