The press discovers Scott Walker—again
I’ve noticed something about the Scott Walker phenomenon.
Remember before the 2014 election, when the press gave his campaign for governor quite a bit of coverage? The reason was that he was recognized as a potential front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. The MSM thought there were indications he might lose his 2014 bid for re-election to the Wisconsin governorship, and so the hype was not so much about Wisconsin, but that a defeat there would finish Walker nationally for 2016.
I seem to recall quite a bit of coverage to that effect. Hopeful coverage, I might add.
But their hopes were dashed when Walker soundly defeated his Democratic opponent Mary Burke by a 5.7 margin. So that was the end of the “Walker is finished for 2016” narrative.
Or was it? What I noticed afterward was that the media seemed to go curiously quiet about Walker. Scott who? Never heard of him. When they listed frontrunners for the 2016 nomination he was often absent or far down the list. We heard about Bush and the Romney retread. We heard about Christie and Cruz and Paul and then Huckabee and a few random others.
But not much about Walker—until his speech at the Freedom Summit, where he “outshined” the competition and “got people talking” about him. The coverage tended to be of the “Republicans are starting to notice Scott Walker” variety, but it was also the MSM that suddenly decided they’d better notice him again, too.
The next step will almost certainly be character assassination, if Walker’s star continues to rise. The MSM can’t ignore his growing popularity, but they will do their best to squelch it. This approach of theirs isn’t just towards Walker, of course; it’s what they do to all Republican front-runners or anyone who has a chance of becoming one. But make no mistake about it: they have long been particularly afraid of Walker, even when they were ignoring him and hoping he would go away. And they will try very hard to make him go away.
Brace for the “no college diploma” argument and insane justifications for why it was fine for Harry Truman (D) but not this guy (R). It would be great if Walker has actually completed the degree and not told anyone yet, gets the obvious aha question then whips out the diploma.
DePRESSing how every R that pops his/her head up gets whacked by the press whereas its nonstop tongue baths for the Ds. Makes you wonder why the RNC is so compliant about going along with the debates with Democrat “moderators.”
Two observations regarding the democrat’s propaganda organ the MSM; first, Einstein’s observation that one characteristic of insanity is, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”. Passive acceptance of, complaining about and railing against the current state of affairs, without doing anything different is “doing the same thing over and over again” and a perfect example of Einstein’s dictum.
Secondly, that every major media outlet in the US is owned by just six corporations and all six are publicly held corporations. Which of course means that controlling interest in those corporations can be acquired.
In any corporation, control starts and ends with ownership.
Thus the strategic imperative is obvious and only the covert tactics to be employed need to be determined. We’re in a propaganda war, and we’re losing because the other side has rigged the game, when will we address that factor with more than verbal and written protests?
I figure that Neo wont bother to report this at all..
while it jibes with lots of stuff going on, it doesnt jibe with the PC correct public discourse… so it wont be mentioned…
in the massacre in france:
Putin’s man in Chechnya, Ramzon Kadyrov, was behind the terrorist attacks in France the week before last: “If Gubarev says Kadyrov is involved in the terrorism in France, it is probably true.” – Pavel Gubarev
on the GREEN movment in the US..
Hoskins is a director at a company called Klein Ltd. No one knows where that firm’s money comes from. …
The only publicly available documentation of any business conducted by Klein Ltd. were two Internal Revenue Service filings by the California-based Sea Change Foundation, which showed that Klein had contributed $23 million to the group in 2010 and 2011. he Sierra Club, the Natural Resource Defense Council, Food and Water Watch, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for American Progress were among the recipients of Sea Change’s $100 million in grants in 2010 and 2011.
on the comming hot war…
there’s a rumor in Moscow. It’s about a nuclear war in June… there is no way to confirm it…
the secret 2005 speech of Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian, who said the plan was to annihilate the Americans. “In Chinese history,” noted Chi, “in the replacement of dynasties, the ruthless have always won and the benevolent have always failed.
Colonel General Leonid Ivashov is quoted in Pravda as saying that the U.S. has “not upgraded one single ballistic missile, and they do not build new ones either.” “This situation has changed dramatically,” Ivashov noted, “and we are standing on the brink of a war — not a cold war, but a hot war. Therefore, today Russia hastily takes efforts to rebuild the defensive capacity of the armed forces and change military doctrine.”
