To understand Walker, go back to the tapes

Reporters just now getting a handle on Scott Walker - - whether about his ducking issues, evading responsibilities or resorting to punitive policies - - should take a few minutes and review two tapes and two short videos which give a deeper and more revealing glimpse into manipulative and aggrandizing practices Walker has hidden under a teflon suit of "Midwestern nice."

It offers insights into Walker's signature unbending or unapologetic certitude and the overall importance of faith in his life which became apparent this week to some when Walker chose to dodge a question about whether he believed in evolution.

President Walker Primer: 4 things you should know about Scott Walker before it’s too late

So … Scott Walker is all but officially running for president, and the country is getting a look at a man whom we residents of Wisconsin have been living with since before he became governor. While the national press has focused on the policies and conservative ideology that Walker has imposed on our state, these don’t define the man or explain the mayhem he has caused here.

The massive protests against Walker in 2011 began with “Act 10,” which stripped public employee unions of almost all of their rights and power. Walker loves to leave the story there and depicts ongoing opposition to him as a fight between him and the unions. It’s a narrative that sells well to his donors and to a national press eager for narrative simplicity.

But Act 10 was only a triggering event, not the sole or even primary motivation of Walker’s opponents. While much of the opposition to Walker centers around his policies, there is more to it than that. It is the way he implements these policies, the way he deals with opposition, and the way he rewards his allies that make Walker not just divisive, but frightening. Even conservatives who share Walker’s ideology should distrust him, and dread the prospect of him becoming president.