Thursday, June 10, 2010

Neumann Draws A Bead, Walker Shoots Blanks*

So the big hubbub of the day in the race going into the September primary (yes, Jim Klauser, there really is a primary), is that Mark Neumann tripped up Scott Walker on another one of his flip flops, this time dealing with concealed carry.

Neumann even had the audacity to create a web commercial and buy ad space on the Drudge Report. Here is the ad:



Walker, instead of arguing the point of why he voted the way he did, simply ran out and had a couple of the cogs of the Republican machine tell us to ignore the actual votes and listen to their political panderings that Walker really, really does like guns. He even had his picture taken once holding a gun. (Rumor is that they also took a second picture of hims holding said gun in the correct manner.) The usual suspects are besides themselves, spitting with frustration, and claiming that the words of these two party Republicans should settle the matter.

The real answer to whether Neumann is just running a smear campaign or is running a primary race should and could be answered by one simple thing: Did or did not Walker vote against the concealed carry bill twice.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provides that answer in their coverage of Neumann's assertions:

In February 2002, Walker voted against a bill to allow concealed weapons bill that was overwhelmingly supported by Republicans. The vote was held at 3:51 a.m.

Two months later, during his run for county executive, Walker told the Journal Sentinel: "My main gripe with that piece of legislation wasn't the bill itself, but the fact that it was voted on at 4 o'clock in the morning without any drafting attorneys or other staff around without the public even knowing about it."

Two years earlier, Walker voted against a similar bill in a procedural vote. In that vote, Republicans were nearly united in voting against it.

They even provide the actual voting record, confirming what Neumann had asserted. I don't know what is so shocking about this. By now, almost anyone paying attention and who is honest with themselves already knows that Walker is a creature of convenience, and will say whatever he thinks the listener wants to hear.

I don't know if any, including Walker himself, really knows where he stands on any given issue.

That said, we also have to give Walker the benefit of the doubt. In fact, Cog Dis is pleased to show a handgun that was designed to specifically match Walker's own style of campaigning:



*Not the original title I wanted to use, because Illy-T had already used it.

2 comments:

  1. I did a little more digging...

    In 1999, Walker sponsored the concealed carry legislation and then voted against it (this one rivals his 24 hour flip/flop on immigration).

    Walker voted to allow late-night voting (i.e. he supported late night voting), so for him to use it as an excuse to not vote for the 2001 concealed carry bill is typical political crap.

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  2. That gun picture made me laugh so hard. I'm in stitches over here.

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