Scott has a major and politically potent accomplishment under his belt due to his having severely curtailed the collective bargaining "rights" of public service unions in Wisconsin. His side of this story is told in a fascinating book (I'm on my second reading) entitled: "Unintimidated: A Governors Story and a Nation's Challenge." This first-time governor also survived a recall election instigated by those same unions, winning "reelection" by an even greater margin than when he first won the governorship.
By "fascinating," I don't mean that I agree with his politics or worldview as expressed in his book. In fact, I sense that Walker might well turn out to be a one-trick pony. It's one thing to put a state's financial house in order, it's quite another to do that for the entire nation. That, plus the fact that we have no sense of Walker's vision of foreign policy. I just hope that Walker's supporters don't fall for the same scam as did Ron Paul's backers: The idea that one man can fix it all. As I'd blogged before, what's wrong with the USA can only be righted with systemic change. This included my call to elect only independents to elective office and to replace the US Constitution - not amend but actually replace it.
Walker's term as governor expires on January 5, 2015, which will bring up an interesting scenario. If he runs for reelection, surely his opponents will press him to promise: "If reelected, I will serve out my full term, which will expire on January 5, 2019. I will not actively seek nomination for the US presidency in 2016 and I hereby declare I wish to remove myself from any possibility of a draft."
I'm sure Walker will seek reelection as governor because, frankly, he needs the job. And any job would surely have to be a political one, since he is a career politician lacking a resume. He never finished his bachelors degree, being at least 34 credits short of graduation. And his course of studies - political science, economics, and philosophy - would be of no use in a job market without advanced degree work.
If Scott doesn't seek a second term as governor and should he should fail to win the GOP nod (and win the general election) in 2016, he'd be out of work. And as his resume indicates, his employment prospects outside of politics would be miserable. Of course, he could run for president while being in his second term as governor. And that might be his best course of action, since timing doesn't appear to be on his side.
Right now, he's being hailed as a conservative, union-busting hero, who got his state's financial house in order. Even though he's young (at age 46) and could well afford to wait until after the 2016 election to seek the presidency, his record and accolades will have dimmed in the public's mind. Not only that - it's hard to predict who will be anointed as the GOP's new "it" prospect in the future. Perhaps Scott should strike while the iron is hot and run in 2016.
Refining Scott Walker's rhetoric
If Governor Walker ever decides to mount a serious campaign for the presidency, I hope he stops making blunders like this one:
QUOTE*:
Collective bargaining also prevented other commonsense reforms to improve services and save taxpayers money. For example, in Racine County, when the state cut back on the amount it would pay to mow along state highways during the summer months in the past, officials had begun using inmates to cut the grass in medians. The inmates volunteered to do the work at no cost to the taxpayers. The program not only saved money for the county, it also helped the prisoners by giving them skills and work experience they could carry with them once they returned to the community, which would ultimately help reduce recidivism.
Seems like a commonsense solution?
:UNQUOTE.
In an otherwise well-written book, this quote sticks out like a sore thumb. There are other flaws which I'll address another day, but surely this much is ridiculous: "...it also helped the prisoners by giving them skills and work experience they could carry with them once they returned to the community..." Walker is saying that, arranging for inmates to mow grass will give them "skills and work experience." Just try putting this on your resume: "I'm an ex-con who mowed grass, so that gives me the skills and work experience needed to do the job I'd like you to hire me to do. Governor Walker said so himself."
This is almost as precious: "The inmates volunteered to do the work at no cost to the taxpayers." As Walker explains later, these inmates were given time off their sentences for "volunteering" to (in effect) work on a chain gang mowing grass. As for "no cost to the taxpayers": Sure, the state didn't have to pay for the use of slave labor, but the taxpayers will pay plenty when these ex-cons are released early and (some of them) go back to committing crimes. [Memo to Scott Walker: Nothing is free.]
I'm surprised this claim made it into Walker's book, especially since (as the book's jacket indicates) Walker authored this book with Marc Thiessen. Whatever "with" happens to mean. You might remember Thiessen: former chief speechwriter for Dubya and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. I sure hope Walker includes more that just this type of dubious fellow to be among his White House advisers should he get elected.
Appearances do matter
Scott Walker is a fine-looking young man - as was Mitt Romney. But Mitt looked too wooden at times, whereas Scott seems more natural. I despise the philosophy that a person is somehow worthy of our vote simply because he fills out a suit impressively. But American political reality being what it is, there's no way Hillary Clinton could survive side-by-side photo ops with the governor - not to mention the comparison to be made when they debate. As for Clinton having a lock on the female vote, Scott Walker's personal life, values, and background seem a lot more savory. Besides, did I mention he's good-looking?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle, former candidate for US President (in 2008 and 2012)
Founder of The Independent Contractors' Party
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
Footnote:
QUOTE* - source: This book, authored by Scott Walker with Marc Thiessen: Unintimidated: A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge.
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