Scott Walker is falling apart: The little corruption problem he just can’t shake

[DonViejo]

The embattled GOP governor wants to settle an awful legal headache. But that has his conservative base up in arms

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON

It seems as though every presidential race in recent years offers up a Republican governor from the upper Midwest as the great white hope. They’re usually talked up as “reformers,” perhaps trying to capitalize on the tradition of Robert La Follette, the famous Wisconsin iconoclast, at times when the Republican establishment feels it needs to pretend to be more “with it” than it actually is.

At one point it was Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, widely hailed in the media as an innovative thinker who would be practically unbeatable. Unfortunately, when he finally took the bait and ran in 2008 he flamed out spectacularly with a series of gaffes in which he endorsed discrimination in employment and insulted Jewish people. Then there was Tim Pawlenty, a former Michigan governor, who had been on the short list for years, withering into an afterthought despite spending lots of donor money on histrionic, Michael Bay-style campaign ads designed to enhance his manly appeal.

And now we have Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, scourge of teachers unions and liberal activists everywhere, who has, as usual, been talked up in the national political media for years. He even made the pilgrimage to the Venetian in Vegas to kiss Sheldon Adelson’s wad of cash. The New Republic proclaimed him the one candidate who could unite the party:

Scott Walker, the battle-hardened governor of Wisconsin, is the candidate that the factional candidates should fear. Not only does he seem poised to run—he released a book last week—but he possesses the tools and positions necessary to unite the traditional Republican coalition and marginalize its discontents

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http://www.salon.com/2014/05/30/scott_walker_is_falling_apart_the_little_corruption_problem_he_just_cant_shake/

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Pawlenty is former governor of MINNESOTA. n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I saw that, but I just figured that the DFL

had run a successful disinformation campaign to pin Pawlenty on Michigan. (At least they didn't try to shuffle him off on Wisconsin--we have problems enough of our own.)

[hlthe2b]

2. Seems he's tied himself up into the proverbial "Gordian Knot"

[Blue Owl]

3. Velveeta crumbles

n/t

[PeoViejo]

5. The King has no Clothes. n/t