Posted on 02/05/2015 3:03:38 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Unlike Rand Paul, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker does not believe the GOP needs an ideological update. Unlike Marco Rubio, he doesn’t represent a more inclusive future for the party. Unlike Jeb Bush, he is not a known member of the Bush family.
That just about makes him the most natural candidate for the GOP in 2016. He fought in deep-blue Wisconsin on core conservative movement values — and he won. Finally, here is a true believer who is also competent at politicking and governing.
At least that’s the pitch that's being made this week, as Walker enjoys his first wave of 2016 buzz. It also puts him in a position to be the hero of a story conservatives tell about themselves.
America’s different ideological camps all use stories to explain where the country is today and why. Many progressives think things have generally just gotten worse, in all ways but social issues. Since the rise of Nixon and later Reagan, they see right-wing triumph everywhere. Tax rates falling, welfare rolls slashed, wages stagnating, inequality increasing, Koch brothers smiling. Obama appealed powerfully to liberals, and the 00’s “netroots” in particular, because he was cast as a transformational president like Reagan.
The conservative movement’s narrative is one of frustration. Liberal ideas are proven failures. Where conservative ideas have been tried, they have flourished: look at broken-windows policing in New York City, or the light-touch regulatory burden that makes Houston a magnet for middle-income families. More and more Americans call themselves conservatives. And conservatives have generally been good at putting Republicans in positions of power.
But instead of a massive downsizing of Washington to Swiss canton–size, the presidents conservatives elect sign stuff like The Americans with Disabilities Act, or Medicare Part D. They work with Teddy Kennedy on No Child Left Behind. These laws not only expand the reach of the federal government, but invite further liberal expansion in efforts like ObamaCare or Common Core.
Why? Some conservatives blame a Beltway culture of lobbyists and influence-peddling. Others cite a lack of courage and conviction. They say we need a “true conservative,” but with the stones to win.
This is where Scott Walker saunters in and casually tosses his cape over his shoulder. His “budget repair bill” was not just a conservative tweak of the tax code — it was a very canny effort to weaken public-sector unions in Wisconsin. Many were predicting that Wisconsin’s strong labor heritage, combined with a public backlash against Walker’s confrontational politics, would unseat him. Instead, he became the first governor in American history to survive a recall.
His story fits right into that self-flattering conservative narrative of frustration. Walker didn’t try to charm Wisconsin’s liberal establishment with some Kenny G-soft-jazz conservatism; he threw liberals into a dark cramped room and turned Metallica up to 11. He stood for what the movement believed in, and he won not just an election, but a structural reform of Wisconsin’s politics that tips the game-board in a conservative direction. He expanded school-choice initiatives. He did not set up an ObamaCare exchange in Wisconsin, rejecting federal dollars. He signed a Voter ID law. And then he won re-election in a state that went for Obama by 7 points.
This is the story that “movement” people of any type like to hear: if you show your backbone, explain yourself clearly and loudly, the people will rally behind you.
This isn’t to say that Walker doesn’t have challenges. Although the conservative movement’s views are widely shared across the party, the movement is not identical to the GOP. National parties tend to be more forgiving of (and even anxious to have) an unorthodox candidate after eight years of exile from the White House. This leaves an opening for a Jeb Bush, or if every butterfly across the globe flaps just right, a Rand Paul.
Walker has deficiencies of charm and geography compared to Marco Rubio. The Floridian senator is not only a more attractive stage presence, but far more likely to drag his state into the red column in a 2016 race. Rubio also at least provides the hope of moving the needle among non-Republican demographics in a way that Walker does not.
But after the 2010 and 2014 elections, the GOP may settle on a story that Romney was uniquely charmless and Obama uniquely charmed, and that the only change the party needs is a leader from the Republican wing of the Republican Party. Walker fits that bill.
Look up his quotes on securing the border....he’s opposed to a border fence/wall. He says it’s unnecessary.
I’m not impressed.
“You hear some people talk about border security and a wall and all that, to me, I don’t think you need any of that if you have a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place.” - Walker
To the author: “You keep using the word ‘hero’ . . . .”
Seems you’ve “heard” a lot - please gather and post some sources so we can evaluate what you’ve “heard.”
Can you supply a link to when that was said - the full context?
Thanks!
He’s not perfect, but he’s a damn site better than most of them running.
http://www.ontheissues.org/Scott_Walker.htm#Immigration
Walker and Jindal?
Walker and Cruz are my top choices.We have a deep bench...
Rubio and Cruz, for that matter, need executive experience. Let them serve as governors first and see how they do. No more Senators for President.
In general, a governor is better than a senator for executive office. Walker is fine. Pick the right VP candidate and you’ve got a winning ticket.
Sound advice for any potential candidate. That said, I don't know if there IS a "perfect" conservative candidate, certainly not one on the radar screen.
Given that, I am certainly willing to warm up to a Walker candidacy, especially with the right running mate. He has shown that he is not afraid of a public relations' fight, like so many eGOP are. Even better, he's made some sweeping changes while in office, not content to simply "move the chairs around in the governor's office." This is exactly what this country will need in 2016. We have a long way to go to undo all the damage the Obama administration will have done.
If he truly believes this, he's not what conservatives should be looking for because he hasn't been paying attention to what the Republican Party has become.
The Republican Party needs a top-down remaking in conservative principle or it needs to splinter.
What do you think Walker meant by that statement?
As a matter of fact, try to find where he said it.
"....But for Walker, it’s still Morning in America. At the Freedom Summit, he actually asserted that the United States is “one of the few places left in the world where it doesn’t matter what class you were born into, it doesn’t matter what your parents did for a living. In America, the opportunity is equal for each and every one of us.” As even National Review has noted, that just ain’t so.
After the 2012 election, many pundits deemed it inevitable that Congressional Republicans would respond to Romney’s defeat by passing immigration reform. They didn’t. Now pundits are lavishing attention on those GOP presidential candidates who are trying to update their party’s image and message. But Scott Walker is betting that conservative activists aren’t interesting in adapting to Obama’s America. And if last weekend’s Freedom Summit is any guide, he may be right."
I conclude that the author wishes to distract us from a real conservative.
This is the link
“It’s all is about the 11 million [undocumented immigrants],” Walker said. “You hear some people talk about border security and a wall and all that. To me, I don’t know that you need any of that if you had a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place.”
Walker added: “If people want to come here and work hard in this country, I don’t care if you come from Mexico or Canada or Ireland or Germany or South Africa or anywhere else. I want them
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