Divide and Conquer (Scott Walker)

[applegrove]

Divide and Conquer (Scott Walker)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s divisive message for winning the White House.

By Jamelle Bouie at Slate

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/01/scott_walker_s_divisive_message_the_wisconsin_governor_doesn_t_think_he.html

"SNIP.................

But elections force action, and if the minority electorate looks like it did in 2012—with high black participation and strong Latino preference for Democrats—Republicans will have to either push back or, as Trende argues, try to run the table with white voters and win as a fully homogenous political party.

Which brings us back to Scott Walker. Unlike Mitt Romney—who was merely adopted by the world of racially polarized politics—Walker was born in it and molded by it. As MacGillis notes, Walker’s home turf of metropolitan Milwaukee is home to "profound racial inequality, extreme political segregation, [and] a parallel-universe news media," trends that predate Walker, "but have enabled his ascent.”

If any candidate could run a rigid campaign of polarization—aimed at winning as many white voters as possible—it’s Walker. His language is already there. In his Iowa speech, he touted voter-identification laws and portrayed disadvantage as a pure product of personal failure. “In America the opportunity is equal for each and every one of us but … the ultimate outcome is up to each and every one of us individually.”

Walker, in other words, represents the other path: The chance to win without broadening your base or changing your priorities. Victory, but at the price of greater racial polarization. It’s a seductive vision—and an inherently divisive one.



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[elleng]

1. and maybe instrumental in 'encouraging' Eliz Warren to challenge Hillary?