“It is indeed brutal to kill one or two hundred million Americans. But that is the only path that will secure a Chinese century, a century in which the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] leads the world. We, as revolutionary humanitarians, do not want deaths. But if history confronts us with a choice between deaths of Chinese and those of Americans, we’d have to pick the latter, as, for us, it is more important to safeguard the lives of the Chinese people and the life of our Party.” — Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian
Why should we believe that anyone seriously intends mass murder against the American people? Why would the Russian leaders, or the Chinese leaders, contemplate killing 100 or 200 million Americans?
Have we become so weak, and so utterly naé¯ve, as to believe that the meek have now inherited the earth, and that the ruthless lust for power is a thing of the past?
Consider America’s leader, President Barack Obama. Recently he snubbed the Israeli Prime Minister so that he could meet with a woman who became famous for bathing in Fruit Loops and milk.
the above is from nyquist and others…
but note… Historically speaking each of the interested parties arrayed against the west, have always started things off with surprise… its an advantage they never tire of..
such things make a whole lot of sense to stuff we discussed but never concluded..
why have we not mistaken any more plane contrails for missiles, like the missile we were told was plane contrails?
the military is being cut to pre WWII levels, the experienced generals have been replaced with inexperienced ideologues.
women are now part of the military in combat areas… (so if the war goes long enough, there wont be children to replace who is removed).
the kids are fat, lazy, dumbed down..
our infrastructure to manufacture is gone, and so is the support structures and the expertise.
the main group that would defend the country is now old, have not had children, and cant fight.
we sit on an economic edge in which we cant borrow to pay for a fight..
our technology has barely been maintained let alone upgraded while the opposition has all kinds of new stuff on par with ours, but our press wont let us know that… we still think that they are stuck in 1995…
and tons more… including the countries in question switching their military doctrines publicly to first strike.
something to think about since its not brought up or discussed… after all, ignoring it is the perfect thing to do if you want it to happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!
G.B, you’re right. I wonder why the Koch brothers haven’t gotten involved in media. It would be far more effective than supporting PACs. Thank God for Rupert Murdock.
What Walker, or any GOP candidate, needs is a good media reaction team. A group of savvy media professionals who can get out ahead of any media attacks. So many of the MSM ad hominems against GOP candidates are nothing more than inferences or rumors that take on the mantle of fact when not challenged. A media reaction team can be quite powerful in combatting those and in setting the alternative narrative. What’s not to like about a man who has made a success of his life through the dint of hard work and self-education? That’s the narrative that should be front and center. Also a narrative showing that the path to success is not always through an elite Ivy institution. And a narrative questioning the ideas of the elites who claim to know what’s best for the little people. An aggressive, smart media reaction team is what could help a lot.
Neo’s analysis seems accurate, thorough and unique, as usual. I am extremely skeptical of conspiracy theories, but it seems as though a clever cabal directs these messages and silences about Walker. The MSM speaks for an ideology based on feelings of doing good (without concern about results); it has become a “cultural mind” that directs messaging.
BTW, not only do I like Walker’s political abilities and views, I think he really could win. My second biggest fear is that Jeb Bush’s big money support will win out. My worst fear is that Huckabee, etc. will make Republicans look like fools and that the Dems win.
we now return to the thread that pressupposes that nothing will ever happen…
J.J.,
I agree and a “media reaction team” would appear to be a ‘no-brainer’ for any Presidential aspirant, much less a Presidential nominee. In fact, failure to acquire one would arguably be grounds for disqualification of consideration.
Artfldgr,
Yes, Obama is doing all he can to degrade America’s military prowess. Yes, Russia and China are doing all they can to lessen America’s global influence.
There is however one insurmountable difficulty when either Russia or China talk of winning a nuclear war against the US. That difficulty is… nuclear submarines. Any one of which has the capability of destroying either Russia or China. Thus for Russia and China, MAD is still an operative reality. Absent a fundamental change in the military paradigm, such as one nation achieving high earth orbit bombardment capability, MAD will continue to apply to nations ruled by sane, non-suicidal rulers.
I admire Gov. Walker for several reasons —
1. He fights hard; he doesn’t give up; and he wins!
2. He gets actual tangible results; he doesn’t mess around.
3. He stays true to his principles.
My main problem with him is that there’s only one of him. We could sorely use about ten more like him.
In re: Neo’s main point — it’ll be interesting to see what the national press dig up on him (that the Wisconsin press did not — Lord knows, they threw everything they could at him). Yes, his lack of a college degree will come up. (I hope he’ll find a way to point out that we know as much about his college scores as we do about Obama’s, i.e. nothing!)
