We begin today's roundup with
Jim Newell at Slate who analyzes the pitiful trajectory of Scott Walker's failed 2016 presidential bid:
Walker literally hit zero in a national poll on Sunday. Yes, it’s early, and national polls don’t matter, and people are fickle, yadda yadda yadda. But when you hit zero … it’s probably time to go. Good on Walker for taking the hint that Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, whatshisname, and whoshisface are refusing to take: It’s just not happening. Indeed, in Walker’s brief announcement Monday evening, he encouraged other underperforming candidates to wrap it up. “Today,” he said, “I believe I’m being called to lead by helping clear the field.” Rarely has ending a campaign due to total lack of support been explained with such self-aggrandizement, but hey, whatever makes it go down easier.
Matt Lewis at The Week:
Walker was supposed to be the party's saving grace — the guy who could unite the GOP establishment, the tea party, evangelicals. He had a great Horatio Alger-style story. He seemed real.
And then he totally failed.
What both Perry and Walker lacked was experience on the national stage — the kind of experience that senators (and celebrities like Donald Trump) often have in spades. And in Walker's case, he clearly was not ready for primetime — his performance was very reminiscent of Perry 2012 — botching answers on foreign policy and disappearing from the debate stage.
More on the day's top story below the fold...
Over at Mother Jones, Russ Choma analyzes the money:
The most interesting question amid the wreckage of Walker's campaign may now be this: Where will his wealthy backers go with their money? In July, the super-PAC supporting Walker, Unintimidated PAC, reported having locked up more than $20 million, placing him in the top echelon of GOP candidates in terms of financial backing. The bulk of the money, $13.4 million, came from just four people, including Wisconsin-based roofing supply magnate Diane Hendricks, a longtime supporter who gave $5 million.
Jill Lawrence adds her take:
These crowded GOP debates are merciless crucibles. Can you think on your feet? Can you bust your way into the conversation? Are you dynamic? Focused? Punchy? Disciplined enough to weave your message into your answers? Spontaneous enough to make a joke at the right moment? There are several Republican candidates with big personalities who are good at all this. Walker is not one of them.
Some of the superior debaters have never run a state or even held elective office, and their skills wouldn’t necessarily translate into being a successful president or governor. But these Darwinian tests do have their uses. They are a window on personalities and how candidates would relate to the country. They also are indicators of whether a candidate would be an effective persuader in chief.
Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post says that Walker just couldn't compete with Trump's reality-show presence:
From the day Trump entered the race in mid-June, Walker struggled to find his footing in a race in which the "star" was no longer Jeb Bush -- a relatively conventional opponent -- but rather an entertainer who would say and do anything to draw attention.
As Trump went from a novelty act to the star of the presidential campaign, Walker's 'Joe Average'-schtick began to feel like an echo of a race that was no longer being run. Crowds packed in cheek-to-jowl to listen to Trump regale them with the famous people he knew and the "big" deals he had cut. Walker just kept telling the same story about how he got his sweaters at Kohl's.
On a final note,
Lindsey Cook at US News runs the numbers and finds that there wasn't much national interest in Walker throughout the campaign:
Compared with the other candidates – what with their attacks on each other and sometimes impassioned monologues on abortion and the Iran nuclear deal – Walker looked a bit boring. He spoke for a total of eight minutes – the least of any candidate in the second debate (which ran for three hours, mind you). The moderators also asked him only three questions, tying him with Mike Huckabee for the least.
In terms of Google search traffic, Walker mainly popped up significantly in areas of his home state.