Politico states “Top Republicans were once cool to former NFL player Herschel Walker’s Georgia Senate bid. [Walker is a bonafide BOHICAN within the meaning of FUNKTIONARY, Bend Over Here It Comes Again Negro.]

No longer. Party leaders are now rallying around Walker, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who is running in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate after 2022. Scrutiny of Walker’s erratic past at first led Senate Republicans to voice concern about whether the former running back can win, but he has made significant inroads since then.

In the latest illustration of the shift, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, is set to endorse Walker on Monday. In a statement to POLITICO, Thune called Walker “a fighter, a uniter, and a proven winner."

Thune is the first member of Senate GOP leadership to endorse Walker, and his support is the newest evidence the former football star has tacitly won the party hierarchy’s blessing. While Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to give the Hall of Famer his explicit backing, the Kentucky Republican told POLITICO last month that “there's every indication he’s going to be a good candidate.”

Walker’s newfound support could go a long way toward helping him lock up the Republican nomination. He has already received the backing of Trump, a longtime Walker friend who recruited him into the race. Trump appeared with Walker at a rally last month in Perry, Ga., where the former president invited him onstage to speak.

The Georgia Senate contest is a top priority for Republicans in the 50-50 Senate: They are trying to oust Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, a freshman who won his seat in a January special election.“