It’s been fascinating watching Gov. Scott Walker try to promote his record in Wisconsin as he “visits” states that are critical to the Republican presidential nomination.
Walker isn’t a candidate, of course. But he’s spending lots of time in other states that just happen to have early primaries.
Walker is running on his union-busting prowess, his opposition to all abortions and his big, bold something or other.
And reporters are taking notes.
Thus far, the big knock against Walker is his enthusiasm for flip-flopping.
But what the national media should be looking at is Walker’s job creation record.
Or doesn’t that matter to Republican voters anymore?
Walker promised to create 250,000 private sector jobs in his first term in office.
That didn’t happen. But Republicans voted for him again in 2014.
The latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor show that Walker still can’t create jobs.
Wisconsin is 38th in job creation from September 2013 to September 2014.
He’s also got a slew of problems here at home. His job-creation agency is mired in conflict, yet he wants to expand it. He’s got a $2.2 billion budget hole, one he’s created. He wants to slash education budgets, even though a high-quality education is what families and employers want.
|
|
Although Walker won re-election last fall, it’s doubtful that he could pull that off now. Walker’s job approval ratings are underwater, with 52% of Wisconsinites opposing him and just 43% supporting him. He trails Hillary Clinton by a healthy margin in a hypothetical match-up.
So it’ll be interesting to see if the national pundits, and Walker’s GOP rivals, seize on Walker’s failed job-creation efforts and realize that he doesn’t have a lot to show for his four years in office. Sure, he was able to push through some nasty budgets and legislation, but that’s because the GOP has control of the Legislature and state Supreme Court. When it comes to his number one priority—creating jobs—he’s failed, utterly. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to Republican primary voters. Maybe they’re looking for a candidate who says whatever the person in front of him wants to hear, no matter how ridiculous or contradictory, reality be damned.
