# Portent of the end for Walker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 13, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030 "2015-09-13T02:11:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/1 "2015-09-13T02:11:38Z")
[Scott Walker pulls out of California Republican event](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-09112015-htmlstory.html) > [@LA Times](#): > > Presidential candidate Scott Walker on Friday abruptly canceled his planned speech at the California Republican Party convention next weekend, according to someone involved with the event’s planning who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. > > Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, had been a top draw to the state GOP gathering, and was due to speak at the Saturday night dinner in front of hundreds of delegates and guests in Anaheim. Walker’s campaign has been foundering and floundering since the last FOX News Republican debate and he is seemingly in free-fall in the polls. With his constant missteps, walk-backs, and inability to project an air of confidence or even competence, is Walker preparing to throw in the towel? If so, I must admit that I am a bit surprised; I thought he’d be one of the last guys standing. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/2 "2015-09-13T02:30:16Z")
Corroboratory report. [Walker Cancels Appearance At California Event](http://crooksandliars.com/2015/09/walker-cancels-appearance-california-event) > [@Crooks and Liars](#): > > I’m trying hard not to read too much into this news, but one cannot help but speculate that his campaign is in trouble. After an endless series of punts, flip flops and gaffes, Walker has seen his support - both with voters and campaign fund donors - drop nationally. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/3 "2015-09-13T03:33:01Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > **Portent of the end for Walker?** End?! Like, there was a beginning?! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/4 "2015-09-13T03:56:04Z")
I hope so, but I rather suspect that this is a misreading of something unrelated. Walker has no real chance in the long run, IMO, because he’s simultaneously an extremist and a dumbass with the breathtaking stupidity of a brick, but I would expect him to stick it out at least until the wildly swinging numbers begin to stabilize, and perhaps Trump vanishes from the scene. His agenda is basically a collection of all the right-wing talking points taken to an extreme, and the only thing he knows how to do is bust unions and make life intolerable for public servants, teachers, and university professors. Seriously, he’s not a bright boy. Policies aside, he tends to photograph with a kind of perpetually stunned expression, like he’s been caught in the middle of a fireworks explosion, to quote Bill Maher. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/5 "2015-09-13T04:18:03Z")
Cutting and running before Iowa is basically admitting your irrelevance in electoral politics, so I think we’ll see very few do so, even if that does rightly apply to a few of the Republican hopefuls (and a few of the Democratic ones as well, to be fair). Not unless that absolutely have to, like because they ran out of money, or if some career-killing scandal breaks. After Iowa, you can exit with “dignity”, at the very least. Not saying that’s when Walker leaves or not (I really have no idea how it’s all going to shake out), but that’s the minimum date. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/6 "2015-09-13T06:33:14Z")
[A link I had in another thread that sort of agrees with the OP](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/scott-walkers-campaign-seems-to-be-in-serious-trouble/), published before the pull-out. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/7 "2015-09-17T17:52:41Z")
It certainly doesn’t help that Walker got approximately zero media coverage after the second debate. I suspect the Koch Bros are wondering if they should fish or cut bait now. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/8 "2015-09-17T18:01:53Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > [A link I had in another thread that sort of agrees with the OP](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/scott-walkers-campaign-seems-to-be-in-serious-trouble/), published before the pull-out. Awesome money quote from that link: > [@](#): > > “He can’t seem to find his way on any given issue with a handheld GPS,” one Iowa Republican said of Walker last week. “He’s been on all three sides of every two-sided issue. For the last two months hasn’t made a single policy pronouncement that he or his staff hasn’t had to clarify or clear up within two hours. When you’re reduced to saying ‘yeah’ doesn’t mean ‘yes,’ you’re in trouble. ‘Unintimidated’ has given way to ‘uninformed’ and ‘unprepared.'” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/9 "2015-09-17T18:25:43Z")
He is young enough, he might be trying to cut bait and hope it is all forgotten so he can polish up and try again, rather than push it to the official scorecards(primary results) where his career could be ignominiously buried forever. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/10 "2015-09-17T18:34:22Z")
Too late for that. He’s already bait, and it will be remembered next time. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/11 "2015-09-17T19:31:11Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > He is young enough, he might be trying to cut bait and hope it is all forgotten so he can polish up and try again, rather than push it to the official scorecards(primary results) where his career could be ignominiously buried forever. That worked great for Rick Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/12 "2015-09-17T20:38:20Z")
Yeah, Walker’s done, and he probably knows it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/13 "2015-09-17T20:39:57Z")
Walker looked like a very strong contender, pre-Trump. But Trump pretty much took all the voters driven by the illegal immigration issue, and Walker hasn’t been able to distinguish himself at all in debates. Walker was a big loser last night, NOT because he was terrible (he was okay) but because he’d lost all his traction and needed to do SOMETHING to make himself interesting and relevant again. He didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/14 "2015-09-17T20:58:56Z")
I don’t know about all this. I’ll admit that Walker is a _much_ weaker candidate than I would have anticipated at the beginning of the summer, but he’s still has a credible resume (re-elected midwestern governor in a blue/purple state, success at fighting the unions, cutting taxes, and all that right-wing horror show stuff), and has decent access for money. And it’s still four months before Iowa. This could go either way, and it’s really up to Walker. One, he can continue to flounder, his donors write him off, and everything collapses. Or two, he can clean up his ability to state positions, stake out the “conservative with results” space, and clean up when the non-serious candidates start to fade. I think Walker is still someone to be worried about. Hopefully, I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/15 "2015-09-17T21:13:23Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Yeah, Walker’s done, and he probably knows it. OTOH, he beat a recall election, and he knows it, which might now imbue him with false “I can still pull out of this tailspin!” confidence. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/16 "2015-09-17T21:26:58Z")
According to a graphic from NPR, Walker talked the least of all the candidates - about eight and a half minutes. Trump talked for twice as long. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/17 "2015-09-17T22:12:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > OTOH, he beat a recall election … Yes, Walker beat a recall. In \*\*Wisconsin. \*\* Home state of Joe McCarthy. Quoth Dave Barry: “We think it’s something in the cheese.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/18 "2015-09-17T22:18:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Yes, Walker beat a recall. In \*\*Wisconsin. \*\* > > Home state of Joe McCarthy. > > Quoth Dave Barry: “We think it’s something in the cheese.” 😛 Also home of Robert Lafollette, Herb Kohl, Tammy Baldwin and (as Alice Cooper pointed out) a major city that’s elected five Socialist mayors. Nice try, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/19 "2015-09-17T22:19:45Z")
But the boarder wall with Canada, who is going to champion that now? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030/20 "2015-09-18T04:20:53Z")
Anyone can have a bad campaign and Walker hasn’t done very well. He’s still going to be a contender in the future or he could be VP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portent-of-the-end-for-walker/731030.md?page=2)