Posted on 08/26/2015 2:15:06 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
O n paper, Scott Walker is a winner. He doesn’t just govern a blue state—a win in its own right—he’s transformed it, making Wisconsin a vanguard for conservative causes, from right-to-work laws and public education cuts, to voter ID and strict limits on abortion. He’s done all this with affirmation from Wisconsin voters; he beat a recall attempt in 2012 and won re-election in 2014. Even better, at least for his national ambitions, is his affect. He’s not a firebrand and he doesn’t alienate ordinary Americans. Instead, he looks and sounds like a middle manager; an ordinary, almost boring guy who just wants to save you money.
Walker, put simply, appears tailor-made for a Republican presidential primary—an ideal blend of mainstream experience and conservative politics. But in his months as a presidential candidate, Walker hasn’t been the dark horse we expected—the strongest challenger to Jeb Bush’s dynastic candidacy. He’s been, instead, a non-presence. He doesn’t flicker, let alone catch fire, and when it comes to issues and answering voters, the Wisconsin governor has been awkward, clumsy, and flat-footed. Yes, he has money and yes, he has an organization. But that doesn’t make up for skill, or a lack thereof. So far, he just isn’t good, and it shows.
Take immigration. For all of his nativism and prejudice, Donald Trump has put things in sharp relief, and forced opponents to clarify their beliefs and articulate their stances on the issue. Bush, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich—Walker’s main rivals—have stepped up to the challenge, with conservative positions that still have space to the right, and room to the left, should they get to the general election. Rubio, as we saw during the first Republican presidential debate, won’t take Trump’s anti-immigrant bait....
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more RINO!
Or... the left tells us what we think, again.
The LMSM and its operatives will try to ensure that the candidates most threatening to them drop out before the primary.
Sad when the leftist press gets a lot of this. Two months ago I said that Walker, while so successful as a governor, just doesn’t have “it.” They put it that he doesn’t “flicker.”
He may not flicker...but does he twerk...?
Like the left ever KNEW what a conservative thinks. For years, the “progressive” point of view has been so enamored of its own wit and glib sophistry, that it has completely forgotten the mother tongue, and speaks only in a form of political Esperanto, of which only they know of the inside jokes and the fine nuances that people OUGHT to live by.
Whether the “progressives” understand what is going on or not.
Ewwwww
Does the views of an extreme leftist site like Slate really mean anything?
The left wants to have one defeat of Walker they can claim as their own since they have failed three times now.
Of course, Cruz supporters love to help the left in their efforts.
What is truly funny is that Cruz’s poll numbers are worse than Walker’s....but they post how Walker is failing.
LMAO
“He may not flicker...but does he twerk...?”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Well, he did make Wisconsin a right-twerk state.
Flop Walker and his democrat handler George Will needs to just go away.
That, was funny!
The sad truth about a presidential election is that in an entertainment-based society an effective leader isn’t good enough to win on merit. I’ve got nothing against Donald Trump, but he’s demonstrating that the ideal candidate for the White House these days is a circus clown.
True. The enemy today is progressivism, I see only four hopefuls without detectable levels of it. Cruz, Jindal, Fiorina, Paul.
Well, this will make a lot of FReepers happy. Though he’s the most battle-tested and accomplishment-laden of all 17 candidates, he’s not going to thrill anyone... and charisma counts.
It’s pretty easy to explain. Walker is run by the CoC and the GOPe. That works in Wi when you are busting unions, but not anywhere else.
In addition to his CoC and GOPe ties.....look who he has surrounded himself with...Dayspring, Ed Gillespie, former Romney advisors.....is there any doubt as to why he is losing?
Walker has defeated himself by associating with folks like Dayspring, Ed Gillespie, etc....and not being able figure out his position on birthright citizenship. Sure the media gets an assist, but he has done this to himself.
I thought Tim Pawlenty made a terrible mistake dropping out of the 2012 race when he did.
Sure he was stuck at 3% in the polls, but what does that matter? He was a credible alternative to Mitt Romney and a credible candidate for the general election. Romney was the Front Runner with about 30% in the polls, with a bunch of guys beating their brains out trying to move their numbers up from 7% to 8%.
The way to win in that situation is to stay on the stage. In 2012, the Republican primary vote could be thought of as 30% Romney and 70% Not Romney. When it all shakes out, and all of the Not Romneys but one drop out, sure Romney would have picked up a few of the Not Romneys, but most of them would have fallen to the Credible Alternative. Tim Pawlenty is the very embodiment of the Credible Alternative.
Scott Walker is not ideal for this role. He is not simply a Credible Alternative. He is a polarizing figure in his own right. Not all of the Not Trump voters will necessarily like Scott Walker. And if he keeps yelping every time his major donors tug on his leash, like he did on Birthright Citizenship, he is going to lose a lot of his credibility.
Right now, I would say that John Kasich is better positioned to be the Credible Alternative to Donald Trump. If I were Kasich, I would simply stop reading the polls, stay on message, and stay on the stage. I would not spend one thin dime on advertising buys to try to move my number from 4% to 4.5%. The only poll that matters is the one that happens in a voting booth.
Kasich (or Walker, perhaps) has to play for the day when Donald Trump falters. Then he wants to be standing there, having done nothing to embarrass himself, as the calm, sober figure that appeals to core Republican voters. Kasich should be working on correcting his positions and aligning himself with the base, and setting himself up for that day.
And that day may never come. If Trump never falters, then it is all a moot point. But the only plausible path that leads to a Kasich (or Walker, perhaps) victory, is to play for Trump to stumble, and for all of the other Not Trumps to drop out.
This same pattern plays itself out every four years. But it is doubly so in 2015, when the Silly Season has been way sillier than usual.
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