Stanley S. Hubbard, a conservative billionaire who oversees a Minnesota broadcasting company and has donated to Walker’s campaign, said the candidate has promised he would not push a “social agenda” as president and is simply expressing his personal beliefs when asked.
“If he’s smart, he will get back to basics and get back to what he did in Wisconsin [and] get off the social issues,” said Hubbard, who had lunch on Tuesday with Walker and other campaign supporters. “No one is asking him to change the morals of America.”
Promises to donors like Hubbard may explain why Walker periodically blurts he’s not running on social issues.
Walker has promised to sign a 20-week bill on abortion but not necessarily to push it through Congress. He endorsed a Constitutional amendment returning the power to define marriage to the states, but the president need not even sign a Constitutional amendment. Walker speaks a lot about religious liberty as a Constitutional value but not what he would do to protect it.
Walker pledged in a conference call to take a more fighting stance. Fighting for what, exactly? Social conservatives should be aware of the claims Hubbard is making publicly that Walker has promised not to push “social issues.” What will Walker actually do for those of us who care about life, marriage and religious liberty? Enquiring social conservatives will want to know the answer.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at American Principles in Action.
