Walker has done the obligatory Republican things: Concealed-carry, cut taxes, reduced some bureaucracies and regulations, etc.
But what did Walker do when SCOTUS overruled WI's constitutional amendment upholding marriage? He folded like a suit from Goodwill. He could have pulled a Yeltsin and stood up to the Feds, but didn't.
Look what Deal just did in GA. Folded over religious liberty. Look what Snyder did in MI, folded and took the blame for the Flint water crisis. Kasich in OH over expanding Obamacare. Haley in SC over the Confederate flag. The IL Governor folding over the budget deficit.
That's what Sykes is missing. He is missing the full-throated leadership that Trump is bringing to the plate and the supporters who are following him in droves. Sykes is judging Trump in the pretext and prism of general, check-list establishment Republicanism. These Republicans hold the Governorships, the legislatures, and the state Supremes; yet they are not doing jack crap with their power. There's still no pushback on the leftist agenda. None of these Governors are telling Michelle Obama to pound sand on her school lunch program, or on OSHA or the EPA regulations, for example.
Nice try. Except that Trump is on record saying that he would not challenge the latest rulings on religious liberty or the pro-LGBT agenda. You can't fault Wisconsin talk show hosts or even Speaker Ryan on those issues and say you are following Trump's leadership when the Donald is even further to the left.
In fact, Trump is pro- gay marriage and pro- Planned Parenthood and more anti- gun rights. I will agree that Trump is more full-throated, but leadership -- not so much.