Wisconsin's Star Falls in the UK!

Governor Walker is doing everything expected for someone who is committed to running for president. One of the weakest areas of Walker’s resume is his lack of foreign relations experience. Of course, he’s not alone with this problem, most of the other governors running for president share this shortcoming. Given Walker’s limited experience, this could prove to be a major problem for him as he campaigns for his party’s nomination and if he were to succeed in gaining the nomination, it could prove to a major deficit during the campaign.

Walker has shown particular political acumen. His timing is usually right on the money, but lately he has been acting more like a rank amateur than a seasoned politician. His timing was terrible when he rolled out his plan to cut $300 million from the UW System and turned right around proposing the state bonding $220 million for the new Bucks arena. His handling of the change to the UW Mission Statement and the attempt to abandon the “Wisconsin Idea”, was not only clumsy but brought questions of truthfulness and credibility to the minds of many. If this wasn’t bad enough, he got caught up in a question and answer session at the UK Trade Conference, looking and acting totally unprepared. He clearly wasn’t ready for the press to begin posing questions that he hadn’t been properly scripted. This has opened up some areas where Walker is particularly vulnerable and I’m sure it wasn’t lost on his political adversaries.

Something that hasn’t come up in his previous statewide campaigns has been his fundamentalist Christian beliefs. The simple question concerning his position on evolution was quite telling. In a society that is increasingly dominated by secularism, his religious beliefs may prove to be problem. The beliefs may help him in his bid for the nomination, but he may have trouble sealing the deal if Jeb Bush is able to stay in the race. Jeb is perceived as a much more moderate candidate and Walker will be painted as someone akin to an extreme Christian fundamentalist. If by some break Walker would make it to the party nomination, the Democrats would certainly go after him based on his fundamentalism.

In the past Walker has focused strictly on parochial state interests as dictated by ALEC, which has been his major guiding political force. But, ALEC’s focus doesn’t particularly translate well to nationwide and international issues. This is going to put Walker on unfamiliar terrain leading to more opportunities for monumental missteps.

Questions that he will have to answer is how fundamental is his religious beliefs. How libertarian are his beliefs. How would he handle Israel and the growing calls for isolating Israel for their position on Mid East peace, Gaza and the continuation of settlement building; as well as the continued dialogue with Iran and the United States to eventually lift the economic restrictions on the Islamic state. He will also have to state a position on the unrest and conflict in the Ukraine. As I write this, I am sure Walker has his minions busily working on these issues and more. Mr. Walker, if he holds to his past, will rely on the work and positions of others to formulated what he’s supposed to believe and advocate. As with ALEC, he depends on others to do his thinking for him. Such a great intellect – NOT!