Give John Cassidy credit for putting his bias right up front. The longtime New Yorker staff writer led his Tuesday article on Scott Walker by calling him “an odious politician whose ascension to the Presidency would be a disaster.”
Cassidy’s no more thrilled with Walker’s recent answers to questions about President Obama’s religion and patriotism than he is with the Wisconsin governor’s stewardship of the state’s economy and budget. “Many wealthy conservatives, such as the Koch brothers,” observed Cassidy, “regard [Walker] as someone who’s turning his state into a showcase for what they want the rest of America to look like.”
“In a more just world,” Cassidy wrote, “Walker’s indecent and craven antics would disqualify him from playing any further role in the Presidential race. But in the current political environment, his tactics, far from hurting him, may well bolster a candidacy that is already thriving.”
From Cassidy’s piece (bolding added):
Let’s stipulate up front that Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is an odious politician whose ascension to the Presidency would be a disaster.
Set aside, for a moment, his repeated refusal, in the past few days, to say whether he believes that President Obama loves America, or whether he believes that the President is a Christian, and look instead at Walker’s record running what used to be one of America’s more progressive states. Having cut taxes for the wealthy and stripped many of Wisconsin’s public-sector unions of their collective-bargaining rights, he is now preparing to sign a legislative bill that would cripple unions in the private sector. Many wealthy conservatives, such as the Koch brothers, who have funnelled a lot of money to groups supporting Walker, regard him as someone who’s turning his state into a showcase for what they want the rest of America to look like.
Rather than deflecting the reporters’ queries about Obama’s beliefs, as other Republicans had done, Walker used them to send a none-too-subtle message to Republican voters…
In a more just world, Walker’s indecent and craven antics would disqualify him from playing any further role in the Presidential race. But in the current political environment, his tactics, far from hurting him, may well bolster a candidacy that is already thriving.
Having cemented his reputation as an economic conservative, Walker is busy making a concerted effort to win over social conservatives and evangelical Christians, some of whom apparently believe that Obama is the Antichrist (or perhaps the Seventh King)…
…Walker’s comments, or refusals to comment, about Obama’s beliefs look less like gaffes and more like carefully considered elements of a larger plan—and one that’s working for him. On Tuesday, the research firm Public Policy Polling released the results of a new national survey of Republican voters, which showed Walker leading the G.O.P. race, with twenty-five per cent of the vote…
…[R]ecent state-level polls also show Walker near or in the lead…
For all his awfulness, Walker is a serious contender. We’d better get used to it.
