Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who’s taken on an active role in national politics as a vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, had the task of addressing the party’s talking points upon the entry of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker into the GOP presidential scramble.
Rybak, in a commentary for The Hill, goes right to it on the jobs front, saying that while Walker is looking for a new job:
…unfortunately, so are too many of his constituents.
After running on the promise to create 250,000 new private sector jobs by the end of his first term, Walker didn’t just fail to meet this goal, he failed miserably, creating barely half of his promised amount.
In contrast, Rybak praises Minnesota DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, saying Minnesota has outperformed Wisconsin “in almost every economic indicator.”
He writes:
While Dayton has clearly reformed Minnesota and put our state on a path to economic prosperity, Walker has reformed Wisconsin for the worse. So if Walker wants to run on a platform of his reforms and economic growth, what exactly does he have to brag about?
And in a broader stroke, he says:
Walker and other Republican governors running for president like to say their credentials as a governors make them most qualified to be president. But in reality, those credentials amount to failed job creation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and ballooning deficits. Not so presidential in my opinion.
