Pop Goes The Weasel!

As the gentle reader knows, unless they just woke up from a coma, Scott Walker has ended his campaign. On Monday evening, he boldly gave his preemptive concession speech. (BTW, am I the only one that just died laughing when someone broke out in applause when he said he was quitting?)

When Walker formally announced his campaign a scant ten weeks ago, he said that God told him to run. Now he is saying God is telling him to quit in order to lead the other Republican candidates to also quit so that they can unite behind one "positive" Republican who isn't Donald Trump:

"I was sitting in church yesterday, the pastor's words reminded me that the Bible is full of stories about people who were called to be leaders in unusual ways. Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field. With this in mind, I will suspend my campaign immediately.

"I encourage other Republican presidential candidates to consider doing the same, so that the voters can focus on a limited number of candidates who can offer a positive conservative alternative to the current front-runner.

"This is fundamentally important to the future of the party, and more importantly to the future of our country.

And yes, the crazies and the postmortem analyses are already coming out of the woodwork.

Some of Walker's cult-like followers are suggesting that Walker is playing rope-a-dope, either angling for a brokered convention or just to come back into the field of play after enough people dropped out.

Liz Mair, who worked for Walker for less than 24 hours, came out firing even before he made the formal announcement, blaming Walker's advisors and a poor campaign strategy. She also alluded to a "big story" that Walker would be tied to that was about to break. One can only guess what this "big story" is, but a good guess would be that rumor about Walker's campaign manager, Rick Wiley, and allegations of his lewd and lascivious behavior.

While all of this is going on, the Koch Boyz have got to be wondering how do they go about getting back all of the money they had invested in Walker. They must be feeling really bitter that all of the Kochs' money and the Kochs' men couldn't put the weaselly Walker campaign back together again.

Now, like the gentle reader, I'm as happy as can be to see Walker fall flat on his weasel face. But I have to keep my joy tempered for a couple of reasons.

One, while the rest of the nation is off the hook for now, we still have to deal with Walker. And he's going to be extra ornery due to his national embarrassment.

Secondly, history has a tendency to repeat itself if we choose to ignore it.

I've mentioned before that Walker had made a run for governor in 2006 because God told him to. Walker pulled out early on in that race because he was getting no support and was getting no traction. Walker then continued to campaign for the next four years, making all his decision based not on what was good for Milwaukee County or anything else but on what would be the most politically advantageous for him. He then went on to win in 2010, with a little help from the Koch Boyz and a secret router.

So, celebrate for now, but hang on because we haven't yet seen the last of Richard Milhouse Walker to kick around any more.

Mair Today, Gone Tomorrow

On Monday, Scott Walker hired Liz Mair to help with his presidential campaign:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's political action committee has hired prominent Republican strategist Liz Mair to lead online communication efforts, CNN Politics has learned, taking yet another step toward building a team for what is expected to become a presidential campaign later this year.

Mair's political consulting firm will advise on social media and blogger outreach for Walker's PAC, Our American Revival, by providing input on digital strategy and messaging, Mair told CNN on Monday. She'll be joined by associates Brittany Cover and Dan Blum.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that Mair had the audacity to have issued a few tweets that were critical of Iowan Republicans. She also had the gall to see the common sense in President Obama's amnesty program.

Iowan Republicans clutched their pearls and swooned back on their fainting couches, demanding that Walker rid himself of this awful woman.

By the end of the day, Walker boldly appeased the Iowan Republicans and threw Mair under the campaign bus and got her to resign.

Walker has already been slammed by other conservatives for his cowardly actions:

I see from the Associated Press that Liz Mair has resigned from Governor Walker’s campaign. Given Liz’s work history, I will put it to you this way — Team Walker has botched this. There’s just no way Liz Mair resigned with it being her idea. I haven’t talked to her yet, but there’s just no way. So instead of Walker owning this, he’s passed the ball and made a staffer off herself. That’s unfortunate and plays into the “not ready for prime time” theme already developing around Team Walker. At least it is early.

The fact that Walker is willing to throw an aide under the bus at the first sign of trouble is nothing new.

In 2013, when Steve Krieser, his then deputy secretary of transportation, put up a racist rant on Facebook, Walker quickly sent him packing.  That in itself wouldn't be unusual except for the fact that Walker has been known to tolerate a lot of racism from his staffers and has not fired them for their inappropriate comments. Instead, he would offer non-apology apologies.

An even more glaring example is Taylor Palmisano, Walker's campaign's former deputy finance director.  Palmisano's crime was agreeing to let Walker put her name on the infamous Black Friday fundraising email, in which Walker told people not to buy Christmas presents for their children.  Instead, Walker suggested, parents should just give their money to his campaign.

By the time this story was making national and international news, Walker "suddenly" learned of some racist tweets that Palmisano had made three years before he even hired her.  This was his official excuse for throwing her under the campaign bus.

The fact that Walker continues to have these issues with his staff after all these years and all these problems, it would make any sane person question Walker's decision making skills.  That's not a very good quality for a presidential wannabe.

But then again, when have Republicans have been known for picking high quality candidates?