President Scott Walker will not be a thing
September 21, 2015 1:46 PM Subscribe

Guardian: Scott Walker 2016 presidential campaign in crisis after plunge in polls. BBC: Scott Walker drops out of US 2016 presidential race. New York Times: Scott Walker Said to Be Quitting Presidential Race. Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: Campaign woes prompt Scott Walker to drop out of race. The Onion: Aides Rush On Stage To Rotate Scott Walker Back To Direction Of Audience.
posted by Wordshore (240 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite

I will admit to being really surprised by this. Relieved, but surprised. I thought Walker had a decent shot.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:47 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

My only regret is that there was not even enough time for a truly sordid scandal to emerge.
posted by desjardins at 1:47 PM on September 21, 2015 [101 favorites]

Walker makes me hyperbolic; I can't look at him and not think "that there is a truly evil human."

Deeply pleased to hear he's dropping out of the race.
posted by Windigo at 1:49 PM on September 21, 2015 [17 favorites]

My only regret is that there was not even enough time for a truly sordid scandal to emerge.

I know it's my engineer mindset coming through, but his administration's complicity in the mass poisoning of wells around rural Wisconsin is plenty sordid for me, more so than any sexual peccadilloes. No philanderer made me scared to use tap water to make infant formula. Well, not by means of philandering, anyway.
posted by ocschwar at 1:49 PM on September 21, 2015 [51 favorites]

My only regret is that there was not even enough time for a truly sordid scandal to emerge.

scott walker found with his dick inside the 0 of his 0.5%
posted by griphus at 1:50 PM on September 21, 2015 [20 favorites]

Scott Walker Schedules 5 p.m. Press Conference, Ending Presidential Campaign.
posted by Wordshore at 1:50 PM on September 21, 2015

I thought he was the ONE TRUE CANDIDATE knighted by the Kochs to bring their destiny to fruition. Oh well.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:50 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

great, now we're that much closer to being able to choose the good one
posted by threeants at 1:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [13 favorites]

I wouldn't think that a Serious candidate like Walker would drop on bad polling before even the first primary. Did the Koch brothers pull the plug on him?

also: WOOOOOOO!!!
posted by indubitable at 1:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I will admit to being really surprised by this. Relieved, but surprised. I thought Walker had a decent shot.

No. When asked by a friend a few weeks back about the first debate, my response included the phrase "Paul and Walker crashed like Paul Walker."
posted by parliboy at 1:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [12 favorites]

I really feel like this primary season, more than any previous, needs Oompa Loompas to sing of the moral shortcomings of each outgoing candidate
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2015 [251 favorites]

Good riddance, but the remaining clowns aren't any better.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

He shouldn't get to just announce he's leaving and then walk away -- should be a thing where they put out his torch at the next debate.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 1:52 PM on September 21, 2015 [36 favorites]

my response included the phrase "Paul and Walker crashed like Paul Walker."

too soon brah
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 1:53 PM on September 21, 2015 [16 favorites]

I thought Walker had a decent shot.

He never did. He's not got the brains or the wit. And yeah, sure, neither did W, but then W had his dad and all his dad's connections.

Anyway. Called it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:54 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

endorfireworks.gif

This is the first good Scott Walker news I've gotten in years.
posted by drezdn at 1:54 PM on September 21, 2015 [11 favorites]

Well, good for him. I hope he goes back to doing what he does best. Punching meat.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:55 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

(In weird Scott Walker-aside... He was at my Eagle Scout court of honor because my family lived in his state rep. district and because the dude takes the scouts way too seriously)
posted by drezdn at 1:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be? Assume for the purposes of this ~~nightmare~~ thought experiment that there are no other options.

....Bush, maybe? I guess? Good lord.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

>should be a thing where they put out his torch at the next debate

Hopefully Colbert will give him a Hunger Games send-off, like he did for Rick Perry. I'm looking forward to seeing this bit each time someone drops out of the race.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [11 favorites]

Early on, I actually thought he was going to win. And then he opened his mouth, and I immediately knew I was wrong.
posted by spilon at 1:57 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

The man loved his ham.
posted by drezdn at 1:58 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

If I had to do that I'd choose Trump. Because at that point, just fuck it. Let's just burn it all down and start over.
posted by Naberius at 1:59 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

I never say "Thank Heavens". But.

Thank Heavens.
posted by wittgenstein at 1:59 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be? Assume for the purposes of this nightmare thought experiment that there are no other options.

John Kasich. he's a competent administrator. And while he has sold out to big money donors, he's smart enough to know that once he's in the White House he can tell them to fuck off and still get re-elected.
posted by ocschwar at 1:59 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

the dude takes the scouts way too seriously

You know who else took patriotic youth groups way too seriously?
posted by zombieflanders at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [58 favorites]

I can't find any of the recent press releases for this, but in a previous thread about this stuff, I linked to this press release about emotion analysis. The August 7th press release I linked to showed that whenever Scott Walker would talk, the primary reaction of the focus group they watched watching the debates were primarily "contempt", "anger" and "disgust" when he was talking about his promise to create Wisconsin jobs. I really want to see the results of the analysis from the debate last week, but can't seem to find any sources currently publishing the results.

Interestingly, the more I talk to people in advertising and marketing, they just kind of nod their heads and go "well, yeah, that's pretty much how politics works now." Frightening, to say the least.
posted by daq at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I can't believe he didn't even have to fuck a farm animal, america is so behind the times.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [21 favorites]

> If I had to do that I'd choose Trump. Because at that point, just fuck it. Let's just burn it all down and start over.

Yeah, but "it" in this case would probably include a lot of people. Maybe all of them.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [11 favorites]

I have this recurring nightmare that all the republicans and most of the democrats fold like origami, leaving us with President Sanders, who turns out to be Palpatine.

That said, I'm glad to see Walker drop; the man's an ass of the highest (or lowest, depending on your perspective) order.
posted by Mooski at 2:01 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Kasich, but he at least seems like an older-school, sane Republican, rather than a batshit-crazy new-school Republican. I guess he'd be my choice, although my choice is clearly none of the above.

If I had to put money on a ticket right now, it would probably be Bush/ Fiorina, but there's still a lot of time for things to change.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:01 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

A man who has an astonishing number of friends that are child molesters has lasted longer in the race than Walker did.

It would probably hurt his feelings to know that, but I doubt any of his staff are capable of explaining it to him.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:03 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'll cast my vote for No Horrifying Thought Experiments, as usual.
posted by chaiminda at 2:04 PM on September 21, 2015 [27 favorites]

Well, that's bad news.

Every minute Scott Walker spends traveling around the country working on his hopeless presidential campaign is a minute he doesn't spend fucking up Wisconsin.
posted by koeselitz at 2:04 PM on September 21, 2015 [70 favorites]

A man who has an astonishing number of friends that are child molesters has lasted longer in the race than Walker did.

*smiling, playing bass in a band next to my happy, large sons*
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:05 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

Kasich tried to do the same thing in Ohio with unions that Walker did in Wisconsin. It was Issue 2 and luckily it was defeated.
posted by girlmightlive at 2:07 PM on September 21, 2015 [12 favorites]

I would choose whichever one is least capable of getting things done in office, due to lack of ideas, lack of political connections, and lack of competence. But not Trump, because it's increasingly clear that his supporters are looking for an overt fascist and he's clearly willing to be that for them.

Basically, my reasoning is that if we can't have someone decent we should have an inept and inefficient seat-warmer fill the job. Carson? is Carson the guy for the job?

I'll be legit afraid if Republicans start supporting Kasich, since he sort of knows how politics works, has ideas a straightforwardly evil as Walker's, but is very slightly better than Walker is at hiding the fact that he's an evil lizard from space.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:07 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Walker. We wouldn't want to have to clean ass marks off our door.
posted by Talez at 2:08 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

How the heck has Santorum managed to see off both Perry and Walker? What divine power is concealed inside that sweater vest?
posted by Wordshore at 2:08 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

It's not like the clown show in Madison actually needs Walker there to keep fucking things up.

I'm just wondering 1. how many people are going to donate to him now, to get his campaign out of debt, and 2. how much Wisconsin state land is going to be sold in no-bid sales to those same donors now. And of course the return on investment on those donations (income foregone by sales for less than market value divided by amount donated)
posted by ocschwar at 2:09 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

Kind of curious about this
posted by drezdn at 2:09 PM on September 21, 2015

How the heck has Santorum managed to see off both Perry and Walker? What divine power is concealed inside that sweater vest?

