Exactly Who is the Joe Walsh Candidacy Intended For?

Joe Walsh speaking at CPAC by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

Joe Walsh speaking at CPAC by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

While he announced he is running for the GOP nomination Joe Walsh has stated most do not want him. So who does?

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Current former-radio host Joe Walsh has made it official that he intends to challenge President Trump for the GOP nomination. To say his shot here is long is to imply the equator holds a similarly impressive length. While common sense alone would dictate that any challenge to the Trump hold on the White House, there is one revealing source declaring this to be true.

Joe Walsh himself.

While appearing on CNN’s AC 360 Walsh had some very curious comments, beginning with mention of his radio show.

“I just found out I lost my national radio show,” Walsh informed, sounding dismayed about a detail that he said he was just alerted to prior to going on the air. “So that’s gone. I don’t know why, I just got a notice before I came into the studio.” For him to be taken by surprise by this is — revealing. (For the sake of disclosure, Walsh’s radio program was owned by run by Salem Media, parent company of RedState.)

What is not detailed is that Walsh’s show was set to end as soon as he announced his intent to run for office. This is not some nefarious plot by pro-Trump acolytes to silence opposition — it is the law. Federal election laws stipulate that candidates cannot have their own broadcast platform, or else it would be regarded as an in-kind political contribution. These are known FEC standards and conditions. For Walsh to be oblivious to this detail is revealing itself.

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But he then goes on to say things that call into question his reasons for running. “80-90% of my audience supports this President,” says Walsh. This tracks with current polling, which places GOP support of Donald Trump near 90%. He even gives anecdotal evidence in a prior interview that extends this challenging position. “The people I talk to privately tell me, ‘I can’t stand him but the Democrats are Socialists.’ Or, ‘I can’t stand him, Joe, but I like my tax cuts.'”

This means that even that small percentage sitting in opposition are not so eager to be swayed away, based on conditions that still favor Trump. So where exactly then is Walsh’s mandate to run coming from? It would have to be rooted in a personal animus because he is not entering to correct unfavorable conditions seen by voters. The only reason then is for him to serve as a poison pill in the primary, and negatively impact a popular GOP candidate.

In other words, it is in service to Democrats. The conservative base is not calling for an alternative, and many GOP opponents and even some never-Trumpers are still seeing cause to vote for him. Note how suddenly the news networks who freely referred to Walsh as a racist suddenly welcomed him on the air in a rush as soon as he came out as a Trump opponent. He sat with MSNBC today, and yesterday’s CNN visit was at least his third within a week. I guess the racist enemy of your racist enemy suddenly is no longer racist??

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This can only mean that all that would be accomplished by a Walsh campaign would be to appease those on the left who need a weakened Trump to run against in the 2020 general election. It will be telling to see from where any of Walsh’s campaign funds derive. There just is not that much liberal-backed anti-Trump outlets flush enough to prop up a candidacy few “true conservatives” are looking to support.

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