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You’d think a governor, organizing his own question and answer sessions, would pick easier questions. But not Scott Walker. In a new series of YouTube videos begun last week, he answers questions submitted by email, Twitter or Facebook in a face-to-face style reminiscent of some of his campaign ads. And he doesn’t duck the hardballs.

There are no ham and cheese sandwiches to be seen, but the videos are labeled as “online brown bag lunches” with Walker, who sits at his desk with pictures of family members arrayed behind him, not to mention a “Wisconsin is Open for Business” sign. (A previous video introducing the series caught the governor’s desk in greater disarray: A phone was perched on the table behind him along with bottles of lotion and hand sanitizer.)

brown bag lunches

The style is more formal than the campaign ads in which Walker the candidate, perched on a couch with his tie loosened and collar unbuttoned, eagerly sought a little “face time” with potential voters. Now, the collar is buttoned, although the shirt is still blue and the tie is still red.

Compromise

The series leads with a hum-dinger: “With all due respect, does compromise have a place in your administration? Please give examples of big compromises you made.”

The question came from a Twitter account belonging to Toni Morrissey, a media specialist for UW Health, the UW Hospital and Clinics and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Apparently Walker has ruffled feathers over at the UW Hospital and Clinics, where his Budget Repair Bill would stop collective bargaining.

In the style of the videos, the governor reads the question then puts down the paper and looks directly into the camera – Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie says the answer are “off the cuff” and unscripted.

Walker says there are “a couple different ones,” including bipartisan legislation passed during the special session on economic development and changes to the Budget Repair Bill made by legislators that he later signed, such as a new grievance procedure for local government employees who lose union representation.

Walker also says the DNR has offered “alternatives” to legislators regarding his proposal to end the state recycling mandate, but he doesn’t elaborate. Part of Walker’s proposed 2011-13 budget, the provision has run into opposition from a few high-ranking Republican lawmakers, including State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Burlington), co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee.

There were other compromises, although Walker doesn’t bring them up: In signing the Budget Repair Bill, the governor agreed to an amendment introduced in the legislature that limited special powers given to the state Department of Health Services to trim Medicaid costs.

Highways vs. schools

In the most incisive of the questions answered thus far, Walker is asked, “Why did you put road construction in front of school funding?”

The governor’s proposed 2011-13 includes large cuts to local school aid but major new funding for state highway projects, such as the Zoo Interchange revamping.

“It’s really two separate accounts,” Walker responds, explaining school aid comes from the general fund and highway dollars are held in a segregated account, the state Transportation Fund, which is supported by state gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. It also gets federal highway funds and bond revenue.

Walker’s budget would put an end to transfers out of the fund. (Gov. Jim Doyle sometimes diverted transportation dollars to pay school aid, among other things.) But it would also divert into the Transportation Fund some $95 million in automobile sales taxes from the general fund – where they could have helped pay for school aid. The budget would also move transit funding to the general fund, where it would compete with schools for dollars.

Softballs

Only a couple of the questions fielded by Walker thus far have been softballs. In response to one submitted via Facebook, asking the governor what he’s doing to help small businesses, Walker cites the special session, its tort reform legislation and other measures aimed at making the state more business-friendly.

He touches, for a brief moment, on the notion that the state’s business climate depends as much on perception as reality. “Part of it’s changing the climate when it comes to the symbolism and the feeling that people have,” he says, “but a large part of it is going from symbolism to substance.”

Walker adds that meeting his goal of creating 250,000 jobs will depend on small businesses. “That means 10, 20, 15 or so at a time,” he says, showing no signs of discouragement. What about larger employers on the order of 1,000 or 2,000 jobs? “I’ll do cartwheels to bring them on in here,” the governor proposes.

Another softie, from a Milwaukeean’s Facebook account, asks the governor, “What made a PK from a smallish town want to get involved in politics? Did you feel the fire early, or did you kind of stumble into it?”

We’re guessing here that “PK” stands for “preacher’s kid” (Walker is a minister’s son) but the governor, in his answer, doesn’t attempt to explain what “PK” means or how it affected his political career. (Wikipedia makes the following observation of the acronym’s use: “Although the phrase can be used in a purely descriptive way, it is often used pejoratively or stereotypically.”)

Walker offers up the usual background details – participating in Badger Boys State in high school, working for IBM and the Red Cross, etc. – adding, “I knew eventually I’d be called into to doing something that would ultimately serve the public, and that’s the route I’ve chosen.”

More to come

At the end of every video, Walker asks for more questions.

Werwie says the governor plans on doing them “for the foreseeable future,” taping them on an as-time-allows basis.

“It’s a great way for me to stay connected to you, and for you to hear directly from me,” says the governor.

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