Posted on 03/16/2015 9:20:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Governor moves toward conservatism before presidential campaign announcement.
Gov. Scott Walker acknowledged his flip on immigration during an interview on Fox News Sunday this month – a move consistent with his shift toward being a model conservative.
The reason behind the change is simple, experts say; Walker is interested in a 2016 presidential bid.
Walker recently announced he now supports stricter border patrol and opposes “amnesty” programs which allow certain undocumented workers to stay in the United States. He previously supported creating a path toward citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
According to University of Wisconsin political science professor Kenneth Mayer, Walker’s stance on immigration is consistent with previous Republican presidential candidates. Since the majority of the Republican Party opposes immigration reform that leads to a path to citizenship, this will likely help him secure a presidential nomination, Mayer said.
Immigration is one of the most divisive issues in the Republican Party with voters in Iowa especially tending to oppose a path to citizenship in favor of stricter border control, UW political science professor David Canon said.
“There are a whole range of things where he’s taking a position that’s consistent with what conservative voters in the Republican primaries and caucuses tend to be in favor of, and immigration is a big one,” Canon said.
Republicans over the last 10 to 15 years have “run to the right” during the primaries and then back to the center in the general election, Mayer said. Since candidates must appeal more to the base in the primaries, oftentimes more conservative voters have a greater pull on a candidate’s platform, he said.
Mayer said this has been true in Iowa the past two elections. The past two caucus victories have gone to Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008, both of whom are considered to be more conservative Republicans, he said.
Canon said this is likely a wise move for the primaries, but taking a stronger stance now could hurt Walker’s chances in the general election. In 2012, presidential candidate Mitt Romney changed his views on immigration to support stricter border control and oppose immigration reform, which Canon said hurt him in the general election.
Mayer said the Republican Party has struggled to appeal to non-white voters in recent years, which has hurt candidates in the general election.
“The Republican Party has a big problem appealing to non-white voters, and the demographic group in the United States that is growing the fastest are Hispanics,” Mayer said. “Taking a hardline stance now will make it more difficult in the general election to move back.”
In contrast, according to Politico, Obama’s support from the Latino community has continued to increase over his presidency. In fact, according to their findings, the next democratic nominee could potentially receive more than 80 percent of Latino votes.
But immigration is only the tip of the iceberg. Walker has recently changed his stance on other issues to appeal more to the Republican base, Canon said.
When Walker ran for governor in 2014, he cut an ad saying that abortion was a private choice between a woman and her doctor, and he recently announced his support for ethanol subsidies, which he opposed in 2006, Mayer said.
Canon said although he believes voters will respect Walker’s right to change his mind, doing so across several issues could hurt him in the long run.
“I think that once it becomes a pattern, across four or five different issues that all seem to be pointing in [a more conservative] direction, some people will question whether this is a real change or whether he will change back a couple months later if he got the nomination,” Canon said.
Does that make the article false? Is the opinion of that poli-sci professor fake?
Willard Lite
I suggest a new law: You can’t vote in this country unless you’ve lived here for fifteen years.
Okay, okay, who would dare to suggest it? No one right now!
But the first Republican President who is elected should campaign for a change in our Constitution and SAVE AMERICA.
Go ahead and attack me, I’m on my way back to bed.
We’ve been here since the early 1700’s. we fought in all the wars. If illegals are given voting rights, then all bets are off.
Let’s see Walker call for deporting illegals. That really separates the frauds from the rest. So far Jeff Sessions is about the only Senator who is unafraid to call for deporting illegal alien foreign nationals.
Cruz has, many times.
Yeah. In places where "conservative" is code for "Christian." Where "conservative" relates to use of government -- using it with restraint, conservatively -- Huckabee and Santorum are pro government.
Confusion as to what being "conservative" means wreaks havoc in the GOP.
I hope he has because I’d like to have someone to vote for. I just haven’t seen it.
He previously supported creating a path toward citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Walker has openly supported a path toward citizenship for those who actually want to come to the US and work here....LEGALLY.
He has been consistent in opposing AMNESTY for those who broke the law.
From Walker's time as a Milwaukee County Executive, he opposed amnesty.
Walker opposed sanctuary cities and turning Wisconsin into a sanctuary state.
There is nothing inconsistent here, except the honesty of those who wish to derail Walker.
Wrong, we have a path to citizenship for immigrants, always have.
Walker did support creating a new path for illegal aliens as recently as 2013
Please cite the quote.
“You can’t vote in this country unless you’ve lived here for fifteen years.”........
Do you actually believe that would stop illegal voting in this country? We can’t even get voter I.D. passed, how do you expect your suggestion to make it over the line?
Honeymoon Over: Scott Walker Under Fire for New Open Borders Amnesty Advocate Staffer Who Mocks Iowa
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made another massive misstep on Monday, hiring Liz Mair of Mair Strategies to handle communications and social media for his campaign-in-waiting.
Mair’s support for amnesty for illegal aliens, wide-open-borders immigration policies, and public advocacy for the Senate “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill is sure to dog Walker in Iowa, South Carolina, and other early presidential states.
During the Senate Gang of Eight bill fight, Mair very publicly and very aggressively promoted the amnesty bill—pushing it to media and making the case for the need for it over and over again. She claims her advocacy was done out of the good of her heart, for free, because for religious reasons she believes in amnesty and open borders. But Mair wouldn’t answer who was paying her bills for her advocacy during the timeframe of the “Gang of Eight” bill in early 2013 through the end of the last Congress–when asked by Breitbart News if any specific tech companies or a select group of Wall Street billionaires were paying her.
OMG! Walker hired someone for social media that does not agree 100% with the conservative agenda!!!
Walker should be surrounding himself with Yes-men and Yes-women, like Obama does, instead of people with their own opinions!
Clearly you are not able to play connect-the-dots and see reality.
It is not possible that you are seeing connections where none exist?
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