Prop gate? An inside-the-debate hall perspective on the Walker-Warnock U.S. Senate showdown

Wanda Lloyd, a retired newspaper editor, is author of the memoir "COMING FULL CIRCLE: From Jim Crow to Journalism."

By the time I walked out of the District Live theater at Plant Riverside, site of the Georgia U.S. Senate debate between candidates Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, someone on social media was already tagging the event as “Prop Gate.”

“I’ve never pretended to be a police officer,” Warnock said in response to a question in the debate category of crime and violence.

While standing up for what he described as his support of law enforcement, Sen. Warnock alluded to some of the “lies” his opponent has been telling throughout the campaign. In his rebuttal, Walker pulled out what appeared to be a police badge from his pocket, saying he has actually been in law enforcement.

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WSAV’s Tina Tyus-Shaw, one of the debate moderators, challenged Walker, reminding him that the rules said no props allowed.

“Put that prop away,” she said. “You are very well aware of the rules, aren't you, Mr. Walker?” Tyus-Shaw said with the sternness of a mother chastising a disobedient child. Bravo for Savannah’s local news anchor, who got positive props from journalists on a cable news channel after the debate.

The two Senate candidates were hosted by NBC affiliate WSAV-TV and parent company Nexstar Media Group, Inc., which owns dozens of stations across the nation, including three stations in Georgia, according to the corporate website.

The opportunity to be in the debate room was the result of getting one the hottest tickets in the state. The room was populated with politicians, political activists, clergy, and media and community influencers from across the state. Savannah’s current mayor and at least two former local mayors were present, as were mayors of other cities in Georgia.

Although I have been an editor at seven daily newspapers, this was my first time attending a debate in person, because my role was always back in the newsroom, directing coverage, deciding on the stories that would go on the front page, writing the banner headlines, and sometimes harassing reporters to get their stories in by deadline. This time I wanted to be in the room.

To get the 'color,' you have to be there

Leaving the political facts to the deadline reporters for digital and broadcast news organizations, I wanted to see what we journalists sometimes call the “color” in the room. It’s not about red, white and blue (although there was plenty of that on the set). Color in news writing is about atmosphere, who’s in attendance and how they receive the information.

First, there were the rules, which came in the envelope with the tickets a few days before the debate. No campaign signs or noisemakers allowed; no shouting; audience members must be seated 20 minutes before the start of the debate, no flash photography and no video cameras allowed. Most people complied with the rules, which were also posted on a digital board in the lobby. But many did not comply.

The protocols also included a dress code: No political buttons to be worn and “shoes are required.” Thanks, Nexstar.

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In the lobby area, tall men in black suits were armed with body scanners. I was asked to open my handbag for a look inside. After a check-in by name at a desk near the door, students from Beach High School (my alma mater, by the way) escorted everyone to pre-assigned seats. I asked one of the students how they were selected. “We were picked because we have high grades,” she said.

Security was ever present, officers standing on three sides of the room, perhaps in case fisticuffs broke out. The audience was civil.

Just before the final countdown to the televised debate, the audience was encouraged to give one strong show of support for their candidates. That was the first indication that the assigned seating was mostly split like church pews at a wedding – the bride’s family and friends on one side of the room, the groom’s attendees on the other.

When Walker’s supporters were asked to applaud, practically one side of the room rose to a roaring round of applause, cat calls and whoops. When the Warnock supporters were invited to show support, the noise level was at least twice the level of decibels.

Two people seated on the stage out of camera range were tasked with holding up huge sign boards as warnings for the candidates that response time was just about up. The crude, non-technical time-keeping method was a surprise on a stage otherwise outfitted with 21st century technology.

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Impressions of the candidates

As soon as the debate began, I turned on my voice recorder. That helped me notice that at 8 minutes, 50 seconds in, Walker interrupted Warnock, and he continued to interrupt throughout the debate. Overall, Warnock was polite and he seemed careful, hesitant even to avoid breaking the debate rules.

My goal was not to judge who won or who lost the debate. But at the end, several people around me did admit that Walker was strong (if wrong much of the time by stating untruths), and Warnock often did not directly respond to questions.

Yet, no matter the responses to many important topics, such as foreign policy, Supreme Court expansion, abortion and the economy, the 2022 Georgia Senate debate may just go down in history as the Prop Gate debate.

Georgia voters will soon decide.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Attendee Herschel Walker Raphael Warnock U.S. Senate debate insights