Another Disastrous Night in Cleveland Print
Elections, Elected Officials, Political Parties
Written by Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Brandon Weathersby   
Thursday, 21 July 2016 08:27

scott-walker-at-rncMADISON - The build up to Scott Walker's speech could not have been more overshadowed by his own undoing. 

Before the convention even began, Scott Walker couldn't be found by his fellow Wisconsinites because he who was too busy schmoozing the Iowa delegation trying to re-live his failed presidential bid and couldn't be bothered. This set the stage for what we already know: Scott Walker has no interest in representing and working with the people of Wisconsin, even those in his own party, and is so dead set on running for president again in 2020 he forgot he was at the convention to help unite his party, not build upon his own ambitions.

Things only got worse-- former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson openly questioned if Walker had any reason to run again in 2018, as his approval numbers have dropped to a measly 38%.

Finally, when Scott Walker got the moment he had been eagerly anticipating-- to be in the lime light again for a few minutes to praise Donald Trump--, his speech fell totally flat. While Walker may have forgotten his muddled support of the Donald, people in the room did not. Walker previously swore to support the nominee, then backtracked and wouldn't commit to Trump, and when he finally did, it was as tepid an endorsement as they come.

Walker could barely muster the strength to speak in support of Trump, and instead lied about how well Wisconsin is doing. Perhaps Walker forgot he has sunk Wisconsin from 11th nationally in job creation all the way down to 32; we are dead last in entrepreneurship, and we have the third worst infrastructure in the country. The overall takeaway was Scott Walker's speech was about as good as his 38% approval rating.

With how ludicrous the Republican Convention has been thus far, it is no surprise that the night continued to spiral downhill.

Ted Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump, telling voters to "vote your conscience." This sparked outrage, and different factions of the party almost had physical altercations.

Luckily for Walker, his good friend Paul Ryan stole headlines by giving a raving introduction speech for Mike Pence that was considered far more supportive than anything the speaker has said of Donald Trump.

There is only one night left of the circus that has been the Republican National Convention, and if we have learned anything, it's that we can expect some more fireworks, especially with Donald Trump speaking tonight.

Winners and losers from the 3rd night of the Republican Convention:
Scott Walker: Watching the Wisconsin governor speak, I was reminded of how wrong I was about Walker's potential as a presidential candidate. Walker looked so good on paper — conservative, Midwestern swing state governor, etc. — but when the bright lights went on, he simply couldn't make it go.  That was again the case Wednesday night; Walker's attempts at a call and response — "America deserves better" — fell flat. His speech, which he memorized, felt rote and unemotional. A big part of politics is performance; Walker proved again he is not a performer at the highest levels.

In RNC speech, Scott Walker says America deserves better than Hillary Clinton
“The outright racism, the xenophobia that’s been running rampant throughout this convention, the dripping hatred they seem to have for Hillary Clinton, it’s just more of a rabid, good old boys club than anything else,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan in a conference call with reporters…In a fundraising appeal immediately after Walker’s speech, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin wrote, “Wisconsin deserves better.”

Gov. Walker to RNC: "America deserves better"
As for the democrats, they had a strong response to Governor Walker's speech. A statement sent out from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin reads in part, "What we heard from Governor Walker tonight only validates that his actions at the republican national convention are about setting himself up to run in 2020, not help sow party unity or support Donald Trump."

Wisconsin Republicans support anti-Clinton message
Democrats say the focus on bashing Clinton shows that Republicans are unhappy with Trump as their nominee…Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday that "outright racism" and xenophobia has been running rampant at the GOP convention. And Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Martha Laning says Republicans are "grasping at straws and attacking Hillary Clinton.

"Donald Trump is standing with the American people," said Walker.
Walker, who ended his own presidential campaign after 71 days, repeated the line "America deserves better" more than a dozen times in his 10-minute address…The Democratic Party of Wisconsin responded to the speech in a statement that said: "Our state is a microcosm of what a Republican presidency would look like, and our country cannot implement the disastrous agenda that has wrecked our state."