We Should Follow Scott Walker's Lead

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how WISGOP was keeping their candidates, especially the major ones, in hiding.

They are still keeping their candidates under wraps.

Ron Johnson has been missing from interviews and other similar appearances for months now. Things are so bad that they have started to put his picture on milk cartons. We'll have another example on why this is on Friday night when Johnson faces Feingold in a debate which will be broadcast statewide.

But the most remarkable disappearance is that of Rebecca Kleefisch. Kleefisch was a trooper during the primary appearing everywhere and anywhere even while she was battling cancer.

Suddenly, she just up and disappeared. She doesn't even tweet with any sort of regularity now, even though she used to be most responsive, even to liberals like myself.

She started to clam up about the time that her Democratic counterpart, Tom Nelson, started challenging her to debates. Pressure started to build on the Walker/Kleefisch campaign until today, when they finally responded to the calls with a flat out rejection:

Kleefisch spokeswoman Jill Bader said Tuesday that she won't debate Nelson because the Tom Barrett-Nelson ticket is only interested in running away from their records and using false television ads to distort Scott Walker's record.

First of all, let me say that has to be the most insipid and inane response that I have ever seen from any political campaign.

It seems to me that the one running away is Kleefisch. A possible explanation could come from a TV news report on Team Walker's refusal to let her debate. In said story, they did ask Kleefisch herself why she wouldn't debate. Kleefisch responded that this was the time to discuss the issues on not play political games.

Huh?

Isn't a debate the arena where two or more candidates talk about the issues, where they stand on them, and allow the voters to have a chance to make an honest, informed decision on who they wish to vote for?

Anyway, it might not be fair to say that Kleefisch is too scared to debate or that she is running away from the opportunity. After all, she did take on three or four other major contenders during the Republican primary, and obviously did well for herself, see how she won the nomination.

It is probably much more likely that Scott Walker has little or no confidence in his running mate. He could be afraid that she will again come off as being condescending and elitist as she did when she said that poor people shouldn't have the same access to the life-saving medical treatment she enjoyed. There is also the way she managed to alienate most of the LGBT group with her extremist views. And there was also her bigoted and mildly anti-Semitic statement that only Christians could be governor.

While many people describe the Lieutenant Governor as being a wasted office, the fact is that this person would need to step in and lead the state if the Governor was unable to perform his duties, either through illness or resignation or whatever.

If Walker has such little confidence that his running mate would be able to even present herself as being able to do perform the duties of this office, I say we should trust his judgment on this, and vote for the Barrett/Nelson ticket. It would make immeasurably much more sense to vote for the side that has two competent candidates than the side that can't muster even one trustworthy candidate.