Patton: Is Scott Walker The 'Leader of the Pack?'

In 1964, the girl group The Shangri-Las recorded the No. 1 pop hit “The Leader of the Pack.” The lyrics mimic the public’s early infatuation with presidential candidate Scott Walker.

“I met him at the candy store.

He turned around and smiled at me.

You get the picture.

‘Yes, we see.’

That’s when I fell for the leader of the pack.” (Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!)

Republicans’ antipathy toward unions may have been a contributing factor to their love affair with Walker. As governor of Wisconsin, Walker reduced the power of public unions within the state. “Walker passed legislation over strong Democratic opposition to limit collective bargaining for state employees. He took another swipe at organized labor this year with a bill that forbids unions within private firms from forcing workers to pay dues.” (Reuters, 7/30/15 )

Nevertheless , more recently, the voters’ crush on Walker has faded. “The most recent Bloomberg Politics/DesMoines Register Iowa Poll found Walker was backed by just 8 percent of likely caucus-goers, less than half what he recorded in the last Iowa Poll in late May. A poll released Thursday by Monmouth University showed Walker had slipped to 3 percent nationally.” (Associated Press, 9/8/15).

What caused the break-up of this romance? One possibility may have been Walker’s choice of motorcycles. “For Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, there’s something awkward about Harley-Davidson motorcycles that he has been posing on at presidential campaign stops: each one bears a sticker on its frame that reads ‘Union made in the USA.’” (Reuters, 7/30/15)

Hmm, can anyone spell “hypocrite?”

Should Walker fail in his quest for the presidency, the last stanza of “Leader of the Pack” may be a fitting refrain for his departure.

“Ooh, the leader of the pack now he’s gone

the leader of the pack now he’s gone

the leader of the pack now he’s gone.”

Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!

Walker was not the only presidential candidate recently engaged in odd and unusual campaign tactics. After Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was jailed because she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, presidential aspirants Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz engaged in a mad dash to be the first at her side. Both candidates saw help for Davis as a means of gaining support from evangelical fundamentalist voters.

The contest became a little testy when a Huckabee staffer sought to block Cruz physically from gaining access to Davis. In the end, Huckabee emerged victorious as he appeared hand-in-hand with Davis when she was freed from jail, while Cruz skulked in the background.

And, of course, no account of wacky presidential campaigning would be complete without mentioning the recent activities of Donald Trump. Trump implied that rival Carly Fiorina was unattractive. Well, that’s putting it mildly. “GOP frontrunner Trump said of the former HP chief (Fiorina) ‘Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? . . . I mean she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” (NBC News, 9/10/15).

Will Trump be harmed politically by his bluntness? Probably not. He’s said worse things and gotten away with it. Trump said that he “cherishes women” (at least the attractive ones), but he never said anything about respecting them.

Gary Patton has recently published a political satire about New Hampshire politics entitled “Selling Mt. Washington.” “Sellling Mt. Washington” is now available in Portsmouth at the River Run Bookstore , Discover Portsmouth, and Tugboat Alley. In Exeter, this book can be obtained at The Water Street Bookstore and the Country Store at RiverWoods. In Hampton, look for it at the Galley Hatch gift shop. In North Hampton, it is available at “The Book Outlet.” In Concord, “Selling Mt. Washington” can be found at Gibson’s Bookstore. It is also available on-line at Amazon.com. Patton is also the author of “Outtastatahs: Newcomers’ Adventures in New Hampshire.”