Today Wisconsin governor Scott Walker began laying plans to snag an appointment to be the Republican nominee for vice-president. He did that by suspending his futile aspirations for the presidency. Now he will be free to brown nose whichever remaining candidates he thinks will be best positioned for the nomination – with the exception of one in particular.
Walker’s concession speech was remarkable for the stance it took with regard to his rivals. He spoke openly about one candidate (without actually saying his name) that he portrayed as negative and harmful to the Republican Party and to America. Walker lamented that Donald Trump’s hostility and proclivity for name-calling made it impossible to mount an optimistic campaign in the mold of Ronald Reagan. He said in part that…
“Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field. With that in mind, I will suspend my campaign immediately.
“I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same so the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current front-runner. This is fundamentally important to the future of the party and more importantly to the future of our country.”
This is an unprecedented approach to leadership. Walker is appointing himself as the lemming-in-chief for GOP candidates to sacrifice themselves in order to defeat Trump. Were it not for his obvious self-interest in boosting his odds of being picked up as a running mate, it would be somewhat admirable. After all, he is correct in assessing Trump’s front-runner status as being enabled by the size of the field. With fewer candidates distributing the vote, Trump’s lead will disappear. However, the notion that fellow losers like Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, etc., are going to follow Walker over a cliff is unlikely. They will undoubtedly leave the race, but not at Walker’s behest.
Walker must be a terrible disappointment to his billionaire benefactors, the Koch brothers. They invested heavily in him with the expectation that he would would carry their agenda to the White House. Now they’ll have to find another mule to do their dirty work. Lucky for them there are plenty of of others available and willing. As President Obama noted at the last White House Correspondent’s Dinner…
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
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