OK, so I took a few days off from blogging to, you know, have a life. And while I was clearing out my brain Wisconsin turned into Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin’s Alaaaaaska.
Rewind to the dog days of August 2008, when GOP nominee John McCain selected then Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
For the first few weeks she got a pass from the presseasy questions and a People magazine photo op, a rip-roaring mean girl convention speech in Minneapolis, and golden reviews.
And then it hit the fan. Palin self-destructed once she had to take questions from reporters.
Read newspapers? “All of them.”
Are you ready? “I didn’t blink.”
And about that Bridge to Nowhere? The Bush doctrine? Your foreign policy experience? “Hmm… next question, please.”
So it goes with the Wisconsin GOP. I can’t believe the caliber of their anointed golden boy candidates. They make Sarah Palin look competent.
Take Ron Johnson, the wealthy plastics manufacturer from Oshkosh who promised party leaders he could self-fund his campaign. Not surprisingly, the state party is backing him in his race to unseat Sen. Russ Feingold.
At first, he, like Palin, got gushing reviews. Ohh! He spoke at a Tea Party rally in front of a ton of flags! He must really understand what “freedom” means, right? And Charlie Sykes got all tingly when listening to the guy. You know he gets it, right? Johnson just gets it, Charlie assured his listeners.
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But Johnson is following Palin’s path to a T. The more he talks, the more trouble he creates. The guy is a gaffe machine. While this may be a good year for outsiders like Johnson, the guy just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He obviously hadn't taken an interest in politics before deciding to run for the U.S. Senate. Even I can parrot Republican talking points better than he can. Johnson doesn’t even know that as a good Republican he’s supposed to oppose licensing guns. It’s just a no brainer. Nor is hean alleged tea party candidatesupposed to tell “patriot” groups that he supports parts of the Patriot Act and doesn’t know much about the Constitution. Even I could come up with conservative-pleasing platitudes that could win them over. It's not difficult. Even Sarah Palin can do it.
Then there’s Johnson's latest gaffe, the sunspot goof:
"I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change," Johnson said. "It's not proven by any stretch of the imagination."
Johnson, in an interview last month, described believers in manmade causes of climate change as "crazy" and the theory as "lunacy."
"It's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time," he said. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere "gets sucked down by trees and helps the trees grow," said Johnson. Average Earth temperatures were relatively warm during the Middle Ages, Johnson said, and "it's not like there were tons of cars on the road."
He said he disagreed with any government spending to try to address global warming. A strong economy is the best way to preserve a good environment, Johnson said.
Trying to fix global warming is "a fool's errand," Johnson said. "I don't think we can do anything about controlling what our climate is."
Ack! It’s the Dick Cheney “stuff happens” defense.
The Sarah Palin “snake oil” dis.
The big oil-funded Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Tour lie.
And Johnson wants to be elected to the Senate because he cannot figure out how the vast resources of the government can be used to solve problems? A strong economy is going to preserve a good environment? That’s ridiculous. A fool’s errand, indeed.
Then there’s Scott Walker, C-student dropout turned GOP frontrunner for governor. (Even Palin could eek out a college degree after a couple of tries.) While Johnson shares Palin’s know-nothingness, Walker has her ambition and completely shameless ability to do anything for attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if Walker winds up saying that Tom Barrett pals around with terrorists.
Walker just can’t help himself, it seems. There’s the race-baiting train video dust-up. The guy couldn’t even offer a straight apology. Neither could his aide, Jill Bader. And why should they? It’s clear that, like Palin, they aren’t trying to appeal to nonwhite voters. Take a look at who turns up at their rallies. Not exactly a mixed crowd. (Or big crowds, if you really examine their campaign trail photos.)
And Walker lies just as easily as Palin does. Remember her phony death panels? The lie of the year, according to Politifact.com.
Well, Walker’s going to kill off the federally funded high-speed rail line. Sure. Just watch him. He knows he can’t shift the money to other projects but he’s spreading that lie just the same.
Then there’s Walker’s shameless empty promises. While Palin claimed that she was resigning as governor to fight harder for Alaskanow there's a whopperWalker’s going to form a task force to come up with $300 million in savings. Riiiiight. Details to come on this and his plan to wipe out unemployment.
And what about Walker’s flip-flops on major policy issues? Can’t let Mark Neumann be the most conservative candidate in the race, oh no. Walker’s got to keep flipping and flopping until he’s on the far right fringe of the Republican Party, just like Palin “refudiates” her old, somewhat moderate positions (like encouraging people to create living wills with no scary talk about death panels). So Walker got some backlash for a reasonable stance on immigration? Well, Walker will change his position and deny that he’s done so.
What really gets me is Walker’s promise to repeal that statewide smoking ban, just to copycat Neumann.
Now, I tend to believe that candidates’ families are off-limits, but in this case it’s a professional connection: Doesn’t Walker’s wife work for the American Lung Association?
And isn’t the smoking ban one of their hard-fought, years-in-the-making victories?
So the husband of one of the American Lung Association’s employees has vowed to repeal the ban? Should make for an uncomfortable conversation or two. Walker can’t even honor and respect his wife’s career. That’s really sad.
I feel like Walker and Johnson are better suited to running for office in Wasilla, not Wisconsin. Let's hope the voters figure out that, like Palin, they're just opportunists who aren't ready for prime time.