Lube and fecal matter.
posted by Talez at 2:09 PM on September 21, 2015 [28 favorites]

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YA WHERE THE GOOD LORD SPLIT YA, SCOTTY.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:10 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Santorum 2016: fear the froth.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 2:10 PM on September 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

Anyone else immediately have a flashback to that "would you rather slide down a razor blade into a barrel of iodine or drink a bucket of monkey snot?" question from The Book of Stupid Questions?
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Does this mean that we won't be building a wall around Canadia ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is it too late for them to get Pizza Rat into the running?
posted by sobarel at 2:12 PM on September 21, 2015 [24 favorites]

Also you've done more than enough as Governor, so please move out of Wisconsin and go somewhere that no one else wants to live.

AND DITTO TO SNYDER AND MICHIGAN. TAKE RICKY WITH YOU!
posted by elsietheeel at 2:12 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm calling BY GOD THAT'S MITT ROMNEY'S MUSIC early.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 2:12 PM on September 21, 2015 [8 favorites]

party dog/pizza rat '16

change america needs
posted by poffin boffin at 2:13 PM on September 21, 2015 [26 favorites]

I want to read ever insiders' account of the 2016 Walker campaign.
posted by drezdn at 2:13 PM on September 21, 2015 [9 favorites]

He shouldn't get to just announce he's leaving and then walk away -- should be a thing where they put out his torch at the next debate.

They could literally populate a full season of survivor with the most repugnant republican hopefuls from the last two election cycles.

Jeff Probst. Please.
posted by phunniemee at 2:13 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

Fired Scott Walker staffer takes a victory lap on Twitter
posted by Wordshore at 2:14 PM on September 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

Bobby Jindal. His fireside chats would be that perfect mix of Mr Rogers and Kenneth from 30 Rock.
posted by Talez at 2:15 PM on September 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

Wisconsin can have him back. Sorry.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:15 PM on September 21, 2015

Wisconsin can have him back. Sorry.

*sob*
posted by drezdn at 2:17 PM on September 21, 2015 [9 favorites]

Oompa, Loompa, doopity dot!
Turns out nobody ever liked Scott!
Oompa, Loompa, doopity dust!
He made them feel an-ger and dis-gust!
posted by emjaybee at 2:18 PM on September 21, 2015 [45 favorites]

I think Walker's mistake is that a politician who is as aggressively anti-government as he will attract voters who hate government--and those voters will hate politicians just as much. And there are three very strong candidates in the race who are not politicians. So you can vote for everything the anti-govt base wants, and they will still throw you out given the opportunity. It's what Eric Cantor found out in 2012 when he lost the primary to a no-name guy from a little college.
posted by riruro at 2:20 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Walker's loss appears to be Rubio's gain.
posted by Wordshore at 2:24 PM on September 21, 2015

I wonder what's next in store for Scotty Walker's political career. Wisconsin doesn't have term limits and Sen Tammy Baldwin is up for reelection in 2018; in either case I don't think Walker could win another statewide election, let alone a senate election that would draw national media attention.

I've wondered about that too. On one hand, if he ran again in 2018, I'm not sure the Wisconsin Dems have someone that could beat him and he's been a politician so long it seems hard to see him in the private sector. On the other hand, running for a third term would probably turn off some term-limit loving conservatives. I think he takes a cabinet position if the Republicans win in 2016. Otherwise, running against Baldwin wouldn't be a bad idea from his perspective.
posted by drezdn at 2:26 PM on September 21, 2015

What's the limit on tag lengths? I want to know if "the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin" (minus spaces) could fit.
posted by zombieflanders at 2:28 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

Now we'll never get that wall across Canada.
posted by octothorpe at 2:28 PM on September 21, 2015 [8 favorites]

The trackers are taking a little while to catch up, but here are the odds on who will be the Republican candidate.
posted by Wordshore at 2:31 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

While I am pleased to see one of the Koch brothers' nefarious plans fail to come to fruition, I feel bad for the various henchmen who will inevitably be fed to sharks, pushed into the volcano, and lowered into vats of boiling acid back at the Kochs' island lair.
posted by Aizkolari at 2:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [14 favorites]

Nooooo, don't go...hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAhahahahaha

Well, next psycho up.
posted by superfluousm at 2:33 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Scott Walker drops out AND the cast recording of Hamilton drops on NPR? How lucky we are to be alive right now!

(My headcanon for today is that Walker listened to the musical and realized how hopelessly inadequate he was as a leader. My only annoyance is that I'm going to have to drop the Walker verse from my presidential candidate version of Barrett's Privateers.)
posted by ilana at 2:33 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

Anyone fancy going out for dinner tonight?
posted by Wordshore at 2:34 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I feel bad for the people I know who are releasing Unintimidated an anti-Scott Walker band comp in February.
posted by drezdn at 2:40 PM on September 21, 2015

There's always the Vice Presidency, followed by the mysterious choking death of the President on hot ham.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:41 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

drezdn -- I'm thinking he might take the route of another upper-midwest governor who was a republican presidential also-ran: Tim Pawlenty. Maybe Walker will have the decency/sense to finish out his term as governor and move into some cushy job in the Republican machine or as a Koch lobbyist.

He's in too much debt to do otherwise. His personal debt load is huge, and apart from running for office and manning a McDonalds fryolator, he has never done any other work in his entire life.

Seriously. He dropped out of college, got a fast food job, and then started running for office.

And while some politicians are capable of filling an office, Walker cannot do anything except win office. He's good at winning elections. He's not good at anything beyond that.

I'm guessing he'll get a post on the board of the MacIver Institute or something similar, and a salary to cover his debt, and then vanish.
posted by ocschwar at 2:44 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Holy shit, there are already 70 comments on this. Awesome. Well, let me be the first to say: YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARHRGHHHHHHH!

I join the inimitable Pogo_Fuzzybutt in having called it, and will continue to crow with fierce joy in the general direction of all the doomsayers who felt the need to blithely yammer about the inevitability of a Walker presidency, because no. Not now, not ever. Sure, he's never held a job outside of elected office, but the top spot will never be his.

Goddamn, I really want to go out and get fucking wasted tonight so I can loose the shackles of propriety just enough to publicly yell about how much I hate this dopey piece of shit. Maybe if the state party apparatchiks can find a halfway decent candidate to run against the Boy King, we'll get a Democrat back in Capitol Square to protect and serve lie-beral interests alongside Baldwin and Feingold in the U.S. Senate. Again, I say: YEAAAAAAAAAHHHRRHGHGHHHHHH!
posted by divined by radio at 2:48 PM on September 21, 2015 [13 favorites]

Back to his home planet
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:48 PM on September 21, 2015

I've always figured his election filings were bullshit. He can't possibly be so stupid as to loot WI as he has and not gotten some payback for it ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:49 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Good bye and good riddance.

(But I'm getting increasingly antsy about the possibility that one of these clowns might be one wooden debate performance form Hillary away from the White House. And did I hear someone say Mitt Romney?)
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:50 PM on September 21, 2015

There is always that job offer from Enterprise.

I'm pretty sure that Picard has better judgment than that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:51 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

As somebody who watched Tim Pawlenty use the Governorship of Minnesota to enact a bunch of overly conservative policies before flaming out early on the Presidential trail, my heart goes out to Wisconsinites who have similarly suffered in the name of Walker's fruitless ambitions.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 2:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

I'm pretty sure that Picard has better judgment than that.

Archer, though?
posted by drezdn at 2:58 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

Rubio/Kasich vs Clinton/Castro
posted by Wordshore at 3:01 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I am truly surprised. I honestly believed he was the best-positioned candidate. He had the Koch brothers, he was from a fairly moderate state, and he'd survived a ton of challenges.

This scares me, because it means Trump might actually be for real. I had always assumed that the Trump/Carson/Fiorina show was the warmup, and the grownups (by Republican standards) would eventually take over, and I thought Walker would be one of the ones leading that. With Walker gone and Bush foundering, who will do that? Marco Rubio seems nice enough, I guess, but can he take down Trump? I'm not sure.

www.chafee2016.com :)
posted by kevinbelt at 3:02 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't trust my local news to run the press conference live. Is it on the net anywhere?
posted by benito.strauss at 3:03 PM on September 21, 2015

Back to his home planet

PA, I swear to god you raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly by not linking to something like this instead.
posted by Talez at 3:03 PM on September 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

Rubio/Kasich vs Clinton/Castro

Believable.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:06 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Walker's stated rationale: I and others need to drop out so we can stop splitting the non-crazy vote against Trump.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:06 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

This will certainly complicate matters in Wisconistan.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

non-crazy vote against Trump.

