Green v. Doyle

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Yesterday evening, Scott Walker bowed out of the Republican gubernatorial primary, making Mark Green the presumptive nominee of the party and Jim Doyle a more solidified target.

I have often expressed my desire for Mr. Walker to remove himself from the raise and have been known to pontificate on the sagging nature of his fundraising numbers. Still, I will openly admit that his announcement has caught me firmly off guard, as I would imagine it has much of the state's political establishment.

To his credit, Mr. Walker has been honest about why he is leaving this race (assuming finances to be the real cause):

Looking at the numbers this week, it became clear to me that our fundraising totals would only allow us to run a campaign in a fraction of the 72 counties in this state. In addition, our resources would be so limited that most of it would likely be spent on ads attacking our Republican opponent, an un-appealing option for me, which will only bolster Jim Doyle's reelection chances.

Even if these words are not a genuine reflection of Mr. Walker's rationale, they are refreshing insofar as they demonstrate a firm grasp on the reality of Wisconsin's political situation. Mr. Doyle must go and Mr. Walker never stood as good a chance at achieving this end as Mr. Green.

Recently, of course, Mr. Walker did turn negative against his primary opponent and there can be no healing the wounds left in the minds of voters by those reckless words. But Wisconsin is a better place today for those words having now come to an end, well in advance of the November election, and for Mr. Green being the nominee of the party.

The GOP ought to have little trouble defeating a governor obsessed with the veto pen, known to favor prisons over schools, surrounded by pay-for-play scandal and generally loathed by the populace. I take solace in knowing that this case just became even easier for the GOP to make.