Mickey Kaus @kausmickey

Walker: "Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are the bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I've ever known

Quoted:
Guess I should decide what's for dinner.

Quoted:


She took the "I need to speak to the manager" haircut waaaaay too seriously.

(1) He wasn’t a very good campaigner. Despite all the praise heaped on Walker for his ability to win three hard-fought elections in Wisconsin in five years, we learned again (for those who might have forgotten) that a presidential race is a far greater test than anything a senator or governor faces when running statewide. From the wide array of domestic and foreign issues a candidate must master to the harsh scrutiny candidates face from the national media, nothing can fully prepare even the most tested statewide elected official for the maelstrom of a White House bid.

He botched early questions about Obama’s religion on his first trip abroad and made a complete hash of his position on birthright citizenship last month, Walker constantly underperformed.  Unlike the persona he had cultivated in Wisconsin as a conviction politician who would stand on principle and fight for his beliefs, Walker seemed reactive, undisciplined, and unable to chart a steady course during his brief presidential run.

(2) Walker’s campaign set high expectations and quickly went about the business of failing to meet them. Raised in Iowa, Walker’s aides spoke openly of his need to win the Hawkeye State, but the candidate acted as though all he had to do the carry the state was show up there a few times and remind Republican voters of his local roots. Iowa’s complicated caucus system requires a much more deft approach—and a consistency of message that Walker lacked.

(3)  Money became an issue. Walker’s money problems were a direct result of his flaws as a candidate. His performance on the trail and during the two Republican debates spooked donors, and his inability to right the ship left his campaign trapped in a financial death spiral. In a field this large, “hard” money donations (the stuff that pays the staff and keeps the lights on) is a scarce commodity, and by most accounts it dried up on Walker in a hurry after his last debate performance.

(4) Donald Trump ate his lunch: In fairness to Walker, none of the candidates could have predicted at the outset that Donald Trump would jump into the contest, or how his entrance would affect the dynamics of the race. They’ve all struggled to deal with the unprecedented political phenomenon that is The Donald. Still, Walker seemed to be the candidate who was most unnerved by Trump, and was among the most willing to modify his positions (specifically immigration and China) in reaction to Trump’s overt nativism. This made Walker look like a waffler at best and an unprincipled politician at worst, which undermined the very rationale of his candidacy. At the same time, Trump managed to steal Walker’s “outsider” appeal as well.

Originally Posted By Liz Mair:
Morons across America are astounded to learn that people from *IOWA* grow up rather government-dependent. #agsubsidies #ethanol #brainless.

The sooner we remove Iowa’s frontrunning status, the better off American politics and policy will be.

Walker did a number of things wrong in this race. This is the beginning of what will be a lengthy list.

Quoted:
Friends with the Republican Party Head of a certain county near here. Word on the street is he dropped out of the race because of some scandal that is going to break involving a staffer. Not sure if it's her or what said scandal is, but I was told this early this morning. That's all I've got.

Quoted:
Friends with the Republican Party Head of a certain county near here. Word on the street is he dropped out of the race because of some scandal that is going to break involving a staffer. Not sure if it's her or what said scandal is, but I was told this early this morning. That's all I've got.

Quoted:
Despite her own qualifications being in question, there's probably a lot of truth to it.

And one of the concerns placed on Walker early on by those who knew him from Wisconsin politics is that he's largely been his own man, not relying on a trusted team or cabinet through which he could delegate. And that Governor is about as high as one can go with that style of leadership.  And as such, local WI conservative pundits guessed early on that his campaign and his presidency would only be as good as the team he assembled.

One "unfair" thing I do think happened to Walker was that he peaked early in polls and led the field this summer before Trump upended everything, and his campaign was in no way prepared or ready to deal with that, or capitalize on it. Which I think is fair to say that any traditional political campaign might have the same problems.

Frankly, I'm not convinced he could accomplish much in D.C. with the GOP House and Senate we've got anyway. I'd rather he stay in WI for a few more terms and continue to help un-fuck Wisconsin where our GOP majority legislature has much more backbone than Congress does in D.C. Long-term structural reforms that will continue to make our blue/purple state trend more red is structurally a good thing for the overall health of America. There are few roads to the White House in the Electoral College that don't require Wisconsin.

And the last time we lost a Republican governor to D.C., when Thompson went to join Bush's cabinet in 2000, was a disaster for the state. So right now, my fingers are crossed that Walker is not going to be offered, or accept, any VP or Cabinet invites.

One thing's apparent from watching him in WI is that he can and does learn, and evolve, if he wants to have at it in 2020 or 2024, let him.

Quoted:
Friends with the Republican Party Head of a certain county near here. Word on the street is he dropped out of the race because of some scandal that is going to break involving a staffer. Not sure if it's her or what said scandal is, but I was told this early this morning. That's all I've got.

Quoted:
Friends with the Republican Party Head of a certain county near here. Word on the street is he dropped out of the race because of some scandal that is going to break involving a staffer. Not sure if it's her or what said scandal is, but I was told this early this morning. That's all I've got.

Quoted:
Link

Quoted:
His religious quackery would have tombstoned him anyway further down the road.

Quoted:

LOL... either he's "tied" to it, or not.  You don't get un-tied from a scandal just because you quit the campaign.   So if something was going on, it didn't involve him, or probably even his knowledge, because Walker committed the unforgivable sin of busting the WI .gov unions, and cancelling automatic dues collections, turning off the taxes > dues > Democrat campaign contributions pump, and if there was anything the media could dump on him about, running for president or not, they would do it.

This would have hit and hit hard if there was even a shred of truth or credibility to whatever the scandal was. Again, the rules for Republicans and Democrats are different, we all know this. And Walker has a huge target on his back for the union busting.

Quoted:
Sounds like Liz just guaranteed no one will ever hire her for a staffer position again.  Career suicide to do an "expose" that comes across as nothing but whining.

Quoted:
So, do we disagree with what she said or are we just attacking her for going public with it?

Quoted:


So, do we disagree with what she said or are we just attacking her for going public with it?

Quoted:
So, do we disagree with what she said or are we just attacking her for going public with it?