NYTimes Hit Piece Ignores Scott Walker's Success

Fresh off its widely-mocked exclusive on the traffic citations given Marco and Jeannette Rubio – fewer than one per year, combined – the New York Times has an in-depth look at Scott Walker and the wealthy conservatives who backed him throughout his rise to national prominence.

It’s a classic of the genre.

The article is more sophisticated than the awkward and error-filled attempted hit on Walker by Gail Collins from the Times editorial page, who blamed Walker for layoffs that took place before he had been elected. And it avoids the kind of over-the-top claims that require corrections. But the piece nonetheless makes clear that its authors believe Walker’s views are far out of the mainstream and that he owes his success to wealthy conservatives eager to exploit a simpleton as the vessel for their ideological goals.

Indeed, they say this directly and without much qualification. Consider: “But the reasons for Mr. Walker’s success are more complex. In the Wisconsin legislature and as Milwaukee County executive, he always liked going to extremes and basking in his own brand of boldness. What he needed, as he climbed the political ladder, was the money and endorsements that [Bradley Foundation president Michael Grebe] and his conservative allies brought.”

The reporters are so convinced of the notion that Walker “always liked going to extremes” that they didn’t feel the need to source it. And they accept uncritically a specious claim from a local union leader that Walker was a cipher until big-money conservatives swept in behind him. They quote Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, who claims: “Scott Walker didn’t have the stature, influence or money to become governor on his own or to end collective bargaining on his own. All that flowed from Mike Grebe, the Bradley Foundation and a network of influential conservatives, including the Kochs.”

It’s an assertion that conveniently fits the Times’ skeptical narrative on Walker. But it’s also wrong.

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