Scott Walker

The nation's best governor

A few weeks ago I was in a cafe, seated a couple of tables down from two middle-aged, respectably dressed women who were planning a church festival of some sort. It didn't take long for me to learn about their common opinion of Governor Walker. (In the many hipster cafes of Milwaukee, Scott Walker and the recall brouhaha are topics that percolate as effortlessly as the coffee.) I won't repeat the vitriol here, but let's just say it was vicious, violent and unhinged. As these Talbots queens vented their pent up rage, I didn't know whether to burst out laughing or tell them off. The last thing I managed to hear was, "But I think he's gonna win the recall." Vindication. I smiled and sipped.

Now I have lots of rock-ribbed, purist conservative friends who fight passionately for the causes we all believe in, and I've never heard anyone tear into a Democrat like these two cafe curmudgeons mercilessly tore into Walker. It was revelatory, to say the least. I should have checked, but I'm sure one of them had a 'Celebrate Diversity' and/or 'Coexist' bumper sticker on her car.