Scott Walker still can't answer questions

[ElectionsGuy]

This has more to do with political sliminess than his "smartness".

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

[JonathanSwift]

At this point, Walker might do worse than Cruz in a general election.

Maybe, but he'd still do better than Jeb.

[Crumpets]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

I don't know, he was elected 3 times in a blue state, seems pretty politically savvy to me.

2010/14 = republican waves
2012 = he ran on a campaign that was basically "the recall provision is being abused by democratic activists", rather than touting his actual platform and views.

I'm more concerned with whether he won vs how he won.  He isn't my #1 choice for the nomination, but he is battle tested, and that is something that's very important

Wulfric's point is that the electorate Walker has faced were significantly more favorable to him. Wisconsin's electorate balloons by a half million votes or so in Presidential years, a Wisconsin that Walker has never faced before.

[pbrower2a]

He's a third-rate pol, but so are most of the putative Republican candidates for Presidency.

[TJ in Oregon]

This is a bit of a different game for Walker than running for governor was. Walker has, up to this point, depended on an uncanny ability to turn whatever question he's asked into the one he wants to have been asked. It worked well on the state level when people were consistently asking him things that were either related to the budget or hot-button social issues where he could pivot, explain how the issue is clearly a distraction, and then proceed to talk about the budget. This gets quite a bit harder when running for president since presidential candidates get asked pretty much everything imaginable. I'm not going to say he can't pull it off, but it is a different ballgame.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Scott Walker is really just a movement conservative, unconcerned about the facts, who somehow ended up as governor of a swing state.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

Yeah, he didn't do *that* bad.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

Yeah, he didn't do *that* bad.

He really did. He's planning on formally running for President in a few weeks and the best response he can come up with to, "If you were president, what would you do about climate change?" is:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

He ought to have some idea what his position on anthropogenic global warming is going to be, and if the above is it, then he's grossly incapable as a national candidate. If this was an isolated incident, that would be one thing, but it's not. It's part of a pattern: Scott Walker doesn't actually think before speaking, even in interviews. He's going to slam his own campaign right into the ground, the only question is how long it will take and how hard he hits. If the Republicans are somehow really, really unlucky, they'll nominate him before he crashes and burns. But I don't think his campaign makes it to January, unless they give him a brain transplant.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

Yeah, he didn't do *that* bad.

He really did. He's planning on formally running for President in a few weeks and the best response he can come up with to, "If you were president, what would you do about climate change?" is:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

He ought to have some idea what his position on anthropogenic global warming is going to be, and if the above is it, then he's grossly incapable as a national candidate. If this was an isolated incident, that would be one thing, but it's not. It's part of a pattern: Scott Walker doesn't actually think before speaking, even in interviews. He's going to slam his own campaign right into the ground, the only question is how long it will take and how hard he hits. If the Republicans are somehow really, really unlucky, they'll nominate him before he crashes and burns. But I don't think his campaign makes it to January, unless they give him a brain transplant.

The question was posed by a seven year old boy who could not possibly comprehend the science behind climate change. Walker was trying to relate his take on the issue to him in language that he could understand. It would have been utterly bizarre if Walker had begun talking to this child about CO2 emissions or carbon credits.

[Bull Moose Base]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

Yeah, he didn't do *that* bad.

He really did. He's planning on formally running for President in a few weeks and the best response he can come up with to, "If you were president, what would you do about climate change?" is:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

He ought to have some idea what his position on anthropogenic global warming is going to be, and if the above is it, then he's grossly incapable as a national candidate. If this was an isolated incident, that would be one thing, but it's not. It's part of a pattern: Scott Walker doesn't actually think before speaking, even in interviews. He's going to slam his own campaign right into the ground, the only question is how long it will take and how hard he hits. If the Republicans are somehow really, really unlucky, they'll nominate him before he crashes and burns. But I don't think his campaign makes it to January, unless they give him a brain transplant.

The question was posed by a seven year old boy who could not possibly comprehend the science behind climate change. Walker was trying to relate his take on the issue to him in language that he could understand. It would have been utterly bizarre if Walker had begun talking to this child about CO2 emissions or carbon credits.

This is of course right. As for policy, Walker's denial of climate science is not really any different than the other Republicans.

[Torie]

So is Walker basically now the middle aged balding male version of Sarah Palin?

I think that's more Trump. Palin would have chastised the kid for giving into lame-stream media propaganda or called it a "gotcha question" and refused to answer point-blank.

Yeah, he didn't do *that* bad.

He really did. He's planning on formally running for President in a few weeks and the best response he can come up with to, "If you were president, what would you do about climate change?" is:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

He ought to have some idea what his position on anthropogenic global warming is going to be, and if the above is it, then he's grossly incapable as a national candidate. If this was an isolated incident, that would be one thing, but it's not. It's part of a pattern: Scott Walker doesn't actually think before speaking, even in interviews. He's going to slam his own campaign right into the ground, the only question is how long it will take and how hard he hits. If the Republicans are somehow really, really unlucky, they'll nominate him before he crashes and burns. But I don't think his campaign makes it to January, unless they give him a brain transplant.

He could have said, yes I do care about the climate change issue, and it's important to better understand the science of climate change, and to reach an intelligent balance of what we can do to address it while not unduly hurting our economy by imposing more costs of it that would take away jobs. I think the kid would have understood that. And it's the first and obvious question to ask when beginning to think about the issue, isn't it? I don't think it is that hard.

[Xing]

I too remember when many conservatives on this forum thought he was "the one." It wasn't that long ago actually. I guess opening your mouth really can do a lot of damage.

[Bull Moose Base]

This answer may have been too simple-minded for the average 7 year old but not for the average Republican voter who rejects science. Walker won't be any more rejected by Republicans voters than George W Bush was, at least not for being dim.  He remains better positioned than any other Republican to win an early state, and will probably open a 5-10 point national lead after he announces.

[Lincoln Republican]

I do not really believe that Scott Walker is actually qualified for the big office.