Breaking: Scott Walker Dropping Presidential Bid (Update 5) It's OFFICIAL!

After unsuccessfully trying to reboot his campaign and latest polls showing his current poll results so low that an asterisk was used instead of a number percentage, unnamed sources say Scott Walker is dropping out of the race for the White House.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has concluded he no longer has a path to the Republican presidential nomination and plans to drop out of the 2016 campaign, according to three Republicans familiar with his decision, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Walker called a news conference in Madison at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

Surprise! He's actually in Wisconsin, the state he claimed he wanted to govern when running for re-election in 2014 while denouncing claims of wanting to run for President.

The 6 PM Eastern news conference isn't accidental. It has likely been timed to coincide with local news that will cover it live. His Wisconsin poll numbers have dropped like a rock in Wisconsin (39% approval, 57% disapproval in the last poll) so he needs to pump himself up in the state he left in the lurch to pursue his Presidential ambitions.

It's a Huge Surprise

Wisconsin media has been reporting yet another change to Walkers campaign today - one that refocuses on fundraising. This was on the heels of his change last week to cancel several events and refocus on the Iowa Republican Caucuses and South Carolina Presidential Primary. There was no hint that he intended to leave the race before the news that broke in the New York Times.

UPDATE 1:

First reports are now coming from Wisconsin media and there's more information available.

"The short answer is money," one unnamed supporter told the Times. "He's made a decision not to limp into Iowa."

On Monday, Walker abruptly announced he would hold a news conference at 5 p.m. at the Edgewater Hotel down the street from the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison. His campaign did not say why.

Questions in recent days have focused on whether his hobbled campaign can recover financially.

Even before entering the Republican Primary and just after his 2014 re-election as Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker left Wisconsin and began furiously raising campaign cash for his Presidential bid. His Super PAC, Unintimidated, raised nearly $20 million in a couple of months. And his persistant cross country trips to kiss billionaire rings brough plenty in to his own campaign coffers.

His campaign currently employs about 90 people and he has not cut back on staffing despite his poor recent polling.

His current, future schedule has shown him busy with fundraising appearances and planned special events with donors even as his campaign moved the focus of his campaign from the early primary states to fundraising.

I'm pretty much shocked at this turn of events.

UPDATE 2:

Speculation in recent days has focused on whether Walker's hobbled 2016 campaign could have ever recovered financially from its recent setbacks. Observers were watching for signs he would cut back on his staff or replace his campaign manager, Rick Wiley.

In response to media inquiries on the state of his campaign and fundraising, Walker claimed to be "on top of the bills". Those concerns were raised when Walkers schedule was refocused on fundraising rather than the very early Republican primary states. With a staff of 90, just meeting payroll would be over $100,000 per month.

Details on Walkers campaign fundraising aren't available since he announce his Presidential bid in July and hasn't yet had to submit a campaign finance report.

People are now speaking out about candidate Walker:

"It's not surprising from the perspective of the last few weeks," said Larry Sabato, a national political observer.

But Sabato added that Walker was an early front-runner who was leading polls in Iowa and elsewhere for months earlier this year.

"Some contenders look good on paper, but when they actually get out on the stump they fail to live up to their own hype," Sabato said. "I think he suffered a bit from a lack of preparedness."

Sabato said he seemed especially unprepared on foreign policy issues.

"He relied to heavily on a memorized speech," Sabato said. "People talked about Scott Walker, the automaton."

All true.

What Do I Think?

My own take is that Walker has become lazy as a candidate as a result of the kid-glove treatment he receives from Wisconsin media and the enormous bullhorn he has on a state saturated with RW talk radio. He's relied piles of ads from dark money groups attacking his opponents so he can run campaign ads promoting himself and lying about his agenda. He also hasn't faced strong opponents.

Being subjected to national media asking genuine questions and pushing for answers seemed to take him by surprise. He's accustomed to getting tossed softball questions and having reporters dutifully writing down whatever spews out of his mouth without following up. He's also used to being able to push media around - even getting headlines changed if he doesn't like them.

He's also used to being able to buy electoral victory with tens of millions of his own ads running and dominating the airwaves. No politician in Wisconsin has ever had access to the kind of money Walker has thrown around.

As a Presidential candidate, he seemed flummoxed by the questions he was asked, pressure from other candidates to outdo them, and his inability to weasel his way out of confrontations over his frequent policy flip-flops and extremist positions. On foreign policy, Walker exposed himself as an ignoramus.

And then there was the entry of Donald Trump who has a long history of sucking up media attention. Donald Trump knocked Scott Walker out as a front-runner and kept the media focused on all things Trump. Walker went from top of the heap to being just one of the other clowns in the clown car.

My other thought is that by dropping out of the Presidential Primary early, he might just be earning some future thoughts as a VP pick, particularly if the nominee doesn't have the necessary cred with the Tea Bagger base. But, considering how badly he flummoxed questions and flip flopped like a mackerel, they would have to be quite desperate to add him to the ticket.

That's my take.

UPDATE 3

In other big Wisconsin news, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks (a Republican who usually votes with the liberal justices) has died of a massive heart attack while in his office today.

He was up for re-election next year and already had a RW opponent for his seat. He announced last week that he decided to not run for re-election (likely knowing the tens of millions that dark money groups will spend to put their candidate in his seat).

With his death, Scott Walker will have the opportunity to appoint someone to finish Crooks' term. I expect that he'll appoint the RW candidate who looked to unseat Crooks in 2016.

Sad for those of us with a sense of justice and fairness that our already RW dominated State Supreme Court will tilt further to the extremes.

. UPDATE 4: His Presser

Starts with praise of Saint Ronnie Reagan followed by whining about negativity in campaigns.

Says he's suspending his campaign so voters can concentrate on a more limited number of candidates. Took a swipe at Trump as the frontrunner.

Thanking his family and, of course, God.

It took less than 5 minutes and he left without taking questions.

UPDATE 5:

Some reactions:

Praise rolled in from some of those GOP candidates.

"Scott Walker is a good man who entered the presidential race after winning three grueling campaigns in four years," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said. "He remains one of the best governors in the country."

"As difficult a decision as it is to start a run for president, it's even more challenging to stop the race," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tweeted. "I commend him for his courage to step into the difficult presidential arena. He entered the race (with) honor & left (with) honor & grace

Walker opponents, like American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, had a different take.

"The American people have unmistakably rejected Scott Walker's anti-union brand," said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. "Scott Walker doubled down on anti-worker policies that have failed in Wisconsin and his poll numbers tanked. Americans understand that in order to restore balance to our economy and sustain a thriving middle class, we need unions."

Acknowledging the FAILURE of his presidential campaign and .5% poll ranking, Scott Walker reworks logo. #Scott Walker pic.twitter.com/0ocRiCTPXB

— Michael H Martin (@duncmar) September 21, 2015

I had my suspicions! #ScottWalker#walkerdropoutreasons#election2016pic.twitter.com/XzvKM99cDD

— Michael H Martin (@duncmar) September 21, 2015

Scott Walker "Throw In The Towel". Gotta raise those funds to repay the Kochs, folks. #ScottWalker#election 2016 pic.twitter.com/NnHg9h7tpV

— Michael H Martin (@duncmar) September 21, 2015

Catering to the 1 Percent Has Left Scott Walker at 1 Percent http://t.co/...#Walker16 is a very bad man whose past has caught up

— Dr. Glen Barry (@DrGlenBarry) September 21, 2015

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