Non-crazy? Against?
posted by Going To Maine at 3:13 PM on September 21, 2015

Well, that was fascinating. I've been feeling the last couple weeks that he's been trying to out-Trump Trump. I was surprised by his speech.

Also, speaking as a Wisconsinite -- this is not as great as the day the 39% approval poll came out, but it's pretty damn great. I opened a bottle of wine and came straight to Metafilter to enjoy my schadenfreude.
posted by gerstle at 3:15 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

So is the deal here that the Republicans are in a full-on panic over Trump, and the usual people who would back Walker put pressure on him to pull out to narrow the field? Or is the "I don't want to split the anti-Trump vote" thing just a face-saving device, and the real issue is just that he's out of money?

Interesting development, anyway.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:17 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Walker said he needs to spend more time undermining his state and his family.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 3:17 PM on September 21, 2015 [32 favorites]

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka has released a statement. It reads, in its entirety:

"Scott Walker is still a disgrace, just no longer national."
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:20 PM on September 21, 2015 [96 favorites]

It's mind boggling how thoroughly incompetent some of these governors of major states really are once you get to see them in more than one dimension. Most couldn't even run a corner grocery store with any competence.

Without his family connections, I always said, Bush the Younger would, at most, rise to the level of assistant manager of a tire store.
posted by emjaybee at 3:21 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

I couldn't be happier. It's not only delightful to see this creepazoid kicked to the curb, but it is a well-deserved blow to the almighty Kochs.

However, my sympathies to all you Wisconsinites, you poor long-suffering bastards. It's a crime what he's done to your state. Please take some solace in this defeat.
posted by madamjujujive at 3:26 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

With this thread and the previous Rick Perry one, it feels like the state-by-state marriage equality threads we had for a few years. The only problem is that eventually one of these bigoted assholes who don't give a damn about the poor is going to be left.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:27 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka has released a statement. It reads, in its entirety:

"Scott Walker is still a disgrace, just no longer national."

The only appropriate response.
posted by Talez at 3:28 PM on September 21, 2015

In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz, "Ha ha!"
posted by mosk at 3:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

However, my sympathies to all you ~~Wisconsinites~~

Sconnies.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

The trackers are taking a little while to catch up, but here are the odds on who will be the Republican candidate.

Help me understand this site. It looks to me like some people who are not running for president (and in one case, not allowed to run for president) have better odds of being the nominee than several people who are running for president. Am I reading this wrong?
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:45 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I AM LITERALLY HAVING A LIVING ROOM DANCE PARTY, the rest of the GOP field are by and large minor functionaries of His Satanic Majesty but Scott Walker is AN ACTUAL DEMON IN HUMAN FORM.

♪♬ ƪ(‘-‘ ƪ)(ʃ ‘-‘)ʃ ♪♬ ƪ(‘-‘ ƪ)(ʃ ‘-‘)ʃ ♪♬
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:46 PM on September 21, 2015 [43 favorites]

Between this and #piggate, I am blissing out. My twitter cup runneth over.
posted by madamjujujive at 3:54 PM on September 21, 2015

~~Sconnies.~~

Cheeseheads.
posted by bgal81 at 4:06 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

Noooooo! I will say this in every thread until they finally choose their candidate. Kasich is not a happy moderate alternative in this Republican field. Kasich is deeply bizarre. He is not a reasonable person. He will likely sign a bill into law which will ban abortions of fetuses with Down Syndrome. This is in addition to the other antiabortion and antiwoman crap which has arrived. Plus there was his Scott Walker union destroying bill that the state repealed after he forced out through.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:07 PM on September 21, 2015 [40 favorites]

The Card Cheat: " if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?"

I don't know, I would have said Jeb Bush appropriately hemmed in by Congress would be tolerable because he's obviously a mainstream Wall Street sort of guy (as Romney was) who won't do anything too off-the-wall, and he doesn't make law, just execute it; but in the face of our do-nothing Congress, the presidency actually has gotten alarmingly powerful in the law-making department and that makes me a lot less willing to settle for a baseline of "not obviously insane." (Also I cannot AT ALL deal with his inability to admit his brother was a SHIT PRESIDENT who did not keep the US safe from fucking shit.)

I would like to hear Lindsay Graham, John Kasich, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio in a robust, serious national debate about policy and ideas, because they are all people who understand how government works (this is my primary reason for ruling out Fiorina -- I am done, just done, with politicians from the corporate world who know jack-all about how divided government works) and who have, in the past, shown an ability to build coalitions for legislation, accept defeat, and make pragmatic (i.e., not-ideologically-pure) decisions on policy. I think those are really important things, and politicians like Ted Cruz who are ideological purists are just useless, especially in executive branch positions. But Christie's too scandal-ridden, I think, and Kasich and Graham's profiles are too low and they're too personally dull. Rubio has impressed me with his ability to talk about actual problems the country faces with knowledge and nuance ... I just think he's wrong about what we should do about those issues. Like, pretty much all of them.

kevinbelt: "the grownups (by Republican standards) would eventually take over, and I thought Walker would be one of the ones leading that. "

NO, NOT EVER, NOT EVER, do you pay no attention to Wisconsin politics? This is a governor so vile that the democratic caucus FLED ACROSS STATE LINES to deny him a quorum. He seems serious because he is a cardboard cutout or an animatronic robot sort of guy so people think, "Oh, he's like one of those banker Republicans, he's probably pretty normal, he has normal-looking hair." But once he opens his mouth it is clear that he is not even a little bit serious, and DUMB AS A POST to boot.

Dropped. Out. Of. Marquette. Sea sponges can finish at Marquette.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [56 favorites]

According to my semi-inside Republican source, Walker was the guy the establishment really, really wanted to make it. But it's been obvious to everyone for a while that it wasn't going to happen.

Say what you want about Walker, he was at least an actual candidate with actual experience, actual previous relevant positions, etc etc etc. Loathsome as it all may have been, at least it was something definite to run for and/or against.

Looking at the whole rest of the Republican field, it's hard to identify an actual serious candidate. To me it's looking like either Jeb or a completely out of left field surprise of some type.
posted by flug at 4:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

A little more elbow room in the clown car...
posted by jim in austin at 4:16 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

There was a moment during the last debate where I looked away for a second and when I turned back someone was speaking, someone I didn't know. "Who the hell is that?" I asked myself. It was Walker. I had watched the first debate, I had followed the media coverage but for some reason his face just didn't resonate with me.

Don't get me wrong. I knew his name and had followed his first few months as governor and the attempt at a recall with horror. I though for sure he would be one of the top contenders for the GOP nod, but for some reason I could not remember his face.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:18 PM on September 21, 2015

Wordshore: "The trackers are taking a little while to catch up, but here are the odds on who will be the Republican candidate."

TIL Paddy Power will give you 100:1 odds on a dude who's Constitutionally prohibited from becoming president.

Trying to figure out if there is a way to game this market so I can freakin' CLEAN UP by making bets against low-information European bettors.

Nah, probably my original strategy is best, of inventing a time machine, going back to 1908, and betting people, "I'll give you any odds you name that a black man will be president before the Cubs win the Series again!"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:19 PM on September 21, 2015 [9 favorites]

YouCan't Tip a Buick: Basically, my reasoning is that if we can't have someone decent we should have an inept and inefficient seat-warmer fill the job.

It's been done.
posted by zarq at 4:20 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

This is my sad face.
posted by clavdivs at 4:21 PM on September 21, 2015

Jeb Bush, because I recognise the name, I'm not American, and what the hell do I care anyway.

If someone from Bush's campaign wants to use this slogan, contact me for the rights.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:29 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

Noooooo! I will say this in every thread until they finally choose their candidate. Kasich is not a happy moderate alternative in this Republican field.

The claim wasn't that Kasich was a moderate. It was that he was a moderate in this field. Banning abortions for babies with downs syndrome is practically pro-choice by GOP standards.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 4:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Nate Silver, who's been quite bullish about Walker's chances for a long while, gives his analysis. It basically boils down to: People didn't like him enough.

