In both 2015, as well as in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, delving into his entire history as a politician going all the way back to his days as a student at Marquette University (where he left school in 1990 to avoid disciplinary action for attempting to have his student body president campaign staff round up as many campus newspapers as they could to destroy them because they endorsed his opponent), to his run for the White House. Walker, as we noted, has a tendency to tell really terrible lies, like union workers surrounding his car and attempting to flip it over, or that his rapidly developing bald spot isn’t actually male pattern baldness, but just a scar from a time he bumped his head on a table. In his time as Governor of Wisconsin, he has given huge tax breaks for the top income bracket, while cutting more money to teachers than any governor in the country (and any shortcomings in student performance, he blames on the teachers who are operating without real budgets). Walker has demonized union workers, wiped out government oversight offices, and has had repeated criminal investigations launched against his staff for illegal use of state resources to further their own partisan agenda.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover what a boob he looked like while campaigning for president in 2016. Gov. Walker was hell bent on winning Iowa, pandering to locals, and trying to establish himself as the front runner for the GOP early on, in the process, neglecting his own state. And that presidential run showed him to be, as some GOP pundits delicately put it, “Kind of a Dumbass”. While visiting London, Walker denied the science behind evolution. He found himself in the midst of being considered a Birther for saying in two separate campaign stops that he “wasn’t sure if President Obama is a Christian”, and that he could not confirm that “Barack Obama loves America”. He tried claiming he could stop ISIS because he “stopped 100,000 union protesters back home”, changed his stance on immigration no less than four times (claiming this wasn’t flip-flopping because he never had cast a vote on the issue), denied that a woman’s medical history regarding abortions should remain between her and her doctor, tried pretending that mandatory intra-vaginal ultrasounds were “a cool thing”, refused to answer when asked if he thought being gay was a choice or not, sued the federal government for the right to drug test welfare recipients, and promised to bomb Iran on the first day of his presidency. As Gov. Walker began to see his lead in Iowa polls faltering, he thought he could energize his base by attacking immigrants, like Donald Trump. So, Walker started wavering on birthright citizenship, eventually saying he supported a repeal of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and then tried to one-up Trump by saying he wouldn’t stop at a border wall along the U.S./Mexico border, that he would build one along the U.S./Canada border, as well. Walker’s campaign folded in only 71 days, and he returned to Wisconsin with record low approval ratings.
Gov. Walker would then work to sign legislation to dissolve the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, a non-partisan panel of judges that guarantees government ethics, and fairness in elections out of spite because the GAB had previously investigated a myriad of wrongdoing by Walker. In March 2016 he nominated Rebecca Bradley to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which proved controversial since she once wrote opinion editorials at Marquette University (where Walker went to school) where she repeatedly called gay people “queers”, and said that they deserved no sympathy for dying from AIDS. In one such column, Bradley wrote that it was “their misdirected compassion for the degenerates who basically commit suicide through their behavior”. Walker’s nomination, once confirmed, got Bradley a 10 year term on the Court.
And, while Walker may not have been on the ballot when the 2016 elections rolled around, he still got a few surprises in September and October of 2016. Like how The Guardian got a hold of the content of a lot of the John Doe Investigation into Walker’s staff using government e-mail for partisan purposes… in those e-mails, Walker staffers discuss their strategy to survive the recall effort against the governor… His main fundraiser, Kate Doner, laid out their plan as,
”Corporations. Go heavy after them to give. Take Koch’s money. Get on a plane to Vegas and sit down with Sheldon Adelson. Ask for $1m now.”
Feeling like the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision was a bad idea yet? Well, guess what? That wasn’t all that The Guardian uncovered in all those e-mails. They also found written proof that while Scott Walker might try justifying all his voter suppression techniques as a way of “curtailing voter fraud”, his own people don’t believe it exists, know they’re claiming it’s “widespread” without proof, and know they’re just using it as an excuse to subvert our democracy so the outcome is they win:
“Do we need to start messaging ‘widespread reports of election fraud’ so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number? I obviously think we should,” said a lobbyist and former GOP legislative staffer, to a group of associates.
“Yes. Anything fishy should be highlighted. Stories should be solicited by talk radio hosts.”
Meanwhile, as much criticism grows against him, particularly in more liberal parts of his state, Walker has tried to stifle dissent in the way one would if they didn’t care that the First Amendment was in existence. He was eager to see the Wisconsin state legislature pass AB 299, the supposed “Campus Free Speech Act” that did precisely the opposite, allowing for the possibility of students heckling political speeches on campus at the University of Wisconsin to suspended or even expelled from school.
Walker loves to hear his own voice, though. He spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention after pretending he wasn’t going for months upon months, and threw red meat to the crowd by his assessment that Hillary Clinton “belongs in prison”, but, y’know, without actually having a crime to throw her in for other than being a Democrat and a lady running for president. And that’s amazing, because while he feels Hillary should be behind bars, he’s got no problem with all the treasonous actions done by the Trump campaign by colluding with Russia. He’s actually attempted to downplay Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, claiming that their hacking the Democratic National Committee and into voter registration systems in 39 states is no worse than the Scottish Prime Minister giving a verbal endorsement of Hillary Clinton. No s*** HE SAID THAT. Scott Walker is ridiculous enough to have argued that Donald Trump should actually post on Twitter MORE on June 30th of this year. Think about that… the number of times that Trump has even posted things that could end up being self-incriminating in obstruction of justice or collusion hearings going forward, and Scott Walker thinks it’s just GREAT, keep it comin’, Donnie!
Again, even those in his own party rate him as “kind of a dumbass”, and that’s yet another reason, right there.
Currently in his second term as Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker’s presidential run has left him vulnerable for a potential third term in 2018. His approval ratings dropped into the 30s (among the reasons not repairing the state’s roads), suspending a program to pick up dead deer from the highways, instead leaving them to rot), and his attempt at running for president has left him with a meager campaign war chest. What is certain, though, is Scott Walker, for being a man who talks so much about being part of the party of responsibility, accepts none for his own terrible leadership. Instead, he blames his low approval ratings on “bad headlines” from the media, “unfairly” turning people against him. We still have no pity on this man, especially with all the damage he’s done to Wisconsin, and hope that the Koch brothers and all of his voter suppression measures will not save him from being swept up by a Blue Wave in the 2018 mid-terms.
One Year Ago, July 23rd, 2016: Scott Walker (WI)… 2016 Update
Two Years Ago, July 23rd, 2015: Scott Walker (WI)… Original Profile
Three Years Ago, July 23rd, 2014: Todd Akin (MO)