Scott Walker is washed up. The CNN debate this week made it absolutely clear that the Republican Koch boy has no hope of being a serious contender in the 2016 presidential race. He fought for the attention of the media and he lost. The most he could muster was a one-liner at the beginning of the debate that never landed – no one could understand it.

“We don’t need an apprentice in the White House,” Walker said to Donald Trump. “We have one right now.”

The group of candidates mostly stood there bemused, trying to understand what Walker was getting at. That was the tone of the entire debate and in some ways Walker’s entire campaign – a carefully planned joke that no one thinks is funny.

Walker’s polling numbers have been sliding as he desperately tries to get the attention of a media that eagerly awaits the next put down from Donald Trump. Walker hopes that focusing on Iowa will help him.

“I think we’re putting all our eggs in the basket of Iowa,” Walker said to MSNBC after the debate. “We’re committed to Iowa, and I think that’ll help us make the case all throughout the country.” Walker is betting on the wrong horse, though, his numbers have dropped 10 points since May in Iowa.

It’s obvious at this point, Walker’s campaign is dead. Not even the Koch brother’s backing can save him.

For more on this, read the article at Salon titled: “Scott Walker gasps for air: His Iowa Hail Mary shows a campaign in disarray.”