There's also a video where Silver and 538's Harry Enten discuss the exit. I'd tell you what they said but I was too busy being distracted by Silver's slight resemblance to Buster Bluth.
posted by Kattullus at 4:33 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm a bit late to this party but HAHA FUCK YEAH

Also I'm not actually too worried about what more harm he'll do when he's back in Wisconsin full time. He doesn't get on so well anymore with Robin Vos and his other former buddies, and he gets no benefit by playing to a national audience, so he's more likely to hunker down and try not to do anything that will lose him his next election (can't come soon enough).
posted by echo target at 4:34 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Graham occasionally seems less objectionable until they talk about foreign policy in which case his overwhelming lust for blood rises to the surface. Even in a party full of hawks, he's super-hawky.
posted by thefoxgod at 4:36 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

I'm so happy about this because I think he is way more evil than the other candidates. Union busting mf888er
posted by gt2 at 4:37 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't know, I would have said Jeb Bush appropriately hemmed in by Congress would be tolerable because he's obviously a mainstream Wall Street sort of guy (as Romney was) who won't do anything too off-the-wall

Terry Schiavo.
posted by indubitable at 4:39 PM on September 21, 2015 [24 favorites]

Every time one of these candidates drops out, I breathe a little sigh of relief until I remember that the other candidates are just as awful to a person. Once we know which of these petty ghouls is going to be the actual candidate, I'll sweat bullets until they either lose the election or have served their 4-8 horrific years in office.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:45 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

I don't trust my local news to run the press conference live. Is it on the net anywhere?

CSPAN has it front page because CSPAN is awesome. They even carried the Canadian leaders debate the other evening (which surprised me a bit because they weren't allowed to stream the recent Republican debate, which you would think would be more important for Americans).

Anyway while at CSPAN I would suggest checking out Bernie Sanders stumping at Liberty University. He starts about 15 minutes in. It was a really interesting feat of presenting his view undiluted to the a severely Republican congregation. I have been using him as an antidote for when I have taken in too much nitwittery.
posted by phoque at 4:52 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

y presidential candidate version of Barrett's Privateers.

Link, please.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 4:58 PM on September 21, 2015

Who?
posted by Smedleyman at 4:58 PM on September 21, 2015

And then there were... 135? 134? How many are left until we can move on to the next act of this godforsaken clown show? Oh wait, NY Times says it's 15 right now. Oh man. Only 133 more days until Iowa.
posted by mhum at 5:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't think that a Serious candidate like Walker would drop on bad polling before even the first primary. Did the Koch brothers pull the plug on him?

also: WOOOOOOO!!!

It looks like he dropped out due to lack of money, so the answer to your question is "yes."
posted by JKevinKing at 5:04 PM on September 21, 2015

They're all evil. Kasich is an actual četnik. The debates already have felt unpleasantly Balkan of late.
I think it's sad that Kasich may be the sharpest tack in that box.
Not that I would vote for any of that party. My life always goes straight to Hell under Republican administrations. So does the life of anyone who is income - challenged.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 5:05 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be? Assume for the purposes of this nightmare thought experiment that there are no other options.

....Bush, maybe? I guess? Good lord.

Rubio or maybe Kasich. Bleh!
posted by JKevinKing at 5:07 PM on September 21, 2015

Oh, thanks for ear - worm! Barrett's Privateers is now stuck in my head!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 5:14 PM on September 21, 2015

Wordshore has something there. Not definite, but better chance than almost anything else.
posted by JKevinKing at 5:16 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Bleh!

Oh shit this thread just got crashed by Dracula
posted by brianrobot at 5:16 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

No, that's just Ted Cruz
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:18 PM on September 21, 2015 [11 favorites]

Cruz really does just seem like a total douchebag on facial expressions alone. I know that's not a great reason to vote one way or another, but people do, and it's definitely a reason I don't think he's got much of a chance. Moreso than any other candidate, he lacks the oft-touted (and oft-maligned) "drink-a-beer-with-ability" of GWB, which I think limits his viability even among those who might agree with his policies.
posted by tocts at 5:25 PM on September 21, 2015

Cruz always reminds me of that weird little elephant creature from Fifth Element.
posted by nom de poop at 5:26 PM on September 21, 2015 [17 favorites]

How the heck has Santorum managed to see off both Perry and Walker? What divine power is concealed inside that sweater vest?

Basically, the wacky evangelical Christian billionaire investment manager Foster Friess has been bankrolling Santorum's campaign. All you need is a wacky billionaire to keep cutting the checks, and you can campaign ad infinitum if you don't have a bloated campaign infrastructure.
posted by jonp72 at 5:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think [Walker] takes a cabinet position if the Republicans win in 2016.

Secretary of... Labor? Too awful to contemplate.

There have been rumors of some sort of scandal that was about ready to pop. Inquiring minds want to know! As a cheesehead, I want him to suffer utter and ruinous humiliation.
posted by carmicha at 5:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

Cruz is the most cynical politician of the 21st Century. He makes Hillary look like the Bern!!!
posted by JKevinKing at 5:33 PM on September 21, 2015

You just gave me nightmares, carmicha!
posted by JKevinKing at 5:34 PM on September 21, 2015

Cruz always looks like a sad clown whose costume invokes wearing a suit two sizes too large. It's his eyebrows, I think. Emmet Kelly without the hat and makeup.
posted by carmicha at 5:35 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

With Walker dropping out I can feel the Pataki-mentum building.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:36 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think Fiorina is a lock at this point for the GOP nomination. The establishment needs an outsider who they can control and who isn't a complete idiot.
posted by humanfont at 5:36 PM on September 21, 2015

Oh wait, NY Times says it's 15 right now

My god, is it still 15!? Wait, Gilmore? Is he still running? He didn't even participate in the kid's table debate. And I barely remember Pataki.

Moreso than any other candidate, he lacks the oft-touted (and oft-maligned) "drink-a-beer-with-ability" of GWB, which I think limits his viability even among those who might agree with his policies.

Oh I'd say that honor goes to Huckabee who not only wouldn't drink a beer he would probably give you a lecture on the evils of drinking alcohol and how Jesus really turned water into grape juice.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:44 PM on September 21, 2015

The real Scott Walker
posted by thebestusernameever at 5:47 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think Fiorina is a lock at this point for the GOP nomination.
Fiorina as VP nominee, maybe. As the GOP nominee for president? Against Hillary? No way. No chance at all.
posted by RedOrGreen at 5:47 PM on September 21, 2015

My seventeen-year-old daughter just came out of her room for a cup of tea. She's been trying to learn more about politics and world affairs lately. Yay! She even made it an hour or so into last week's debate.

Me: Scott Walker dropped out.

Daughter: Which one is that?

Me: Governor of Wisconsin.

Daughter: *blank look*

Me: Beady eyes?

Daughter: OH! THE SWEATY ONE!
posted by chaoticgood at 5:49 PM on September 21, 2015 [30 favorites]

Yeah, I really don't think Fiorina is going to be it.

I'm not a fan of hers, but I nonetheless feel a tiny bit of sympathy in noting that when she eventually drops out of the running, the pundits will tell everyone it's because of her legacy at HP, while everyone will know that it's really because she's a woman. If she were a man, she would be the odds-on favorite as the outsider with business experience who isn't Trump, and nobody would care that her experience was so shitty. The GOP isn't ready for a woman a the top of the ticket, though. I suspect she'll get the VP nod if anything.
posted by tocts at 5:53 PM on September 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

Yeah really, it's hard for me to care much about this because it's not like the Republican candidates are just going to keep dropping off until the RNC is all "whelp, guess we just don't have anyone!"
posted by threeants at 5:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

indubitable: "I would have said Jeb Bush appropriately hemmed in by Congress would be tolerable ... who won't do anything too off-the-wall
Terry Schiavo."

TruFax, but presidents have less opportunity for crazy than governors do.

Jeb is a bad, bad man. But as president with a strong Congress, he'd be pretty constrained. I honestly feel that literally 75% of the problem is Congress's total inability to legislate.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:57 PM on September 21, 2015

.serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president,

Rand Paul? At least there will be less blood spilled worldwide by US hands....
posted by asra at 6:00 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen a Walker go down this fast since The Empire Strikes Back.
posted by escabeche at 6:05 PM on September 21, 2015 [31 favorites]

Yeah really, it's hard for me to care much about this because it's not like the Republican candidates are just going to keep dropping off until the RNC is all "whelp, guess we just don't have anyone!"