And yes, he’ll probably say something that can be misinterpreted — that he has a binder 47% full of women, or something. But after what he’s already been through, I’m confident he can weather that too.
One of these days, we need to make it crystal-clear to the electorate that Republicans and Democrats are NOT on a level playing field. The only way I can imagine this happening is for a news organization, one with deep pockets, to go after Democrats with the intensity that Republicans currently endure. (To the extent they can stomach it, that is. Would anyone be willing to be the Right’s Andrew Sullivan, and question the parentage of a Democrat’s children? I hope not.)
Who could do such a thing? Once it would have been Breitbart. Now, I don’t know.
Behold this small first step by the MSM — Politico has a piece “Scott Walker urges professors to work harder,” which was something he said on a Milwaukee radio station yesterday during a discussion about his proposed budget. That budget calls for big cuts in the state’s university system. The article looks, only glancingly, at what’s proposed, but helpfully notes that “Walker, who does not have a college degree of his own…”
And sure enough, right out of the gate, the first commenter falls in line and goes with the required meme: “When people who don’t know about education get involved with schools, the result usually doesn’t turn out all that good. ‘Work harder…’ seems like a typical GOP anti-intellectual (read anti smart people) comment.”
Great job, Neo. However, you failed to mention Scott Walker’s recall election, when the Teachers’ union said they would destroy him. He won bigger than his 2010 election.
This campaign of personal destruction traces back to David Axelrod, who now works for NBC. Look back at every one of Barack Obama’s elections. You will see Axelrod’s hand in it, from the unsealing of divorce records to destroying Obama’s mentor. This destruction campaign was ably picked up in the 2012 campaign by that paragon of virtue, Stephanie Cutter. She is the one who suggested that Romney was guilty of the death of the steelworker’s wife.
Then, of course, there was Herman Cain – all these women suddenly came forward. At least one of them lived in Axelrod’s building. What ever happened to these “outraged” women after Herman dropped out??
Scott Walker or any other Republican will not win unless they go into full attack mode and destroy the Chicago corruption machine. In the last campaign, Romney treated all of the liars like Obama treats ISIS – “can’t we all be nice?”
The next step will almost certainly be character assassination
I already know where they’ll start: “Anyone who can’t earn a college degree is too stupid to be president!”
physics geek: You’re too nice. I’m expecting paternity suits, accusations of murder, and anything else they think might stick. As nkbay99 points out, Romney was accused of murder, of tax evasion, and a long list of other things that turned out to be baseless.
So long as it costs nothing to make baseless accusations, we can expect to see a LOT of them — just as Gov. Palin did. (She was required by law to investigate every one of them, which took so much time and cost so much taxpayer money that she resigned the Alaska governorship.)
Walker’s lack of a degree will get a lot of play in our credential-obsessed MSM. Here’s the WaPo earlier this month (mentioned it in the headline):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/08/scott-walker-has-no-college-degree-thats-normal-for-an-american-but-not-a-president/
Walker has some notable company; according to Time Magazine the following are all college dropouts; Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, James Cameron, Lady Gaga, Tiger Woods, Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks…
“One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the [true] scientific mind, experimental proof is all important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits… To the academic mind, authority is everything and facts are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority.” Robert Anson heinlein
This is how they report on GOP candidates:
There is a long biased preamble setting up Walker as a bad polarizing racist and then at the end a quote from WalkerSatan himself about how equal opportunity and personal responsibility are important. Fetch the smelling salts, he’s clearly a racist! But the casual reader/typical moron who reads Slate has been cued to hate him. (The SJWs have been working up a “Wisconsin is racist” theme for some time now in anticipation of Walker’s candidacy.)
Also, note how Romney, previously a god-bothering black-person-hater is now not so bad by comparison.
Racially raaaaacist race card. Slap it down when you’ve got nothing else!
Slate Magazine:
“Which brings us back to Scott Walker. Unlike Mitt Romney–who was merely adopted by the world of racially polarized politics–Walker was born in it and molded by it. As MacGillis notes, Walker’s home turf of metropolitan Milwaukee is home to “profound racial inequality, extreme political segregation, [and] a parallel-universe news media,” trends that predate Walker, “but have enabled his ascent.”
If any candidate could run a rigid campaign of polarization–aimed at winning as many white voters as possible–it’s Walker. His language is already there. In his Iowa speech, he touted voter-identification laws and portrayed disadvantage as a pure product of personal failure. “In America the opportunity is equal for each and every one of us but … the ultimate outcome is up to each and every one of us individually.”
