Bloomberg: ‘Scott Walker Is King of Kochworld’

From Bloomberg Politics:

The relationship between the Kochs and Walker was cemented during Walker’s bitter war against public unions that led to a recall election in 2012. During the tense weeks of standoff at the capitol in Madison, it was the Kochs’ Tea Party troops who provided the main counterforce to the tens of thousands of union activists protesting the governor, in a battle Walker eventually won.

As the struggle raged, Walker’s alliance with his benefactors was embarrassingly satirized when a liberal blogger posing as David Koch (whom at that point Walker had never met) kept him on the line for 20 minutes, making the governor look like a lapdog to the powerful industrialist.

This year, the relationship may evolve in unpredictable ways. With three tough statewide election victories under his belt, Walker, 47, is poised to pursue the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. The Kochs have pledged to marshal some $900 million to spend on a fight for the presidency, and although they may not wade directly into the GOP primary muck, their ties to Walker appear stronger than to anyone else considering a run. While the older brother, Charles Koch, has a personal affection for Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the most libertarian-leaning potential candidate of the bunch, Paul doesn’t hold the same appeal for the Kochs’ donor friends. Another high-profile contender, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, hasn’t attended the high-profile donor summits the Kochs host near Palm Springs, Calif., though he was invited this year.

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