Intellectually, I respect this. As someone in higher education, though, my reaction was this.
posted by dhens at 6:07 PM on September 21, 2015

At this point, I'm hoping either Bush or Trump get the nomination. They're both complete fuckwads but I think beatable. I don't want Kasich anywhere near that election - his presence would guarantee some funny business to put Ohio in the red column. Cruz would be hilarious at Trump's VP candidate because the gaffes, lies, and complete fuckups would be nonstop.
posted by Ber at 6:09 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I thought he was the ONE TRUE CANDIDATE knighted by the Kochs to bring their destiny to fruition. Oh well.

Nothing frightened me more than the prospect of a shadow Koch presidency. I hope that their ultimate failure with Walker will be enough to wake up the Koch Heads so Wisconsinites can start to reclaim the liberties they've lost.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:15 PM on September 21, 2015

I was probably more afraid of Walker than any other candidate as recently as a month ago. Shows what I know.
posted by octothorpe at 6:23 PM on September 21, 2015

Yeah, it'll be either Bush or Rubio, and if both falter, I think Kasich. Fiorina would be a good VP candidate. (Good as far as politics; I want her nowhere near the presidency, but I can see her being a good attack dog.) Rubio/Fiorina would he a formidable ticket. :(
posted by JKevinKing at 6:25 PM on September 21, 2015

When I look for the lesser evil, I end up back at Trump. Then I think "Don't be silly - Trump is hardly the best presidential candidate the GOP can offer" so I look for a lesser evil... and I end up back at Trump... Then I think "Don't be silly..."

The question locks my brain into a loop.

Admittedly, there are a lot of candidates I don't know enough about, but I think I fear the evil that could be wrought by an experienced political operator with bad ideology and poor character, more than I fear what could be wrought by someone with bad ideology and poor character and little political expertise.
posted by anonymisc at 6:32 PM on September 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

Trump. The courts will block any attempt to deport migrants, so that's off the table. His victory would prove that affordable healthcare, fair taxation, and opposition to outsourcing are not going to politically hurt Republicans, which might create a mini revolution against the low tax fanatics who bully anyone running for office to sign their fascist no tax pledge.

Lastly, since the GOP establishment despise him, he might be more willing to work with Democrats, especially if he thought it would increase his popularity. Trump doesn't need their money. He's already rich. He craves adulation. He could be coaxed on some issues and neutralized on others.

Doesn't matter though, because Bernie's going to win. : )
posted by Beholder at 6:33 PM on September 21, 2015 [7 favorites]

Nothing frightened me more than the prospect of a shadow Koch presidency.

Thank god for Trump coming along. Geez. He says offensive crazy shit. Walker tried to trump Trump by saying that we should build a wall between US and Canada. Walker didn't say it really, just implied it via crazies.

Koch brothers, my regrets. I'm sure you have no money left to support anyone else.
[looks alarmed]
Or do you?
posted by thebestusernameever at 6:33 PM on September 21, 2015

The GOP might want Kasich/Rubio or Rubio/Kasich to secure both Ohio and Florida and maybe snag some Hispanic votes too.
posted by carmicha at 6:34 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

There is zero chance that Fiorina is going to get the presidential nomination, but I think she's the front-runner for VP. She can say all the things about Hillary without being accused of being sexist, and she is a credible enough VP candidate that she won't seem like obvious, Palin-esque pandering to women voters. And the GOP is (rightly) panicked about women. I also think they might want someone with business experience, although her actual specific business experience might be something of a liability.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:35 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Good. One step closer to President Trump.
posted by jayder at 6:46 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

The courts will block any attempt to deport migrants

Erm, why will the courts next term suddenly be more humanistic than they are now?
posted by threeants at 6:47 PM on September 21, 2015

And, speaking of courts, the next President is going to get to appoint an awful lot of Supremes.
posted by zjacreman at 6:57 PM on September 21, 2015 [6 favorites]

Jeb! was ruined way back in 1994 when he lost to Lawton Chiles while W beat Ann Richards, both unexpected outcomes. Jeb! was the more talented brother who was supposed to continue the dynasty, but his heart took a beating in 1994. He ran again in 1998 because he couldn't imagine a different future for himself, and who thought W would go the distance in 2000.

It's like Peyton vs Eli Manning in their family's football dynasty; Peyton's the better quarterback but Eli has more Superbowl rings.
posted by carmicha at 6:58 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Cruz is the most cynical politician of the 21st Century.

Jindal's constant pretending to be an ignorant moron is worse imho.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:01 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think I would pick Lindsey Graham. He used to be reasonable or at least not disagreeable, when he was following Arlen Specter's lead, but after Arlen switched parties and then lost and then died, Graham had no father figure / role model, got stuck with Jeff Sessions, caught the stupid (Specter actually had to explain to Sessions once that attorney client privilege didn't protect the client from the admission of a crime like murder (this was during a Senate Judiciary committee hearing and Sessions claimed this was the first time he had ever heard this notion)) and lost balance ... but even someone like Dianne Feinstein, with weird legal making of secret surveillance stuff, has been forced to contort her view ... so there could be other considerations at play in Graham getting more unhinged (like the tea party pandering he had to do to keep his seat) ... but I think he could be brought back to heel and his judicial nomination might even strive to preserve the rule of law.
posted by phoque at 7:34 PM on September 21, 2015

if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

Christie. Not even a question. I genuinely hope he wins this primary.

He's an awful, horrible person. I think he'd be a terrible president. But the difference between Christie & the rest is that he's an old-fashioned ruthless politician and not a demagogue and champion of racist, xenophobic lunacy.

I fully expect corruption and jackassery from a Christie administration, but I don't expect ideological madness. That alone makes him the clear lesser of evils.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 7:43 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

zombieflanders: "What's the limit on tag lengths? I want to know if "the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin" (minus spaces) could fit."

50 characters.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:46 PM on September 21, 2015

I just wish they'd decide already. I can't believe we're still at the 15 candidates and no one has a clue who will win and THIS WILL GO ON FOREVER, WON'T IT?
posted by lesbiassparrow at 7:47 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

carmicha: "It's like Peyton vs Eli Manning in their family's football dynasty; Peyton's the better quarterback but Eli has more Superbowl rings."

So, who's Cooper? Marvin or Neil?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:04 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is good news, but...serious question here, MetaFilter; if you had to choose one candidate from the current Republican field to become the next president, who would it be?

I'd choose, in this order:

George Pataki — the only pro-choice Republican candidate

Rand Paul — libertarian, anti-war, anti-drug-war

John Kasich — well-experienced, seems moderate and thoughtful

Carly Fiorina — the first woman and a great speaker

Donald Trump — surprisingly progressive

(I'm a registered Democrat and I've never voted for a Republican for president.)
posted by John Cohen at 8:07 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

not a demagogue and champion of racist, xenophobic lunacy.

That applies to Bush too, though, right? I mean no one on the Republican side is perfect, but he has been much better about this stuff when I've seen him talk. There are plenty of other reasons I don't like Bush but on immigration he's "sane for a Republican" (like his brother, who had a not-completely-terrible immigration plan at one point that was tanked by the right wing). He'd probably be my pick if I _had_ to choose a Republican to be President.

From the sort of extended field I guess Pataki would be OK too but he's barely a real candidate.
posted by thefoxgod at 8:10 PM on September 21, 2015

Rand Paul? At least there will be less blood spilled worldwide by US hands....

Yeah, if I wasn't American he might be my choice for basically that reason.

But as I am, his effect domestically could be truly horrible (since he's a "kill the government" type, and there is a lot he could do with executive orders to make government less effective --- I mean true for any of them, but he's pretty extreme when it comes to economic stuff).
posted by thefoxgod at 8:13 PM on September 21, 2015

Can people stop talking about how Walker "won in a Blue State?" Wisconsin goes blue in presidential elections, but before 8 years of Jim Doyle, it elected Republican Tommy Thompson four times in a row.

Yes, and it's not even a "blue state" in presidential elections; it's a swing state.

For instance, Al Gore did win Wisconsin in 2000 — but by less than 9,000 votes out of more than 2 million. (By comparison, Ralph Nader won more than 90,000 votes.)

And John Kerry did win Wisconsin in 2004 — but only by about 11,000 votes. (Again, that's less than the number of votes won by Nader — running a low-profile, independent campaign.)

