Aw shucks. I didn't mean any of that.
Scott Walker is angling to be just as much the etch-a-sketch candidate that Mitt Romney was in 2012—only he wants to do it in reverse, moving from right-wing conservative to moderate. Tim Alberta
reports:
According to Walker allies, he's going to pursue exactly the opposite strategy Romney used in 2012. Whereas Romney started in the middle and moved rightward throughout primary season, Walker is starting on the right and will shift toward the middle.
"You start in Iowa and lock up conservatives, because if you don't do that, none of the rest matters," said one longtime Walker adviser, who requested anonymity to discuss campaign strategy. "It's much easier to move from being a conservative to being a middle-of-the-road moderate later on."
The thing to remember about Shifty Walker is that he's not faking being a dyed-in-the-wool social and economic conservative. That is his natural habitat. He's just done a good job of moderating his demeanor in elections. In fact, he's currently prepping to sign into law in Wisconsin a 20-week abortion ban that has no exceptions for rape or incest. Meanwhile, during his 2014 re-election campaign in the state, he claimed to support leaving "the final decision to a woman and her doctor." There should have been a giant "I am lying" asterisk next to that statement.
The constant about-faces on abortion, immigration and same-sex marriage caused Craig Robinson, a prominent Iowa Republican, to write on the TheIowanRepublican.com: "Walker is making Romney look like a model of consistency."
But the key to understanding Walker's true nature comes from a Wisconsin Democrat.
"He has an altar boy's appearance," said Bob Jauch, a longtime Democratic state senator who worked closely with Walker in the legislature. "But Darth Vader writes his policies."
