What Happened? Wisconsin’s Scott Walker Reduced to Warm Up Act on GOP Convention Governors’ Night

MADISON, Wis. — Right wing celebrity Gov. Scott Walker’s star power appears to be on the wane in recent weeks, as evidenced by his warm-up act role on Governors’ night at the Republican National Convention.

One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross commented, “Walker’s fall looks a lot like the superstar arena rock band of yesteryear now consigned to the county fair circuit.”

What accounts for the precipitous decline in fortunes of a governor who just a month ago was giving Mitt Romney advice on how to run his race on national television? According to Ross, Gov. Walker’s record offers to the best explanation.

He cited Walker’s:

Involvement in an ongoing political scandal and secret John Doe criminal investigation. The criminal probe has resulted in felony charges against top aides and close associates from his time as Milwaukee County Executive, and now seems to have expanded to include his top gubernatorial staff. Walker is the first governor in Wisconsin history to have created a legal defense fund and has retained a team of high profile criminal defense attorneys from Milwaukee and Chicago.

Abysmal record on job creation. The Bureau of Labor Statistic has reported consistent job loss under the Walker administration, bucking the national trend of modest overall job gains. Even using the most optimistic job number calculations produced by the Walker administration itself, his policies of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations and cuts to education and health care have left Wisconsin among the very worst states for job creation.

Trail of bitter partisan division. Despite surviving a recall election, largely on the strength of overwhelmingly financial advantage, Walker has left the state bitterly divided. As the Republican presidential nominee seeks to moderate his image and appeal to swing voters, Gov. Walker’s divide and conquer politics strike a sour note.

“Gov. Scott Walker’s scandal plagued administration has divided Wisconsin as never before and his slavish devotion to tax breaks for the wealthy and service to corporate special interests has resulted in one of the worst records of job creation in the nation,” said Ross.

He concluded, “Republican’s want to put their best foot forward at their convention in prime time. Scott Walker is most certainly not it.”