In short, my home state of Wisconsin is unpredictable.
posted by John Cohen at 8:19 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Walker backers are living in a dream world:

Gov. Scott Walker’s loyalists “are already talking up the possibility that if chaos continues to reign in the race, Walker could come back and win the Republican nomination from the convention floor next summer,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“Two Republican strategists with ties to Wisconsin told BuzzFeed News that Walker’s allies have been floating the prospect in political circles. And a fundraiser for Walker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while he doesn’t know if the governor himself is behind the buzz, ‘with this campaign season, nothing would surprise me.'”

This is slightly less likely than the convention nominating the corpse of Alf Landon.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:19 PM on September 21, 2015 [4 favorites]

lesbiassparrow: "I just wish they'd decide already. I can't believe we're still at the 15 candidates and no one has a clue who will win and THIS WILL GO ON FOREVER, WON'T IT?"

I wish the late-night shows would pick, like, one night per week to be “no election jokes” night. Every time Colbert sits down at his desk and is like “So DONALD TRUMP did something today!” my soul starts screaming.

I mean, I get why comedians are giddy about him, but at some point isn’t it like how the Spaniards discovered all that gold and silver in the New World and thought they were going to rule the world, except the resulting inflation just kinda ruined everything for them? Will their audiences keep laughing even after they realize that they hate all fifteen of these people?
posted by savetheclocktower at 8:19 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

That applies to Bush too, though, right?

I am 100% convinced that Jeb! is so defensive of his brother's record that he would do stupid, dangerous foreign policy shit only for the sake of not looking disloyal to the family legacy.

At that point, we're back to killing brown people overseas. (Yeah, I know, as if we ever stopped...) Still xenophobic lunacy, just less likely to be as rhetorically overt about it as the others in the field.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:20 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ah yes, thats a good point. I have been so focused on the Trump-led xenophobia/racism against immigrants that I forgot about the xenophobia/racism that led to things like the Iraq war. Ugh.
posted by thefoxgod at 8:23 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Rand Paul?

Um, no. His campaign was never anything more than an extension of the Paul family grifting empire, it's their main source of revenue. 2016 has to sustain the Paulite clan through the lean years till 2020, when all they'll have to rely on is subscriptions to their goldbug newsletters and long term fundraising for the next presidential campaign harvest.

Foreign policy is the only vague reasonable Paul position, and even then he's more in the vein of a head in the sand isolationist, except for a full throated defense of Israel, naturally, than any sophisticated or even vaguely realistic grasp of world affairs. Every other issue is batshitinsanity, abolish the Federal Reserve and pass out gold doubloons, eliminate half the federal government, stark raving fever swamp nonsense. Paul is self-sustaining joke surviving off the vast underbelly of the wingnut welfare closed-loop economy, and nothing more, just like his Dad.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:33 PM on September 21, 2015 [9 favorites]

So, who's Cooper? Marvin or Neil?

Since Cooper's career was sidelined by his spinal malformation, I'm going with Robin Bush, the sister who died of childhood leukemia, because her potential success at the family trade will remain forever a mystery.
posted by carmicha at 8:46 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

No shit, Walker says he is dropping out of the race because of Trump and "I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same ..."

This is Crack Suicide Squad levels of brilliant.

What a maroon.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:56 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

"that there is a truly evil human."

WTF is wrong with you people?
posted by king walnut at 10:19 PM on September 21, 2015

WTF is wrong with you people?

Total abandonment of polite fictions and a solid memory of actual harm done by political figures, is my guess.

For this thread anyway. Couldn't tell you what's wrong in any other context.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:40 PM on September 21, 2015 [10 favorites]

"that there is a truly evil human."

WTF is wrong with you people?

Do you know anything about Walker and the policies he espouses and has enacted, or is this just recreational outrage?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:15 PM on September 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't think Walker is necessarily evil, he's just a sub-moronic corporate stooge

It's his paymasters who are evil
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:06 AM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't think Walker is necessarily evil, he's just a sub-moronic corporate stooge

It's his paymasters who are evil

Getting meta about evil, but if you enact the will of evil men, are you not evil yourself?
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:34 AM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

Help me understand this site. It looks to me like some people who are not running for president (and in one case, not allowed to run for president) have better odds of being the nominee than several people who are running for president. Am I reading this wrong?

No, you are reading it correctly. For example, several bookies think Romney (25/1 through 66/1) has a better chance of being the Republican candidate than Santorum (40/1 through 250/1) despite only the latter currently being in the race. They are calculating that some candidate(s) may jump into the race at some point. Having said that, even 25/1 or 4%ish is "very remote chance of this happening".

As for odds being offered for Arnold Schwarzenegger - that's the bookie Paddy Power, who often offer unconventional bets; for example, 200/1 for David Beckham to be the next James Bond. It's part PR, part knowing that the occasional drunk person will blow their money on such a bet.

wrt this thread, the odds for the Republican Iowa Primary is also currently of interest.

It's also nice seeing Scott Walkers odds being turned off, like lights, one by one as bookies update their odds and the trackers feed through :-)
posted by Wordshore at 2:20 AM on September 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

Thank you Wordshore!
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:32 AM on September 22, 2015

For example, several bookies think Romney (25/1 through 66/1) has a better chance of being the Republican candidate than Santorum (40/1 through 250/1) despite only the latter currently being in the race.

Isn't it more precise to say this is what the bookies' customers think - rather than the bookies themselves? Bookmakers do not have any special insight in the political process, they are just responding to how people are betting.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:41 AM on September 22, 2015

I think Walker just ran out of money.* The last week of cancelling appearances and blaming the weather for it kind of hint that he was running out of lucre.

*Hilarious because Walker was flush with cash at the beginning of the campaign. He should have been able to ride things out until the actual primaries.

One of the things that's fun to watch with these people is how, even though they're great at getting other people to give up their money, they're not so great at holding onto it. Sarah Palin was bitching publicly some time ago about how, in her effort to become a Tea Party power broker, she'd paid out all this money to consultants (in the seven figures) and not really gotten anything for it. Makes my heart glad, it does, to see a grifter getting grifted. Whichever consultants were feeding off of Walker will just move elsewhere in the political ecosystem.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:13 AM on September 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

I guess the The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:01 AM on September 22, 2015

I don't know much about Kasich myself, but a couple of my relatively sane Facebook friends are rabidly anti-Kasich so that doesn't bode well.

Several of Trump's policies are ones I agree with, but he'd be a gigantic national embarrassment. We'd probably wind up at war with the entirety of Central America, and probably Oregon just because. Even national leaders who get a little too friendly with dead animals would point at him, and us as voters, and laugh.

Honestly, the "which Republican would you least hate getting stuck with" question is much like "which bone would you rather have broken?"
posted by Foosnark at 6:07 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Kasich strikes me as a formidable general election opponent. I don't see his path getting there.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:13 AM on September 22, 2015

Saw a right-wing blogger (who I don't link here) opine that Walker would make a great secretary of labor for the next Republican president.
posted by octothorpe at 6:14 AM on September 22, 2015

Getting meta about evil, but if you enact the will of evil men, are you not evil yourself?

Who's more foolish: the fool or the fool that follows him?
posted by Going To Maine at 6:22 AM on September 22, 2015

I figure someone told him that it wasn't his turn, and he should drop out to help the establishment candidates fight off the outsiders.
posted by lownote at 7:06 AM on September 22, 2015

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, with a headline that makes my heart sing: A closer look at Scott Walker's collapse

"If there's an 800-pound gorilla in the room, the alpha chimpanzee doesn't look so scary," a longtime national GOP strategist told me earlier this month, referring to how Trump one-upped Walker in the role of populist warrior.

"Scott Walker: Alpha Chimpanzee" really needs to be the name of his inevitable slot on FOX News.

Dude's been a politician for 22 years -- his entire working life. He has no experience doing any kind of actual work whatsoever, so he'll have an incredibly tough time doing anything except staying on the dole. I can't imagine he's bound for anything but a life of talking head servitude in exchange for some of that sweet, sweet wingnut welfare.

Also, too: Folks might want to familiarize themselves with Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. In many ways, Kleefisch has the capacity to enact even more evil than Walker -- her only job prior to being elected Lt. Gov. was as a TV news anchor, which earns her the coveted "Washington outsider" status, and she follows the fervently Bible-thumping, razorblade-smiling, "grizzly mama" tradition of Bachmann and Palin in lockstep. Observing the collapse of Walker's stock here in Wisconsin has made it increasingly likely that she'll be tapped to run for top billing, and I can't imagine her comparable youth, telegenic charm, and ideological lunacy will make her anything but deeply appealing to the power brokers serving the national GOP.
posted by divined by radio at 7:30 AM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

There's still time!
posted by tommasz at 8:04 AM on September 22, 2015

Saw a right-wing blogger (who I don't link here) opine that Walker would make a great secretary of labor for the next Republican president.

