Jul 15, 2015

Scott Walker Avoiding Town Hall-Style Meetings, New Hampshire Not Happy

"Local (GOP Strafford County (New Hampshire)) organizers suggested something simple and familiar to most candidates: a town hall meeting. But the Wisconsin governor’s camp, according to three people familiar with the conversations, wasn’t interested in taking questions. They simply wanted to deliver a speech and meet people afterwards."

The event fell through, reports Eli Stokols in The Politco this morning.

Welcome to Scott Walker land: No town hall-style meetings with candidate.

Walker insists that his political events are so choreographed that the arrival of a black man to Walker's kick-off speech Monday caused quite a stir. (See must-read Black Wisconsin Lawmaker Kicked Out of Walker Event.) Who knows what those flinty New Hampshire folks would ask?

Stokols notes, "When Walker arrives in the Granite State Thursday, three days after launching his presidential campaign, it will be a rare appearance — his first New Hampshire sighting since May. According to figures compiled by U.S. News and World Report, only one Republican has been to the state less than Walker — Rick Santorum."

And the New Hampshire voters are finding out what many in Wisconsin know: Scott Walker is an empty suit.

"It sounds (like Walker's) trip really isn’t to New Hampshire," said Renee Plummer, a prominent GOP activist in Portsmouth. "It sounds like the trip is a fundraiser in Boston with a couple stops tacked on."

Concludes Stokols:

After a six-week absence, it won’t be easy for Walker to jumpstart his campaign in New Hampshire, where so many other candidates have been busy campaigning as if it’s the only state that matters.

'He better answer the questions,' said Plummer, who hosted Walker at her business roundtable in March but has been disappointed in his New Hampshire effort since then. 'I would think he reads the news and sees what happens with the Hillary campaign and people being furious that she won’t answer questions. You’ve got Jeb and Carly and Christie here saying, ‘ask me anything’.'

Ask me anything?

This would necessitate Scott Walker thinking on his feet. And Scott Walker is a policy lightweight.

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