I wish I had seen the Walker/Barrett debate in WI

Posted: May 26, 2012

http://www.politiscoop.com/us-politics/wisconsin-politics/1415-walker-crawls-into-shell-after-anemic-debate-performance.html Apparently Walker went scurrying as soon as he was confronted on the tough questions. This has been crazy. Walker has been campaigning since winter and Barrett has just gotten the nomination and getting the steam--how can Barrett catch up? Walker commercials are on constantly. *************** Milwaukee – Last night, the citizens of Wisconsin got a first-hand look at the gubernatorial candidates as they came together for their first of two head to head debates. Walker earlier in the day had tweeted that the debate should be “simple”, showing an air of undeserved confidence which quickly turned into outright panic, moments after the debate began. Walker appeared to be stunned when confronted with tough questions regarding his out of state billionaire donors and travels, as well as being taken to task for releasing his own job numbers that conflict dramatically with those released by the non-partisan Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tom Barrett made it a point to ask Gov. Scott Walker the questions that the mainstream media has failed to ask throughout the campaign, those being “Why won’t Scott Walker release the emails sent through the secret network that was set up in the Milwaukee County Executive office?” and “Why won’t Scott Walker release the details of his travel across the country?” In both cases, Walker crawled into his shell like a little boy sticking his fingers in his ears screaming “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!” Barrett continued to question Walker’s claims of a budget surplus in Wisconsin just weeks before the election. Barrett says Walker has pulled out the credit card and forced future generations to pick up a 150 million dollar tab, just in interest, with his attempt to score political points just before the election. Walker had no answers and seemed dumbfounded that not everyone bought into his attempted “Boondoggle” of the issues. Tom Barrett was clear and concise in saying to the citizens of Wisconsin that he would end the war on women, workers and education in the state, and would work to reunite citizens so that Wisconsin could again move forward. Walker tried to attack Barrett on his record in Milwaukee, however, Barrett reminded Walker that he was county executive at the same time Barrett was mayor, and that anything he was accusing him of, he would have to share responsibility for. Barrett emphasized the need to rebuild the trust between citizens and their government and that the state does not need a governor who will drop the “Bomb” on the citizens, or conspire with billionaire donors to “divide and conquer” them. Many have touted the debate as a win for Tom Barrett, but it was more of Wisconsin citizens realizing that they cannot trust Scott Walker to be transparent to the people of Wisconsin, and that what he says in public is much different than what he says behind closed doors. After the debate, Walker dodged reporters and quickly left the venue, leaving spokeswoman Ciara Mathews to deal with the aftermath. It seemed as for the first time, the mainstream media did their job and not laydown for Scott Walker when they repeatedly grilled her on the question of whether or not Scott Walker will release his schedule from the past year, in which he met with billionaire donors, gave speeches and attended out of state fundraisers before the June 5th election. A recent investigative report showed Walker traveling around the country, using personal time far more than he was in state working or meeting with citizens. Mathews appeared to resemble a deer caught in the headlights when asked 3 or 4 times on the subject, and each time she evaded answering the question, until finally acknowledging there will be no information forthcoming. Those on the right are claiming Walker played it safe, but in truth, that’s all Walker had and when he ran out of talking points, tried to end the debate early by skipping the last question. This debate put Scott Walker’s character on display for all to see that he cannot be trusted to be honest or forthcoming with the citizens, and that his loyalty is not to the state, but special interests. ;