Walker, in other words, represents the other path: The chance to win without broadening your base or changing your priorities. Victory, but at the price of greater racial polarization. It’s a seductive vision–and an inherently divisive one.”
Yep, the lack of a college degree will be one of the msm’s attack fronts against Walker. His response should be ” I’ll show you my lack of a college degree if you show me obama’s college transcripts.”
He’ll get the full-on Palin/Quayle treatment, and it’ll be all over for him.
Neo, I basically agree with your prediction that the MSM will try to smear Walker personally if he looks like a threat to take the nomination. But I also expect that the corporate Republican party may join in the endeavor. The want Jeb or Mitt, and if it looks like they aren’t going to get their way they will be perfectly willing to fight dirty.
Walker should also be on the lookout for a malicious political prosecution such as was brought against Rick Perry.
Standard preface: I sincerely hope Scott Walker does not run for President. As I’ve stated before, Washington DC is largely beyond redemption and there is little any President (no matter how impeccably conservative, reformist, driven and clever) can do to implement meaningful reform from within. Any significant change will be driven by the states and spearheaded by conservative governors. Walker is on the forefront and I want him to remain there, setting a shining example for other GOP governors and state legislatures. I want him to continue to lead the way in his second term, and a third and even a fourth (Wisconsin does not have term limits).
All that said, what is truly amazing and admirable about Walker is his unflappable nature. Few people outside of Wisconsin realize the intense hatred against him long predates the spring of 2011 protests. It goes back to 2002 when he was elected Milwaukee County Executive. In that role he was relentless in (surprise, surprise) cutting spending and reigning in the public sector unions. And he was largely successful in both endeavors, which endeared him to many (and helped launch his gubernatorial campaign) and earned the perpetual enmity of many others. That enmity increased 50 fold during his governorship and will increase 100 fold during any presidential campaign.
And yet, he remains imperturbable, focused and tenacious. I cannot think of any politician of either party who would have more justification to lose his temper publicly, to go off on his opponents angrily, than Scott Walker. But he does not. He remains the unshaken “happy warrior” in an almost Reaganesque fashion. It. drives. the. left. mad.
A Walker nomination would galvanize and unite the left in ways unseen since Obama’s first nomination, even behind Hillary (who many lefties are tepid about, to say the least). But it will also bring out their most vulgar, disgusting, immoral and even criminal inclinations. Think Occupy + Ferguson on steroids. Not to sound alarmist, but there will likely be at least one serious assassination attempt (hopefully unsuccessful). Such a sickening spectacle *might* , just might, finally push low-information “moderate” voters firmly away from the Democrats; it might be enough to compel them to put aside their MSM driven fears that all Republicans are racist, homophobes who want to impose Christian theocracy. Well…maybe.
The right needs to realize provoking the left brings out their inner raging hatred and ugliness for all to see. Poke them with sharp sticks 100,000,000,000,000 times.
I live in Wisconsin, and I am a retired teacher (taught in Wisconsin’s Technical College system.) My daughter is currently a professor at UW–Madison. I personally support much of what Walker is trying to accomplish, but I can’t quite picture him on the national stage. You cannot even begin to imagine the level of hatred teachers and other union members feel for him here in the state. I am one of the few who agrees with much of what he has done. (I wouldn’t dare to say that out loud to my former colleagues.) I still remember seeing and hearing the anti-Walker mobs churning around the state capitol chanting, “This is what democracy looks like” over and over and over again. They were protesting budget cuts. Personally, I hope he does not run because I think he will be attacked and destroyed. A powerful and smart governor. President of the United States of America? Not so sure.
You would not believed the open hatred for Scott Walker in WI.
Seething.
Don’t try to engage, seemingly normal folks completely lose it get confrontational completely disregarding possible relational consequences.
I now thread lightly until … that moment comes as it will.
Yet Scott Walker motors along.
Very admirable.
What do they say is the root of their hatred for him?
I know they’re insane, but I’m wondering about their “thinking” about it: can they even make a case that he should be hated?
BTW, I’ve heard (secondhand, but a good source) that the most corrupt govt. agency in New York State is the Dept. of Education. A real swilling-trough.
It seems Rush is right: the Left has driven its adherents literally insane with hatred.
My Mom and my brother are/were both teachers. My Mom, before she died, was appalled by the quality of teachers entering the field. She believed that too many of them only got ED degrees because they waited to long to choose a major, and ED has become any easy degree to get, just parrot back what you are told, and you get a job with good bay, and amazing benefits, at least here in WI.
