BOTH GOVERNOR’S WALKER AND CHRISTIE “OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT”

 

 

Two US Governor’s trips to London leaves them both flat on their faces.

I guess if I had the kind of election record as does the current Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, I might also consider going after the US Presidency.  Walker has never lost a local or state election and he started when he was only 22 years old.

Today, he is one of the better polling Republican presidential candidates and he did very well when he attended the Republican run, conservative, Iowa Freedom Summit, hosted by the Tea Party wing-nut, Rep. Steve King.  Even though Walker did not complete college, (rumor says he flunked French and dropped out), he still feels he can do well in the Republican primaries against the other 11 potential candidates.

However, this Scott Walker, who promotes the idea that he is a “tell-it-like-it-is” candidate, Walker says he fights for what he believes in, and says what he thinks.  I guess one should respect anyone with that tenacity and adherence to principle. 

Hooray for Mr. Walker…..but then again, maybe not.

After his success in Iowa, since the governor has virtually no experience in foreign affairs, he apparently decided to make a trip to Great Britain. This was billed as one of those so-called trade missions in which Walker emphasized the importance of Wisconsin exports.  You know, basically the exporting of Wisconsin cheese.  One publication wrote that the governor had apparently assumed that “being photographed with Big Ben in the background was supposed to enhance his foreign policy credentials”. 

 

So Walker was then seen on news reports taking photo-ops with British politicians and making speeches on Wisconsin exports while being interviewed by the British press and the BBC.

 

Now, as it turned out, the New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie and his wife, were also visiting Great Britain.  The New Jersey governor is also on that short list of potential Republican presidential candidates.  Being there in London for both of these potential candidates was a total coincidence, but both had come to Britain for appearing to burnish their positions on foreign affairs.  Unfortunately for both, after it was all over, it was anything but a successful trip for these presidential wannabes. 

First, after meeting the heads of the parties in the British Parliament, Governor Walker was then interviewed by the BBC.  After getting past the significance of Wisconsin cheese, the BBC host asked the governor whether he believed in evolution. 

 

This question totally upset the governor’s focus on the exporting of Wisconsin cheese, and he said he wasn’t going to answer the question. He said he had come to London not to deal with philosophical matters, but instead, he was here to talk about exporting Wisconsin cheese.  He then bid the interviewer, Good Day!

Now, I’m pretty sure the concept of evolution is anything but a philosophical matter, any more than is the law of gravity or the theory of relativity.  Yes, Governor Walker is a religious man.  However, countless people have somehow managed for years to answer this question by believing in both evolution and religion.  This is done all the time.  There was no need to avoid that question.  Apparently, the governor felt he had to pander to those evangelists he had spoken with at the Iowa Freedom Summit.

From that point on, that was all the Wisconsin Governor’s trip was about.  Seeing him all over the news programs, refusing to answer a question about believing in evolution, and nothing about his learning about foreign affairs while visiting Great Britain.

Now for Governor Christie, he had also done well at the Iowa Freedom Summit, and he was in London as described, “He was there to talk about yet another trade mission, exporting New Jersey tomatoes and New Jersey attitude.” 

 

However, while touring a hospital, Christie was asked about whether kids should be required to be given the Measles vaccine. As with Governor Walker, this question really put the normally tough guy New Jersey Governor babbling basic nonsense.  This no-nonsense governor, who kicked-butt in dealing with Superstorm Sandy, and whose aides had tied up traffic for days on the George Washington Bridge, he eventually stated in the interview that the choice should be left to the parents. And just why did he say that?  Because Governor Christie was also pandering to his newly perceived conservative base in far-away Iowa. 

Right after he made this statement, another statement came from his office in New Jersey, equivocating and stating that the governor believed that all eligible children should be vaccinated.  But once again, because of his first answer, the story then became more questions about his first answer and it caused him to stop taking any reporter's questions for the remainder of the trip.

So, for both Republican Governors, their political trips to London ended up being major disappointments.  No one looked at the trips as a way for these potential nominees to become better versed in foreign affairs.  They both left leaving strange messages with regards to their views on evolution and vaccinations, but nothing that showed what they learned about issues outside their discussions of Wisconsin and New Jersey exports.

If one of these candidates ends up being the final Republican nominee, they had better consider this trip as a highly expensive learning experience. 

 

For now, neither governor looks as if they should be given a nation’s helm for working with other nations regarding anything to do with foreign affairs..

Copyright G.Ater  2015