Scott Walker was a legitimate candidate for President, and it is a black mark on the Republican Party’s primary that such a candidate was forced out of the race so early.
Walker has a proven and successful record of conservative reforms in Wisconsin, a blue state typically difficult for conservatives to govern. Across the country, many Republicans rightly respected him for his bravery in standing against organized labor’s bully tactics.
During his 2016 campaign, Walker was articulate on policy, especially health care. Although inexperienced in foreign affairs, he made admirable attempts to familiarize himself with those issues.
Although he lacked a certain level of charisma, his experience and policy chops alone should have commanded the attention and respect of Republican primary voters.
But too many candidates from the past jumped into the race. What those candidates fail to understand is that the conservatism of the 1990s and 2000s will not win us voters. We need a new, reform-minded conservatism, oriented in a different direction.
Scott Walker, and others like him, have been and are advocating this conservatism of the future, and they ought to be heard. But the screaming of demagogues is drowning them out.
The same ragged platitudes about “taking our country back” and “defeating the Washington establishment” might win a candidate applause at a rally, but they will not solve the crises of our times.
Scott Walker was not the candidate to win us the White House. But unlike many of the other candidates, he at least had a thoughtful point of view.
The suspension of the Walker campaign shows us that, at least for now, Republican primary voters are valuing flash over substance. They prefer insults and petty politics to thoughtful discussion and informed deliberation.
We must hope this attitude will change by the time voting begins next year, and that a real conservative with serious credentials can gather the support of Republicans across the country.