President Trump don't appoint no losers! I look forward to Walker being sentenced to a lifetime of having to compete on Celebrity Apprentice until he can prove himself a winner. Then he gets to run a casino.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:07 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't know much about Kasich myself, but a couple of my relatively sane Facebook friends are rabidly anti-Kasich so that doesn't bode well.

Kasich has pandered to the worst of the Tea Party mob, so Ohio liberals are pretty easily prone to working up a good hate against him, and I would too if I lived there.

BUT...

Kasich did not rile up those mobs. He does not enjoy pandering to them. And we're talking about the race for POTUS. For all other electoral races, there's the saying "you got to dance with them that brought you." But that is not the case with the presidential election. Once you're in the white house, you're going to get the nomination for the second term. You no longer need to bow and scrape before the big time donors. You in fact have the option of stabbing them in the back.

And Kasich, cynical as he is, is also intelligent. He would know that bowing and scraping is not what will get him that second term.

TLDR: Walker is moronic evil. Katich is intelligent evil. Ergo, Kasich is better.
posted by ocschwar at 8:13 AM on September 22, 2015

It drives me completely, utterly bugfuck that Kasich has managed to sell the lie that he's a moderate. He's no moderate, unless you count someone who's signed into law about half a dozen extreme anti-abortion measures, including mandatory ultrasound, as "moderate." He's also only slightly less anti-union than Walker.
posted by holborne at 8:14 AM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

Since Kasich entered office in 2011, he has enacted 16 anti-abortion measures. Some directly restrict abortion access, such as the 20-week late-term ban that he signed six months after entering office. Others limit the work of abortion providers. For example, in 2013 he signed the state's budget bill, which included one provision that prohibits state-funded rape crisis counselors from referring women to abortion services and another that stripped Planned Parenthood of an estimated $1.4 million in federal family-planning dollars. The measures have had drastic consequences for access to abortion and medical care for Ohio women: During Kasich's time in office, the number of abortion providers in the state has dropped from 16 to eight.

posted by ChuraChura at 8:21 AM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

NPR: 9 Puzzling Scott Walker Moments That Led To His Downfall

Union protesters = ISIS? "I took on the Unions, I can take on ISIS"
The curse of the Europe trip - The Republican governor sought to bolster his foreign policy credentials ahead of his likely presidential run even as he evaded question after question on international affairs (he even "punted" on the question regarding his belief in evolution).
Falling into the 'Is Obama a Christian?' trap - Why won’t Scott Walker say that President Obama is a Christian?
Immigration evolution - initially a supporter of a path to citizenship, but more recently stressed that he’d like to see stronger border security and opposes “amnesty” for undocumented workers who came to the United States illegally.
Ethanol flip-flop - In a push to win Iowa, Walker again shifted — this time on renewable fuels and said he would back a federal ethanol mandate after once being highly critical of it.
Reagan and air traffic controllers - At a February Club for Growth Summit, he called President Reagan's decision to bust up a 1981 air traffic controller strike "the most significant foreign policy decision of my lifetime." "It sent a message not only across America, it sent a message around the world," Walker said. America's allies and foes alike became convinced that Reagan was serious enough to take action and that "we weren't to be messed with," he said.
'Handful of reasonable' Muslims - "We've said it repeatedly, it's radical Islamic terrorism, it is a war not against only America and Israel, it's a war against Christians, it's a war against Jews, it's a war against even the handful of reasonable, moderate followers of Islam who don't share the radical beliefs that these radical Islamic terrorists have." His campaign never fully walked back the statement.
Great Wall of Canada - concerns of the permeability of the US-Canada border is <>a legitimate issue for us to look at."
Rapidly changing positions on birthright citizenship - Scott Walker on birthright citizenship: 3 positions, 7 days

NPR also posited that he peaked too soon, ahead of Trump entering the race. But all this flippity-flopping didn't help, either.

If you're worried about the Koch brothers falling back because they lost one candidate, don't worry - in April 2015, Charles Koch said that he, his brother David and their team had identified five candidates who have the right message and "a good chance of getting elected" -- Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.

One down, four to go.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:23 AM on September 22, 2015 [6 favorites]

Today in sick burns: as relayed by 538's Significant Digits, The Week notes that Walker's campaign (at 70 days) didn't even last as long as the famously-short Kim Kardashian-Kris Humphries marriage (72 days).
posted by psoas at 8:33 AM on September 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

If you're worried about the Koch brothers falling back because they lost one candidate, don't worry - in April 2015, Charles Koch said that he, his brother David and their team had identified five candidates who have the right message and "a good chance of getting elected" -- Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.

They're not very good at picking alluring candidates, are they? Did they not think of picking a wild card/outlier also, like Carson? They seem to have picked essentially the same persona over and over again in a moment where no one seems that interested in that persona - and wasn't in the last election either.

(As for Walker's moment of downfall, I think it has to be the wall with Canada thing. It was so pathetic and ridiculous and Trump-want-to-be that I felt embarrassed for him. And he's so boring. Drill into your mind boring. How can you be that evil and still be boring? It seems like it should be impossible.)
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:40 AM on September 22, 2015

Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.

Cruz doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected. In polls, his favorability numbers are only positive with white Republicans. That's unlikely to change.

If Rand Paul can survive until Trump leaves the campaign, then his numbers will rise again. He's probably the only candidate whose "Washington outsider" rhetoric sounds believable to Trump's base.

Polling experts disagree about Rubio's chances.
posted by zarq at 8:52 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't see a big chance for Paul to scoop up significant ex-Trump votes. They both qualify as outsiders, but their audiences are just too different in style, one "proud asshole" and the other "whiny idealist". I'd love to see the polling on this "As a Trump supporter, who would you switch to if he dropped out." If I had to guess I'd think Kasich would be the closest style match for Trump.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:02 AM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't see a big chance for Paul to scoop up significant ex-Trump votes. They both qualify as outsiders, but their audiences are just too different in style, one "proud asshole" and the other "whiny idealist".

I was a registered Libertarian for a long time, and Paul is for all intents and purposes one as well, and they get murdered by good debaters when they aren't able to unstick their ideology from reality. Once the field starts winnowing, if Paul starts rising, his opponents will crush him with "Well, doesn't that mean that X?" questions. He simply won't be constitutionally* able to say "No, that's an extreme situation, and I would take a more nuanced approach in that hypothetical case."

* -- Yes, I did that on purpose.
posted by Etrigan at 9:08 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Kasich is terrible on choice issues, but he also accepted the medicare expansion and said that it was what Jesus would have wanted. He contains multitudes. I say this not as praise so much as an acknowledgement that it makes him harder to sink. Sometimes “moderate” just means your positions have a bimodal distribution.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:20 AM on September 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

zarq: "Cruz doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected. In polls, his favorability numbers are only positive with ~~white Republicans~~ people who eat Count Chocula cereal."

FTFY
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:09 AM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

Looks like it will come down to Jeb or Rubio.

This is actually a pretty interesting article: Ben Carson Would Fail U.S. History
posted by Golden Eternity at 10:15 AM on September 22, 2015

But srsly, how many current politicians would fail U.S. History? I'd like to think Dems would do better than Republicans, but I don't know if that's really true. It's kind of like asking how many Christians really know what's said in the Bible - sure, they'd know the general plot, but there are a lot of stories that get conveniently overlooked, especially the farther back you go. They're the kind of stories you can tell now and most people would say "nah, that's not true."

And I don't think even stoners, college students and children would fall for the old Cruz/Chocula switcheroo.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:44 AM on September 22, 2015

I think this is an interesting poll result. It supports the idea that Trump's amazing numbers are due to the field being so big.
posted by benito.strauss at 11:02 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

The idea of a Muslim president was first debated 227 years ago, in 1788, during the state-by-state battle to ratify the Constitution. Many feared a Muslim president then, but, arguably, more feared a Jewish or a Catholic one, at a time when these religions had minorities of 2,000 and 25,000, respectively.

We've had the Catholic. He was pretty good. Better than most protestants. I think I'm ready to try the Jewish president now.
posted by Talez at 11:02 AM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

I think this is an interesting poll result. It supports the idea that Trump's amazing numbers are due to the field being so big.

