Posted on 04/06/2015 1:40:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It was only weeks ago that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker emerged as a prospective 2016 Republican presidential candidate who might be best positioned to unite a fractious GOP. Walker’s ostensive ability to appeal to both the Republican Party’s tea party wing and the coastal “establishment” faction indicated that Walker might enter the primary field a prohibitive favorite. Some speculated that he could run as strong a campaign in Iowa as he would run in New Hampshire. What looked like an open field for the GOP ahead of 2016 suddenly began to appear virtually closed.
Polls of the national GOP primary electorate – an admittedly fictitious animal — still indicate that Walker enjoys Jeb Bush levels of support from Republican voters, but that backing has begun to ebb as voters learn more about the Wisconsin governor. The Washington Examiner’s Byron York noted that there is probably a correlation between Walker’s lack of name recognition among Republicans and his relatively high levels of support.
For a candidate who starts out with little national recognition, a campaign is a long process of telling voters who he is. With the general public — and all three polls cited above were of the public, not just Republicans — Walker is still a mystery for a large number of people. Even some Republicans who know of Walker and like him base their opinion on what they know about Walker’s stand against public-sector unions in Wisconsin, and little beyond that. Despite all the attention the media has paid to the campaign so far, Walker is still starting out when it comes to explaining to voters who he is and why he’s running.
And while Walker is defining himself for the Republican electorate, other candidates who have already established their brand are surging.
According to the results of a Monmouth University survey of the national GOP electorate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) now polls competitively with Walker at 11 percent support each. In that survey, Jeb Bush maintains a nominal lead at 13 percent.
What’s more, Cruz and Walker have similar favorability ratings among GOP voters. Monmouth found 49 percent of the Republican electorate views Cruz favorability while 44 percent have a similar opinion of Walker.
While Monmouth noted that Walker continues to enjoy a significant amount of support from conservatives and his favorability ratings have markedly increased in recent months, “nearly half of Republican voters in the country don’t know enough about him yet to form an opinion.”
But the most interesting finding in this Monmouth survey came when the pollsters narrowed the field to just Cruz and Walker. In a head-to-head matchup, Republican voters backed Cruz over Walker at 41 to 36 percent.
The Scott Walker boomlet that characterized the early months of 2015 has not entirely dissipated, but the surge of support for Ted Cruz that accompanied his presidential announcement has elevated him to the top tier of 2016 candidates. According to this poll, Cruz at least has the capacity at this stage of the race to unseat Walker as the singular anti-Bush.
Ping!
Scott Walker’s greatest appeal early on was that he was NOT Jeb Bush.
And he still has that going for him.
I love Cruz - he’s the true Constitutional Conservative that can save America.
I’m eager to see what happens after the Rand Paul & Rubio announcements - both are hopeless losers.
I see Ted going the distance!
But, but, but, what does it matter, the NYT will praise Jeb to the hilt shortly, once he is officially in. The NYT will report that Jeb is the peoples choice vs Hillary. Republicans can’t lose with Bush on the ticket. To bad we can’t fund Bernie Sanders to run on a 3rd Party ticket, if that was possible, Jeb might have a chance with 34% of the vote. Kinda like how Slick made it, in 92’.
The first paragraph vastly overstates the case anyone made for Walker’s likely nomination.
But that said, we now have at least a two-Conservative race.
Get a couple more in there, and the divided right wing can really hand the nomination to a moderate as they do every time.
The comments at the site are heartening, from this Cruz supporter’s POV.
Scott Walker did himself in by pussyfooting around on amnesty and RFRA laws.
TED CRUZ - MORE THAN QUALIFIED TO BE POTUS - 2016
http://www.tedcruz.org/
Pretty impressive...
• Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 - May 2008, Cruz was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the entire country, not to mention the longest tenure in Texas history.
• Partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.
• Cruz has authored 80+ SCOTUS briefs and presented 40+ oral arguments before The Court
• Cruz served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Cruz was the first Hispanic ever to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States
• Described as a ‘superb’ constitutional lawyer, the man’s considerable skills and laser-like focus were on display for all when he took oily reptile Eric Holder by the neck and made him
answer the damn question.
• In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz assembled a coalition of 31 states in defense of the principle that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.
• Cruz presented oral argument for the amici states in the companion case to Heller before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
• In addition to his victory in Heller, Cruz has successfully defended the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools and the majority of the 2003 Texas redistricting plan. Cruz also successfully defended, in Medellin v. Texas, the State of Texas against an attempt by the International Court of Justice to re-open the criminal convictions of 51 murderers on death row throughout the United States.
• Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission
• Domestic Policy Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign.
• Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation
• Ted Cruz is currently junior US Senator from Texas. In order to win the 2012 Republican nomination for the Senate seat vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, Cruz had to defeat Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst -heavily favored/backed by the DC old-guard GOP- in the Republican primary runoff. In the event, TEA Party favorite Cruz crushed Dewhurst, 57-43%...
he then beat Democrat Paul Sadler in the general election by a similar margin, 56-41. Cruz is also endorsed by the Tea Party Movement and the Republican Liberty Caucus.
• AWARDS: “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business,” Chambers USA (2009 & 2010) “50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America,” National Law Journal (2008) “25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century,” Texas Lawyer (2010) “20 Young Hispanic Americans on the Rise,” Newsweek (1999) Traphagen Distinguished Alumnus, Harvard Law School
• On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He is now spearheading efforts in the Senate to have root-and-branch...
Godspeed, Senator Cruz- I’m all in.
Meanwhile HRC gets to skate. Not sure if this is an advantage or disadvantage.
So do I.
Scott Walker did himself in by pussyfooting around on amnesty and RFRA laws.
**********
How about his bent knees on ethanol?
If it is Walker vs. Cruz for the nod, I am good with that!
Remember: no human being has ever met the FR “qienes mas Conservito” measure. Apply the Buckley Rule accordingly.
Scott Walker (who has been one hell of an outstanding governor) has been his own worst enemy by NEEDLESSLY twisting himself into a pretzel to be on both sides of several important issues. He and his campaign staff are responsible for any fading he may be undergoing.
We’re running into the same problem we had before where there are too many good, conservative candidates. They held on for too long and the media, the GOP and big liberal money were able to elect another elite as the candidate. Dole, McCain and Romany were not even close to conservative. Too many candidates spoil the possibilities for each other. I don’t know what the answer is and it’s a better problem than the liberals who have zero bench.
Counting Walker out is as silly as counting Cruz out.
Both Cruz and Walker have shown the fortitude and resolve to stand up to the leftist pressure groups and the MSM.
Both have been viciously and dishonestly attacked. Both have remained true to their principles.
There are very few politicians today who anyone could say that about.
Too much waffling on the alien invasion.
Too early to put it in Cruz control yet. I want to see these guys debate throughout the summer and fall so all of us can get a fair estimation of who will best carry the conservative message to America. Also, to see if they can handle the pressure of the presidential race and the scrutiny of being in the world spotlight.
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