The Patriot Post® · Scott Walker's Deviation Is a Lesson in Steadfastness

It’s early, but Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has already determined that he must maintain and articulately express some rather homogenous positions, particularly on social issues, if he wants to avoid the many traps that the Leftmedia routinely sets for every Republican presidential contender. Responding to a question on a Boy Scouts committee’s vote this week to repeal the ban on homosexual leaders, Walker, himself an Eagle Scout, initially gave a reasonable answer. “I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children and advanced Scout values,” he told the Independent Journal Review on Tuesday. By Wednesday, however, Walker walked back his remark in a shift some analysts argue is an effort to win over moderate voters who may disagree with his original position. “The protection [I mentioned] was not a physical protection,” he explained at a press conference. It was about “protecting [scouts] from being involved in the very thing you’re talking about right now, the political and media discussion about it, instead of just focusing on what Scouts is about, which is about camping and citizenship and things of that nature.” The strange logic of his follow-up aside, whatever Walker’s intent — perhaps he “misspoke,” as a liberal opponent of his once claimed (who also happens to be off-the-hook) — the Leftmedia will construe him as a flip-flopper. Here’s some advice for all Republican contenders: Pick a stance, run with it, and stop worrying about appeasing everyone. Remaining steadfast is a much better alternative than trying to defend accusations of swinging with the masses. Principled voters will reward you in the end.