Michael Horne
Plenty of Horne

Scott Walker Peddles Bull

No stranger to peddling bull, governor hosts Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction at State Fair

By - Aug 14th, 2015 11:43 am
Gov. Walker was dressed in the cowboy hat, blue jeans and a blue pullover shirt. Photo by Michael Horne.

Gov. Walker was dressed in the cowboy hat, blue jeans and a blue pullover shirt. Photo by Michael Horne.

Governor Scott Walker is no stranger to raising money by peddling bull. Just look at his overflowing campaign coffers. Wednesday night at the Wisconsin State Fair, the cowboy-hatted Chief Executive and presidential candidate opened the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock auction in the fair’s massive coliseum building. Supporters of the auction who paid $35 (a bargain for a Walker appearance) had ringside seats while the other attendees were obliged to watch the proceedings from afar, across the coliseum. No seating was permitted on the half of the cavernous hall that held the governor and the cattle. The proceedings opened with the University of Wisconsin brass band, under the baton of Bucky Badger. [View the video here. All 2 hours 43 minutes of it. Walker shows up at :46] The governor’s auction and affiliated charities helps to raise scholarship money for young farmers via the 4-H Clubs.. The governor awarded $50,000 in scholarship funds that night, based on the winning entries. In 2014, a record $300,000 was raised in the auction of the winners, up from a mere hundred grand in 2011, Walker told the crowd.

He was dressed in the cowboy hat, blue jeans and a blue pullover shirt. More Farm & Fleet than Kohl’s, but suitable for the occasion.

Milwaukee Police Officers. Photo by Michael Horne.

Milwaukee Police Officers. Photo by Michael Horne.

Security was tight, with nobody permitted to lean over railings on the portion of the coliseum available to observers. I do not recollect this arrangement in the past. Orange-shirted security guards were placed inside the ring along the railing spaced maybe 10 feet apart at most. Security included uniformed police officers of the City of West Allis, where the fair is held. Also, somewhat curiously, three City of Milwaukee uniformed police officers were also present.

Walker himself was only a speck in the distance from where this observer sat, and seemed to relish his role posing for photographs with the winners. This was a contrast from the style of Tommy Thompson who really relished the role of auctioneer, in a hucksterish (that is to say, Thompsonian) sort of way. His successors Scott McCallum and Jim Doyle served in the role creditably, but neither had a personality known to set a room afire, not to say a Coliseum.

Walker seemed more of a figurehead at his signature event, and left the auctioneering to the professionals. Listening to an cattle auction is an acquired taste for this observer, since I cannot make out the auctioneer’s words, nor discern any movement of paddles by bidders.

But, Northwestern Mutual paid $10,000 for a prize specimen, then released the animal — that is to say, the insurance giant gave it back to the auction to be sold again.

5 thoughts on “Plenty of Horne: Scott Walker Peddles Bull”

  1. Barbara Cooley says:

    Does anyone remember when Scott Walker “tested the waters” for a gubernatorial run in 2002 and found them to be unwelcoming? He simply couldn’t raise any money. Nobody liked the guy. He had a reputation for being difficult to work with and not beneficial to his county, Milwaukee. Lo and behold, he discovers the Koch Brothers and the art of “selling bull,” as Michael so aptly puts it. Still ignorant and stubborn, but now loaded with campaign money. Imagine that.

  2. A busdriver says:

    The nation would do well to reject him as a Presidential candidate. If people thought George W was bad Walker would be worst. Scary thought he would have us in a world war before the end of the year & the economy would be in shreds. The Koch Bros just want to have a puppet in the White House problem is Walker is too damn dumb to be there.

  3. Paul says:

    A bus driver, why would the Koch brothers want the economy in shreds? That would hurt them more than you or me.

  4. Barbara Cooley says:

    They don’t understand, or don’t care about, the demand side of the demand/supply relationship. Since they’re in the energy business they probably figure there will always be demand and they have their own safe corner of the economy. Their problem is that a lot of their energy comes from nonrenewable sources. They’re death against regulations on those.

  5. AG says:

    Nice, way to bring in extra scholarship funds just by showing up Gov. Walker. Isn’t it great that someone can do so much good just by showing up?

    Why was it curious that there were Milwaukee police present? Because of the hoodlums that rioted through the park a few years ago, the fair now has to employ a record number of security personnel and requires police from not only the State Fair police Dept., but also the State Patrol, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Milwaukee police and West Allis police.

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