Fournier: We Learned a Lot About Scott Walker This Week and ‘Not All of it Very Good’

HAMBY: “I’m actually surprised that Walker sort of dug himself into this hole with the Giuliani issue, with telling Dan Balls that he wasn’t sure President Obama is a Christian or not. But, to your point, these are questions that he’s going to have to face from pesky reporters if he wants to step into the national spotlight. Do you blame the media tactic is not terribly interesting or creative, but it is a sign that he is on the defensive and he can –“

FOURNIER “It’s — first, when you’re blaming the media, you’re losing.”

HAMBY: “Yes.”

FOURNIER: “Second of all. I’ve always found my job as a reporter, of course you ask questions that are relevant to people and they’re in the news. But part of my job too is also to test these men and women.”

KING: “Right.”

FOURNIER: “To see if they’re ready for the big-time, to see if they’re ready to be a presidential candidate, to see if they’re ready to be president. And one way to do that, I learned this covering Bill Clinton a long time ago in Arkansas, is asked the stupidest question I can think of.”

KING: “Right.”

FOURNIER: “The most innate, obnoxious question, to see how they respond, because we’re testing them. It’s not about us. It’s not how smart of a question I can ask. But when I asked Bill Clinton a dumb question in the hallways of the Capitol, it kind of was revealing of him. And we learned a lot about Walker this week, and not all of it very good.”