Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)
Has Scott Walker's not-yet-official presidential run been too successful too soon? The Wisconsin governor seems to be struggling a bit with the spotlight as some of his weaker, wobblier policy positions come into view. And part of his problem, it seems, might be that
he's gotten away with slippery dodging in Wisconsin that he'll be challenged more strongly on in a presidential race. For instance:
... in a series of interviews toward the end of 2013, Walker openly discussed the possibility of increasing the sales tax to eliminate the Wisconsin’s income tax. Seven months later, with his re-election campaign heating up, Walker told a Wisconsin paper he’d ruled out the option. Following the story, Walker was asked about floating the idea in December. He insisted, “I never said that.”
The answer was perplexing considering Walker had openly mused months earlier about the option in multiple interviews and never objected to past stories on his thoughts.
An aide later explained Walker’s thinking. The idea of increasing the sales tax to eliminate the income tax was originally raised at a series of roundtables his administration held to gather input. The question was phrased, “You floated this idea.” In Walker’s mind, that was justification to dismiss the question, sweep away his past comments and change the narrative to, “I have no interest in raising the state sales tax.”
When you face an off-year electorate and so-so Democratic challengers in Wisconsin, maybe you can get away with that. Against Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and perhaps ultimately Hillary Clinton, that kind of attempt to blatantly deny you said what you said is going to get you in trouble. And Walker has stumbled in similar ways on ethanol subsidies and immigration in recent months, not in ways that necessarily devastate his chances right off the bat, but do create a sense that he may not be quite ready for prime time, and not
quite the rock-solid, consistent, Reaganesque man of honor he's trying to portray himself as.