Scott Walker is Out of Touch with Americans

WI Governor is another status quo Republican

by Keith Farrell

Despite the fact that he is yet to formally announce his intentions, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has been an early frontrunner in the GOP race for president. I had once held out a lot of hope in regards to Walker 2016 candidacy. Walker was formidable foe to unions in Wisconsin, fighting head-on against liberal special interests and winning against remarkable odds. But as the Governor dips his feet into federal policy, he has proven to be a great disappointment.

Scott Walker is completely out of touch with the American electorate. While he may be polling well within the GOP, Walker is off base on two issues which promise to play a big role in the general election. In fact, Walker’s stances on these issues would ensure a GOP defeat if he were to be the party’s nominee.

The first issue is warrantless surveillance of law-abiding American citizens. While two-thirds of likely voters in the 2016 general election oppose the idea that the federal government can spy on them and collect their phone data without a warrant, Governor Walker supports such an Orwellian program. To make matters worse, he attacked Senator Rand Paul for standing up for the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans.

Some will argue that because Democrats will likely nominate a candidate who also supports a Stalinesque national surveillance system, the Republican candidate’s position on this will not make a difference. That thinking is a mistake. The GOP lost the last two presidential elections by offering something slightly different from Barack Obama. Here is an issue where two-thirds of the public is opposed to the position which the Democratic nominee will likely have. Republicans could seize this opportunity and nominate a candidate opposed to warrantless surveillance. They would be offering something completely different on a major issue in a way which would resonate with voters.

The other issue where Scott Walker has shown himself to out of touch with the electorate is on Iraq. Walker recently said he wouldn’t rule out a full-scale re-invasion of the nation. However, as with warrantless surveillance, nearly two-thirds of Americans disagree.

These are two major issues which would make Scott Walker unelectable. Even if the Democratic nominee held the same positions it would not matter. Offering up a slightly right version of the Democratic candidate never works. The left is far too good at personality politics. In order to defeat that the GOP is going to have to offer something different enough to move Americans past the politics of personality.

Sadly, as out of touch with the American voter as Scott Walker is, he is not at all out of step with most of the GOP presidential candidates. Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee, for instance, hold the same faulty positions on these key issues as Walker. The difference is I expect those guys to have bad opinions. Governor Walker disappointed me, I really hoped he was different.

Republicans will be missing an opportunity if they fail to embrace the American rejection of these issues. They may choose to nominate a populist who will stand against the infringements of big government and unnecessary war, or they can elect an establishment status quo Republican and likely suffer four more years of a liberal administration.