Are the Media’s Efforts to Destroy Walker Backfiring?

Mark B. Lowe:

In the past week we’ve have seen where the liberal news media has been doing a full-court press on Scott Walker. First there was Credential-gate. They were downright indignant that somebody who didn’t finish college would have the temerity to even hint at running for the Oval Office. While that was going strong, we got the Giuliani blowup on Obama’s patriotism followed by a couple of reporters asking Walker if he thought Obama was a Christian or not. In both the latter cases, the media took offense at Walkers fairly neutral, non-committal answers and went into an apoplectic meltdown of shock, horror, and outrage. Hours (literally) were spent in panel discussion after panel discussion detailing how terrible Walker was for not immediately rushing to the side of Obama defending his honor and roundly condemning anyone who suggested that the President might be less than perfect.

But if their goal was to marginalize Walker and kill his nascent 2016 Presidential campaign before it had a chance to take hold, they appear to have failed. What they did manage to do instead was to bring the name of Scott Walker to the minds of millions of conservative and moderate voters across the nation. It’s been millions of dollars worth of free publicity for Walker, and the results have been rather telling. In three short weeks, the PPP GOP Presidential Primary poll has Walker more than doubling his numbers. He went from 4th place and 11 ppts on January 30th to being out in front with 25 ppts on February 24. He went from being 10 ppts behind the leader to being 7 ppts ahead over his nearest competitor.

This sort of movement is very easy to do early in a campaign before people’s minds have been made up. Scott Walker owes a debt of gratitude for the hyperventilating national press for helping to introduce him to so many of his potential constituents.

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