Why Scott Walker is out

The magic is gone: lackluster debate performance, policy flip-flops disenchanted GOP voters

Just hours after this column was first published, The New York Times reported that Scott Walker will bow out of the race at a press conference on Monday evening.

Less than two months ago, Scott Walker was musing about Marco Rubio as his vice presidential pick. Now he’s missing in action — at rock bottom in polls, left out of news stories and talk-show lineups, and increasingly hard-pressed to convince donors that his own White House candidacy can be saved.

In a way this is vindication for Democrats and unions. Clearly an identity as organized labor’s enemy number one is not enough to carry a campaign. On the other hand, Walker was elected governor of Wisconsin, survived a recall and won reelection in the span of four years. It’s beyond ironic that Republicans are now doing what Democrats and unions failed at three times. It’s also slightly tragic for Democrats, because it would have been easy to make a general-election case against Walker.

The puzzle is that from a GOP standpoint, Walker seemed to have it all: executive experience, appeal to the business and religious wings of his party, an iconic conservative record in a blue state, and a book and political action committee with one-word names meant to speak volumes: “Unintimidated.” The man even lived in Iowa for several years as a child.

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