And also supports the idea that Jeb! is in really! deep! trouble!
posted by tonycpsu at 11:07 AM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

What's the thing about the candidate who is friends with all the child molesters? I missed something somewhere.
posted by OmieWise at 11:18 AM on September 22, 2015

What's the thing about the candidate who is friends with all the child molesters?

Mike Huckabee's co-author was accused, and Huckabee is in tight with the Duggar clan.
posted by Etrigan at 11:20 AM on September 22, 2015

Here's a more troubling result from the PPP pole referenced above:

... only 49% of Republicans think the religion of Islam should even be legal in the United States with 30% saying it shouldn't be and 21% not sure.

I'd like to offer a challenge to GOP-insanity skeptics. You don't believe Republicans really think Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim? You doubt that large numbers of them really want Islam outlawed in America, or think maybe it should be outlawed? Then conduct some focus groups of poll respondents who say these things. Design them whatever way you think will tease out the respondents' true beliefs -- I leave that to you, or to whichever professional you sign up to do the work. I think these people, under persistent questioning will confirm that they mean these things very, very literally. Ask them. Let's see who's right.

posted by tonycpsu at 11:37 AM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

Right, I did know about the Duggars and Huckabee, but I forgot.
posted by OmieWise at 11:39 AM on September 22, 2015

But srsly, how many current politicians would fail U.S. History? I'd like to think Dems would do better than Republicans, but I don't know if that's really true.

I'm pretty sure that Hillary Clinton (Methodist), Bernie Sanders (Jewish) and Joe Biden (the first Roman Catholic VP) are not only very, very aware that religious qualification tests of public officials are unconstitutional, but also that they would never attack another Presidential candidate as unqualified to hold office due to their religious belief or nonbelief.
posted by zarq at 11:56 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, and the story Trump told recently about Clinton supposedly feeding the media that then-candidate Obama was a closet Muslim has pretty much only been pushed by him, and by right wingers whose favored candidates benefit from bashing her.
posted by zarq at 12:01 PM on September 22, 2015

Its worth remembering that Huckabee doesn't really want to be president. He's just promoting his brand. If you're not really running for president, it doesn't matter how you poll or who you offend.

It must vex Huck's every waking moment that Trump - who I believe also doesn't want to be president - is so much better at this game than he is.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:29 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

And I take some small comfort in that.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:29 PM on September 22, 2015

But srsly, how many current politicians would fail U.S. History? I'd like to think Dems would do better than Republicans, but I don't know if that's really true.

That was a really crappy title. I thought the history of religious xenophobia and various objections to Article VI, section 3 (which could not be more clear on the issue) was fascinating.
posted by Golden Eternity at 2:18 PM on September 22, 2015

@MaxBlumenthal: "Jeb Bush, who’s married to a Mexican & speaks Spanish: 'We should not have a multicultural society.'”
posted by Golden Eternity at 2:43 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

There's a rumor that the Walker campaign ended up $700k in debt.
posted by drezdn at 7:12 PM on September 22, 2015

Apparently, Walker's campaign was $700,000 in the hole after just a couple of months. I could have sworn I saw something before that alluded to his campaign being down $100,000 which honestly didn't seem that bad to me (not awesome but surely not fatal). But $700K? With no end in sight? Oof.

From the article:

Wiley [the campaign manager] strongly disputed the notion that he allowed the campaign’s spending to get out of control. [...] “We didn’t have a spending problem,” Wiley added. “We had a revenue problem.”

[...]

The campaign tried to ramp up fundraising over Labor Day, with a series of events officials hoped would bring in $500,000. In the end, they netted $184,000, Wiley said.

[...]

Efforts to tap into Walker’s small-donor base fell flat. In one case, one piece of direct mail ended up costing more than it brought in.

Insert "Haw haw".

The other surprising thing for me from the article was that it suggests that Walker himself pulled the plug on the campaign without even informing his major donors ("Walker’s sudden decision left his staff dazed and floored his donors, who learned from news reports that he was dropping out."). I thought there was some speculation earlier that it was the Kochs who pulled the plug. They may very well have but the article doesn't even mention them.
posted by mhum at 7:14 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

There's another article that said the campaign was really staging events way more than they would normally be at this point in a campaign (paid photographers, special lighting, etc)... You'd think with all the spending that he'd hire someone to help him drop his "verbal tic" of starting replies with "Yes" or "Absolutely."
posted by drezdn at 7:17 PM on September 22, 2015

“We didn’t have a spending problem,” Wiley added. “We had a revenue problem.”

Republican economics, in a nutshell.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:28 PM on September 22, 2015 [15 favorites]

We didn’t have a spending problem,” Wiley added. “We had a revenue problem.”

ACK! Platitudes from a Cathy cartoon!
posted by Room 641-A at 4:21 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'd be more concerned with the ability of presidential candidates to understand a basic civics course than US history. Most of the republican field would probably fail the US immigration pop quiz.
posted by Talez at 6:09 AM on September 23, 2015

> ACK! Platitudes from a Cathy cartoon!

Great, now I have an image of Scott Walker schlumping around his house in a bathrobe, unwashed hair sticking out, while David [Koch] is knocking at the door yelling "Scott, come on out! There's a new union we have to destroy!". Scott yells "No, I don't want to see anyone and I don't want anyone to see me!" while he spoons more Ben & Jerry's from the pint that's glued to his left hand and stares into the eyes of the Ronald Reagan head-shot he keeps in a small shrine, murmuring "why didn't they like me like they liked you Ron? why?".
posted by benito.strauss at 8:36 AM on September 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

Every minute Scott Walker spends traveling around the country working on his hopeless presidential campaign is a minute he doesn't spend fucking up Wisconsin.

I had the same feeling when Tim Pawlenty was running. I had hoped (as I'm sure you did with Walker) that he would do just well enough to resign as Governor, promptly lose the whole thing and just go away.
posted by VTX at 9:47 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

"We didn’t have a spending problem,” Wiley added. “We had a revenue problem.”

Republican economics, in a nutshell.

Here's a thought: Walker's campaign demonstrates why we can't rely on the largesse of the very wealthy for social programs. They only give when they feel like it and when their mood changes, the money dries up and a program that might be very important to you personally goes away forever.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:58 AM on September 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

Scott and the rat.
posted by Wordshore at 2:15 PM on September 23, 2015

I think [Walker] takes a cabinet position if the Republicans win in 2016.

Snotty says no to that.

Gov. Scott Walker says he won't accept a Cabinet position if a Republican is elected president, plans to remain on as governor through the end of his term, and is undecided about whether to seek a third term in 2018.

Of course, he's got a long history of saying one thing and doing another, so....
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:51 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Wait wait wait, are there are no TERM LIMITS in Wisconsin?

Granted that sounds hilarious coming from the state of four-term Governor Jerry Brown, but he's a special case.

(Currently the sixth youngest CA governor elected, as well as the oldest, AND he will forever be the longest serving unless Deukmejian makes one hell of a political comeback at the age of 87...)
posted by elsietheeel at 3:17 PM on September 23, 2015

Wait wait wait, are there are no TERM LIMITS in Wisconsin?

Nope. Gov. Tommy Thompson had 4 terms. Rep. Paul Ryan ran on a platform of term limits - 7 elections ago.

My former state senator is the longest serving state senator in American History, serving since 1962.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:47 PM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

“We didn’t have a spending problem,” Wiley added. “We had a revenue problem.”

Republican economics, in a nutshell.

Revenue shortage? Time for another tax cut!

/Republican
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:52 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm not necessarily in favor of term limits for Members of Congress (although sometimes Dianne and Barbara make me want to reconsider... also I'm taking bets on Jackie Speier taking Dianne's seat when the time comes) but keeping the same governor for decades seems like a bad idea.

Especially when he's the worst governor ever BUT PEOPLE KEEP VOTING FOR HIM. THREE TIMES THE PEOPLE OF WISCONSIN HAVE SAID YES, WE LIKE THE WAY SCOTT WALKER TREATS US.

They voted for him enough that he won his recall election!

WE ELECTED THE TERMINATOR BECAUSE WE THOUGHT HE WAS BETTER THAN GREY DAVIS.

(Don't blame me, I voted for Angelyne.)

(No I didn't. I voted against the recall and for Larry Flynt.)

Cheese makes people do strange things.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:17 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Stephen Colbert bids farewell to the contestant from District Cheese.

Audit reveals lots of problems associated with Scott Walker's flagship economic development initiative, WEDC.
posted by carmicha at 11:44 AM on September 24, 2015 [3 favorites]

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