Where is Governor Walker?

I met with some of the other Westies this morning for coffee. They are returning to the area after being gone enjoying vacations and the great outdoors. Now, I have to clarify; the Westies are a diverse group representing a wide spectrum politically and financially and the one thing we all have in common is that we live on the Westside of Shorewood and are committed to our community and its well being.  As usual we talked about the local events and who was doing what. Within just a few minutes the topic turned to our favorite topic, local politics.

Top on our list is the Darling/Pasch recall race and the obscene amount of money being spent by both sides. The lefties in the group squared off with the right wingers on whose ads were the most appalling and which ones were representing the true state of affairs. After about a half an hour of this dueling something occurred to me; where is Governor Walker in this whole mess?

This refocused the group and people disengaged the death grips they had on each other’s necks and everybody got quiet for a moment. The general question that came up, where is he and what is he doing?  No one had seen his face on the “boob-tube” for a while and the consensus is that he is maintaining a very low profile. This brought up a wide range of speculation and interest.

Some of the group thought he was staying out of the fray doing what governors do, govern. Everybody pretty much shot that idea down. I wondered out loud if he was asked by the Senate Republicans to stay out of this since of his unpopularity right now. This might explain his absence, but I would think that the Republican Recall Six would be seeking all the help they can get from whatever source. Even the lefties in the crowd had to admit that he has been a powerful force for getting the Republican agenda done. We were still at a loss for why he hasn’t been engaged along with the Fitzgerald brothers.

Someone else suggested that maybe the governor is lying low because of his own vulnerabilities. It is well known that Scott Walker is a consummate politician. Mordicai Lee has stated many times that he sees Walker as an excellent politician, (paraphrasing).

Walker has a reputation of keeping his cards very close to his chest such as his plans for restricting collective bargaining rights for the public employees and teachers unions. So what is he up to? It certainly appears that he has kicked the six Republicans under the bus and is being the consummate politician, why? The Westies sort of left the subject there and moved onto other things, but I couldn’t let it go. I’ve been thinking about this every since we adjourned for the day.

My conclusion is; that if he helps the Republican Six and if any lose, he has expended a great deal of political capital, especially if his powerful ally Alberta Darling was to lose. Also, he is going to need all the political and financial capital he can accumulate between now and the end of the year for his own possible recall. He might be keeping quiet so that nothing is said or done that could come back to haunt him. I have also concluded, that he may lose control of the State Senate for 15 months, but with the way the redistricting is set, he has a better than even chance to regain both houses of the legislature and can move on after January, 2013 for the last two years of his term. It doesn’t appear that the possible loss of the Senate has him too concerned. He is thinking in the long term. His next steps will be interesting to watch because I think his ultimate end game is to make a run for the White House.