My brother left for an Northeastern State, where he believes that teachers should get whatever they ask for, at no cost, as they deserve it. I much prefer Mom’s viewpoint, as it seems to reflect reality better.
I like Scott Walker, but what I would like to know is how many middle class jobs have been created in WI, since he took office, how many new businesses (above the average), and did he attract businesses into the state, from Illinois, which should a been a piece of cake. Fact based stats only please, not wishful thinking.
I live in Michigan but close enough to WI to get an AM talk radio station, mostly conservative, mostly WI issues.
They were all over the Walker election, recall, occupation of the capital, the John Doe investigation.
The organized hate toward Walker and the media collusion is….neither surprising nor, despite its virulence and deception, out of line compared to other situations involving conservatives. Vile, vile vile.
However, wrt various items like forced dues paying, some things are interesting. Apparently a third of teachers have opted out. The actual crying comes from the union bosses who have fooled some of the people, including some teachers.
I should say, for those within about 100 miles of Milwaukee, it’s AM 620, WTMJ. They talk about a web site or something but I haven’t looked.
Walker is a winner. A winner in a blue state. A winner three times against massive all out assaults by the left. A winner against the unions, the back bone of the Democrat party. A winner in restructuring the finances of his state.
In 2016 what conservatives/Republicans need is a winner. Forget specific policy positions. Select a winner. NOTHING gets done without winning.
And since the Republican party is the party of jellyfish Just accept the fact that even after winning the Republicans will have to be pushed to do the right thing. It’s just in the nature of things.
“BTW, I’ve heard (secondhand, but a good source) that the most corrupt govt. agency in New York State is the Dept. of Education. A real swilling-trough.”
One of the key attributes of the lefty LIV is the idea that stated purpose is more important than process or outcome. They will swoon for anything that involves children, or education, or puppies, or unicorns, no matter how absurdly inefficient, corrupt or just plain worthless it is.
A second key attribute of the lefty LIV is the belief that if there is a problem, perceived or real, more money will fix it, and more money will always make it better. Hence the reverse – not throwing more money at it, or gads, budgeting less money for it, is inherently going to bring the whole thing into crumbling ruin.
Between those two beliefs, you can see how the HuffPo contingent would rather see $10 spent badly in the name of children or education than $1, wisely spent.
Neo, you should check out the results on Ace of Spades’s straw poll.
Romney isn’t runing. Maybe his 3 weeks in the limelight took a bit of the annointed look from Bush and gave someone like Walker more of a chance to show himself. Of course, Walker will be attacked, but I wonder whether the public isn’t getting a bit tired of outrage mode after the rape crisis, Ferguson, etc. Maybe quiet, creative, and steady is what will sell this year. Having some backers with real policy experience (not just donors) would help too. Maybe we should thank Romney.
kyndyll
My take is that lefties expect others to swoon at the stated purpose. They know their own purpose. But how can you be against the children, you hater?
A view of things to come — here’s Peter Beinart addressing the Walker “boomlet,” doing his best to paint Walker as totally retro, and not in a good way:
MSM/Democrat talking point: Walker doesn’t give a hoot about about people of color, immigrants, or poor people. Which means at least a racist, right?
Ann,
Beinart is an idiot. But I agree with you that Walker’s failure to use PC talking points will be used against him. We have to fight back.
My gawd, what a hackattack that was. Walker is economically “retro” and racist” because he doesn’t kowtow to minorities and progressives in a speech. Pitiful. pitiful, pitiful. Pure propaganda.
Not so fast. I like Walker, but he did what had to be done in WI, and needs to be done in all the old rust bucket blue states, just to tread water. WI lost 111,000 Americans (snowbirds?) to other states and only gained 100,000. If it were not for 19,000 foreign migrants, WI would have had a net loss in population.
Has Walker presided over an economic miracle in WI? Are young people flocking into WI from around the country to snap up the jobs of the future? Not so much. However, like Kasich in Ohio, he has managed not to go backwards which is nothing to sneer at, given that the economic rational for the Great Lakes is no longer what it once was.
One other caution. WI is not a cross section of America.
MSM/Democrat talking point: Walker doesn’t give a hoot about about people of color, immigrants, or poor people. Which means at least a racist, right?
Marine is right wing, a Nazi, and a racist, but those are talking points?
Continue on your road of ceding the Left space in your brain and you’ll be repeating those talking points as if they were fact. It always starts small but later on grows far larger.