What the Georgia Senate race does and doesn't mean

 An incumbent defeated a challenger who has never held elected office before.  As a political science professor, would you like to see my "shocked" face?  Since I prefer to write, you cannot see my face, so you must imagine it, but do so.  Feel free to draw a creative mustache, childish piercings, or the like, but if you find yourself getting creative with my expression, might I recommend that you read a few texts on how elections work?

Look, Herschel Walker was basically Alvin Greene.  Do you remember Alvin Greene?  Probably not, but Alvin Greene was a rando who put his name on the South Carolina Democratic ballot to challenge incumbent Senator Jim DeMint a few years back.  Since nobody paid any attention to the Democratic primary for the opportunity to lose to Jim DeMint, Alvin Rando Greene won, and then the country discovered that he was something beyond a rando.  He was a mentally ill person, discharged from the military under less than savory circumstances and then charged with showing up on a college campus and harassing girls by showing them... images.  What happened when Greene was confronted by the press about this stuff?

Yeah, that happened.  To a Senate nominee.

Can someone please explain to me the difference between Alvin Greene and Herschel Walker?  I can list a few.  Walker is a violent psychopath.  They're about equally stupid.  There's the football thing, but beyond that, um... Trump?

But at the end of the day, when Greene/Walker runs against an incumbent, the incumbent wins.

Behold, political science.  Quit acting shocked.

What else?  Yes, the Democrats will have 51-49.  What does that mean?  It means that Joe Manchin alone doesn't control the Senate, but Manchin and Sinema do.  If they coordinate, they run the chamber.

But since Marjorie Taylor Greene runs the House, that means two things for legislation.  1)  Jack, and 2) shit.

For nominations, Biden was pretty much getting those anyway.  This just means it takes coordination between Manchin and Sinema to block Biden.  The committee balances?  That matters... not really.  Why not?  There won't be any legislation.  See:  Speaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, or at least, Acting Speaker Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Does it matter, in some broader sense, that Alvin Greene/Herschel Walker lost?  Yes, in that those who want nonnincompoops in office can rejoice.  A little, noting how many actual nincompoops won anyway, but still.