Herschel Walker is simply not ready for prime time. 

The Georgia Republican Party had a real chance to win back the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock by fielding a strong candidate who the GOP could rally behind. 

Walker is not that man. 

Perhaps the greatest college football running back of all time and most certainly a Georgia football legend, Walker is not prepared to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. 

He is not a serious candidate. 

He has no grasp of public policy and no knowledge of issues that matter to the people of Georgia. 

We are not talking about issues in his personal life, his business history and self-admitted battles with mental health issues. 

We are talking about being totally unprepared. 

Herschel Walker certainly has name recognition. 

He has an engaging public personality. 

But, the race for the U.S. Senate must not be a mere popularity contest, and the floor of the Senate is no place to get an education on how legislative government works. 

There is nothing wrong with Walker running as an outsider but there is a big difference between being a beltway outsider and being completely unprepared. 

Candidates can be outsiders and still prepare themselves for office.

Walker’s team is trying to keep him on message but no matter how hard he tries, he strays off script and reveals how little he actually knows about the serious issues facing our nation, including the economy, ongoing health care crisis and foreign policy. 

His recorded comments at private fundraisers, in media interviews and even at public campaign rallies have been an embarrassment to the GOP and the state of Georgia. 

Does Georgia really want to be the state represented by a Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House and a Herschel Junior Walker in the Senate? 

Party leaders got behind Walker, shallowly thinking that a Black male Republican was best poised to shave off votes from a Black male Democrat. 

They picked the wrong man. 

In many ways, the whole thing has been unfair to Walker because it seems he was made to believe that being a U.S. senator was something he could easily do. 

Walker was a gifted athlete. That does not mean he could ever be a gifted, or even a capable, lawmaker. 

What a great story it would be: A child from Wrightsville tries out for the Wrightsville High School football team, discovers he is an exceptional athlete and helps his school bring home its first-ever state championship. 

He goes on to play at the University of Georgia, wins the Heisman, a national championship and is heralded as one of the greatest of all time, going on to play professional football. Then, years after retiring from football and pursing several business ventures, the young man from Wrightsville grows up to become a United States senator. 

It sounds like a fairy tale come true, but it is just a fairy tale. 

Walker did all of those other things and did them exceptionally well but the U.S. Senate seat is not just another victory, another game to win. It is far too important to hand out as another trophy to the GOAT of the college gridiron. 

Walker has yet to debate his opponent, Warnock. 

Imagine him debating on the floor of the U.S. Senate. 

The GOP had its chance to draft a candidate who could win back the Senate but this time it handed the ball off to the wrong player.