I wouldn't be as quick as these guys to write Scott Walker off. Billionaire cash might still be enough to revive a zombie campaign. Via Politico:
It's been a cruel summer for Scott Walker and Martin O'Malley.That's the assessment of this week's POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top activists, operatives and strategists in Iowa and New Hampshire. Ahead of Labor Day weekend, insiders weighed in on who won — and who lost — the summer in their own parties and the results couldn't have been clearer.
On the Republican side, nearly half of GOP insiders said Walker, the Wisconsin governor, had the worst summer on their side of the aisle. In Iowa, where he was until recently considered the front-runner but now lags in polls, insiders were particularly down on him: 56 percent said he had lost the summer.
"He can't seem to find his way on any given issue with a handheld GPS," an Iowa Republican said of Walker. "He's been on all three sides of every two-sided issue. For the last two months hasn't made a single policy pronouncement that he or his staff hasn't had to clarify or clear up within two hours. When you're reduced to saying 'yeah' doesn't mean 'yes,' you're in trouble. 'Unintimidated' has given way to 'uninformed' and 'unprepared.'"
"Not since, well, Tim Pawlenty has a candidate so hyped or seemingly invincible had their bubble burst in this way," agreed another Iowa Republican, who like all participants was granted anonymity in order to speak freely. "He owes the Iowa GOP a big favor for canceling the Straw Poll to keep him from repeating Tim Pawlenty's untimely demise."
[...] On the Democratic side, more than 60 percent of insiders surveyed said former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley lost the summer, mostly because of his failure to gain traction as a Hillary Clinton alternative amid the unexpected rise of liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
"Martin who?" snarked an Iowa Democrat.
Added a New Hampshire Democrat, "His slow tentative launch gave Bernie all the room he needed. Now with Biden seemingly tip toeing into the race, O'Malley is a dead man walking."
