Spinning Scott Walker

Here's Aaron Rodriguez on the the on-going Brown Bag imbroglio:

Walker's advertisement is a Brown Bag Guide to Government, not a Brown Bag Guide to Campaigning. The former involves taking taxpayer money and spending it frugally as if it were their own. This demonstrates the basic principle that the county government shouldn't spend more than it has. The latter involves taking money from donors - supporters who want him to spend their money in order to get elected. The implication of the AP story is that they don't expect a frugal man to run for governor because it requires some healthy spending. As Walker's spokesperson said, the AP's expectations are plainly absurd.

There is simply no way to emphasize enough just how wrong Rodriguez is about this. It demonstrates a fundamental ignorance about how electoral politics works. Campaigns are essentially try-outs or dry-runs that allow candidates to show voters how they would operate an office. Saying that there's a difference between the way someone campaigns and the way someone governs is ridiculous -- that'd be like just taking a politician who says "Trust me!" at his word. Words have to match deeds -- if they don't, it's called lying.