Top Republican, campaigning for gubernatorial candidate, says some of state’s voters ‘might not be as sharp as a knife’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

In a tight election it’s common to flatter voters or promise them the earth, but a top Republican supporting governor Scott Walker’s campaign in Wisconsin has tried a novel approach: insulting them.



“I don’t want to say anything about your Wisconsin voters,” Sharon Day, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, told an audience, “but some of them might not be as sharp as a knife.”

Parachuting into a battleground state to tell voters they’re not very bright and should vote for Walker suggested Day might not be the sharpest tool in the GOP box.

Bill Glauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the comments, made at a party field office in Waukesha, and they swiftly made headlines. Day must have “missed the memo” on charming voters, wrote the Huffington Post.

Opinion polls show a dead heat between Walker and his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, in next month’s midterm election. They are tied at 47%, according to a Marquette University poll.



Day, who was born in Texas and has lived the last few decades in Florida, where she serves as the party’s top official, flew in with other GOP bigwigs to bolster Walker.

She appeared baffled that badger state voters were not all clamouring to re-elect a divisive governor with an anaemic job creation record. “It’s not going to be an easy election, it’s a close election. Like I said, much closer than I can even understand why.”

Walker is a GOP star for having faced down public sector unions. He is touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2016.