What sort of emotional damage did this guy do to these people, first by signing the collective bargaining bill and then by stomping them in the recall, that they would resort to this to try to find “dirt” on him?

I’m not even mad. I just want to hug them and reassure them that the Walker presidency won’t be as bad as they think.

“There is a pattern in Scott Walker’s career where he gets caught knowing about illegal activity and then tries to blame it on others. Walker needs to stop ignoring legitimate questions from the Wisconsin and national press and explain what he knew and when about the illegal activities happening in the County Executive Office literally only feet away from his desk,” American Bridge President Brad Woodhouse said.

In 1988, Walker wanted to become president of the school’s student government, known as the Associated Students at Marquette University. He was running against John Quigley, a liberal student, in a race that became incredibly contentious. Election rules said that presidential candidates could not begin campaigning until after they registered, which started on Feb. 3.

Walker, however, was caught campaigning on Jan. 24…

As punishment, the campus elections commission prohibited Walker from campaigning until Feb. 4, 7:00 p.m. — 24 hours after other candidates were officially allowed to begin. In response, Walker said, “I found no fault in their decision. … All it does is limit me for one day.”

He started campaigning again on February 4 at 11 a.m., eight hours before he was allowed to. So I guess that makes scandal number two.

Incidentally, the election for college president was one of the last he’d ever lose. He lost again in 1990 when he ran for state assembly but then won an open seat three years later and hasn’t lost since — assemblyman, Milwaukee county executive, governor, and then the recall. (He ran briefly for governor in 2006 but dropped out early.) No wonder liberals feel nostalgic for his Marquette days.

Seriously, what’s the strategy behind pushing a story like this? I can spitball all sorts of theories but none of them are convincing. Could be that, having landed some bruising shots on Christie, they’re feeling their oats and figured they’d take a run at the other top-flight blue-state GOP governor. They embarrassed themselves with this one — but it has the upside, I guess, of making the other nothingburger scandal from his 2010 run for governor look serious by comparison. Or maybe they think, not incorrectly, that the GOP’s destined to spend campaign hours revisiting Hillary’s past and therefore they might as well start shoveling oppo on Republican contenders’ bios too. But that doesn’t add up: Focusing on a sub-petty transgression like Walker’s college presidential campaign only makes Hillary’s flaws as an adult politico seem more momentous. And why would you want to play “battle of the bios” anyway when you know it’s an invitation to re-air the Clintons’ dirty laundry? If I were Hillary’s advisor, I’d want her to take the high road and to stay focused entirely on the future while on the stump. No one seriously thinks a GOP campaign focused primarily on Billary’s corruption will succeed; it’s old news that’s already mostly priced into their political stock — ironically, the same problem the left is having right now in trying to get traction on Walker and the “Emailgate” scandal. In the end, maybe there’s no strategy here. It’s just silly season at work — too soon for 2016 campaigning but too late for any major new initiatives in Congress this year with the midterms so close. Gotta fill the content tree somehow.

Exit quotation from Ace: “In related news, Rachel Maddow just emailed me: ‘Looks like I’ve got my March programming all set.'”