Instead, at the very top of his official site's main page, Walker merely identifies himself as "Conservative Governor." He's an outsider, dontcha know, even though he's been a Republican in one public office or another almost since dropping out of college a quarter-century ago, when he was still in his teens.
Here's what that little oversight -- forgetting to mention the party whose nomination for president he is seeking -- should tell any half-savvy political observer: Given years of stupendously wrong-headed and obstructionist policies and tactics, the Republican Party is now a badly damaged brand. So damaged, in fact, that another of its would-be banner carriers and leader-of-the-free-world wannabes has opted not to mention his party affiliation.
If you live in Wisconsin, you may have noticed that a number of Republican legislative candidates took the same course of action when in last year's campaigns they didn't bother mentioning the Grand Old Party in some if not all their literature, or yard signs, or media ads. It's almost like gang members deciding not to wear their colors to a rumble.
Indeed, Wisconsin Republicans have on numerous occasions taken to seeking office in DEMOCRATIC primaries by pretending to be Democrats. Oh, the grass is getting greener across that political fence. And let's not even discuss Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a through-and-through Republican who appears regularly on right-wing talk shows yet seeks the comfort of a position on the Democratic Party side of every new ballot.
But the pressure seems to have gotten to Walker in a whole new way. Internal polling must have revealed to his handlers increasingly negative opinions toward the GOP that voters have, not just of incumbents in Congress but Republican office-seekers across the land, even in nominally "red" states, as Wisconsin temporarily is portraying.
This animus must be concrete and statistically worrisome; otherwise, Walker (like other GOP gob-stoppers) wouldn't downplay his political redness. He'd instead be celebrating his party affiliation. But he and his team clearly feel it would be prudent to avoid the name game. Hey, maybe they can pitch this as just another way the "elitest" media play gotcha with Walker's bold, decisive, fearless, unintimidated views -- like in DailyKos diaries, ya know?
On the other hand:
The governor who in 2011 hid from a hundred thousand protesters surrounding the Wisconsin State Capitol, after he announced he would all but neuter most public employee unions in the state? The guy who wrote a book about that event entitled "Unintimidated"? Well, he's clearly intimidated by his own party's very name. Or at least timidated given that "out" apparently is the new "in."
So what of the fact that the presidential tyro's party affiliation is, otherwise, a totally open secret? Apparently, Team Walker is hoping you and other voters have very, very, very, very, very, very, very short-term memories, or live very cloistered lives. No need for them to push that anti-GOP button you may harbor in the dim recesses of your medulla oblongata (especially that portion of it which controls vomiting).
Oh well, the man who campaigned for governor by claiming, "I was the original tea party in Wisconsin" may go there again, at some point. But right now, he's comfy running on the "Conservative Governor" ticket. Hey, Federal Election Commission: Is the Conservative Governor Party on your radar screen? And has anyone in the GOP done any polling on THAT political euphemism? At this rate of political decay, it won't take but a few more months before Walker shifts to billing his affiliation as, "A Guy in a Suit."