Walker aims to blaze Midwestern trail to White House

His megadonors are from Chicago. His brain trust is from Wisconsin. And Iowa is the campaign linchpin.

When he formally announces his presidential bid in a Milwaukee suburb next week, Scott Walker’s campaign will have an unmistakably Midwestern stamp on it, from a stump speech that features giant Midwestern retailer Kohl’s to a primary season strategy pegged to Iowa and Michigan.

The idea is to position the Wisconsin governor as the favorite son of the Midwest, where he hopes to run up the score beginning with Iowa next February. Walker has so far raised nearly $30 million for his effort, according to two sources briefed in his campaign’s finances — much of it collected from powerful heartland benefactors.

But the drawbacks of his approach are already beginning to surface: Walker sometimes seems a little too regional. His grasp on foreign policy has been unsteady and he’s not as well known as many of his GOP foes in the Northeast, especially on Wall Street, where his conservative sensibilities have met with resistance. Over the past year, for example, he’s waged a protracted push to secure the backing of Paul Singer, a New York City-based hedge fund manager and prominent Republican patron, visiting him alone or with small groups on at least three separate occasions. In one recent get-together, Walker even briefed the billionaire on his recent trip to Israel.

But Singer, said several sources familiar with the overtures, has been cool to the Wisconsin governor, turned off by his support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. So, too, have been two other Manhattan-based big donors, Dan Loeb and Cliff Asness, the sources said. All three donors have been vocal supporters of gay rights.

Walker, whose pitch to potential contributors also points to his lengthy record of winning elections, hasn’t been completely shut out: He’s won support from the likes of John Paulson, a New York City hedge fund manager, and last month, while attending a Mitt Romney-hosted donor conference in Utah, the governor won over Philadelphia investor Ira Lubert.

Walker’s highest priority, however, is winning Iowa — where he spent part of his childhood and where polls show him with a lead over a large group of Republican rivals. Anything short of a win there could spell trouble for his prospects of winning the nomination.

But Walker is also beginning to lay the groundwork in Michigan, which is slated to hold its primary a little over a month after Iowa — and offers nearly twice as many delegates. In recent months, he has vigorously courted the DeVos family, some of the most prolific Republican contributors in the state, and state Attorney General Bill Schuette, a longtime office holder who introduced him at a recent Republican Party gathering in Ingham County. Schuette has so far remained neutral, though he’s widely expected to endorse former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose father he once worked for.

The governor’s advisers are in talks about attending the Mackinac Island Republican Leadership Conference in September, a biennial gathering of Michigan’s most powerful figures.

As he charts a course through the heartland, Walker has built a team of advisers with deep experience in the region. His expected campaign manager, Rick Wiley, once served as the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, and two of the top staffers on his super PAC, Keith Gilkes and Stephan Thompson, are veterans of the state’s political battles. The campaign’s likely political director, Matt Mason, was once a top official for the Michigan Republican Party.

“[Walker is] very straightforward, he’s always on message. He’s probably the best I’ve ever seen in terms of keeping his message,” said former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who briefly sought the Republican Party nomination in 2008. “He’s developing a base, a strong base.”

Midwestern money is fueling Walker’s campaign groundwork. His backers include venture capitalist Ken Griffin, a Chicago billionaire who’s plowed in around $100,000, and the Ricketts family, the Chicago Cubs owners who’ve given more than $1 million.

The governor was first introduced to the Ricketts — Joe Ricketts, the family patriarch, is the former chairman of the online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade — in late 2011, while he was combating a recall effort, and they immediately hit it off. In 2012, a Ricketts-funded independent group, Ending Spending, invested nearly $250,000 on a TV ad praising Walker for his “courage to keep his word, and keep Wisconsin moving forward.”

Over the next several years, Walker would join one of Ricketts’ sons, Todd, at his home in Wilmette, Illinois, for barbecues. In 2014, Walker campaigned for another Ricketts son, Pete, in his successful bid for Nebraska governor. This year, after first meeting with several other contenders, Todd Ricketts decided to get behind Walker’s presidential bid and held two fundraisers for him, one of which was attended by Republican megadonor David Koch.

The governor, however, is treading carefully in the Northeast. While his more moderate rivals camp out in New Hampshire — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spent nearly the entire week there after his announcement there — Walker has spent far less time in the state. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, which has been tracking Walker’s political travel, he’s made only three trips to New Hampshire this year, half as many as he’s made to Iowa. It’s reflected in the state polls: According to the most recent CNN/WMUR poll, Walker is in fourth place. While aides insist they are not writing off the Granite State, they acknowledge their prospects are far brighter in Iowa.

They also see some promise in the South, where as the son of a Baptist preacher whose clashes with organized labor brought him national prominence, Walker’s conservative style could play well. Some advisers say it’s critical that, in addition to an Iowa win, the governor finish strongly in South Carolina.

“He may be focusing on the Midwest,” said Jim Klauser, a longtime Walker supporter in Wisconsin who chaired George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign in the state. “But he’s really everywhere.”

Is any of this untrue?
http://www.redstate.com/diary/freedomrepublican/2015/03/09/12-reasons-why-conservatives-should-reject-scott-walker/

1. His soft/superficial opposition to Common Core.

We can see that by what Common Core legislation Walker did support during this year’s legislative session. It would have merely had a commission review Common Core and suggest changes to state Superintendent Tony Evers, a Democrat who signed Wisconsin into Common Core with the stroke of his pen months before Common Core was even published. Come to think of it, him signing Common Core before the public could see what was in it—that would qualify as Wisconsin having “standards set by people in Wisconsin.” Right? So nothing needs to change to meet Walker’s criteria. But some people might believe things had changed. How convenient.

2. He supported citizenship for illegals before he was against it.

“This is not a small thing that Scott Walker just did,” says Frank Sharry of America’s Voice, a group that advocates for immigrants and now is harshly critical of Walker after welcoming his rhetoric just two years ago.

“Now that Scott Walker is on the big stage, he has made it clear he is going to pander to the nativist right at the expense of being able to compete for Latino voters in the general election,” Sharry said. “OK, he’s made his choice. But he’s going to have to live with it, and his party is going to have to live with it.”

3. He supported Right-to-Work legislation when he ran for office and recently signed it into law. But in between those two events, he attempted to strong-arm the GOP-controlled state legislature into dropping it.

Speaking to the GOP members on Wednesday, Walker restated previous comments that the measure would only be a distraction from more important issues. “We’ve got a lot of big reforms to act on…we’ve got a lot of issues with entitlement reform and tax reform and other reforms we’ve talked about…a lot of things to do in both the Legislative session and the budget…and I just have the concern that sorts of issues, particularly early on, might distract from that work,” Walker said.

4. He issued an emergency order bypassing the legislature in order to implement ObamaCare, only to rescind it after pressure from conservative activists.

Last month, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker angered his supporters by signing an emergency rule to implement ObamaCare in the state. After the harsh public outcry, however, Walker has now withdrawn the emergency rule.

Originally, the Governor sought to implement ObamaCare in his state by way of Assembly Bill 210, which was sponsored by a Republican and which was easily passed on October 18 by 57-39 in the Republican-controlled Assembly. Next, Senator Frank Lasee made the dramatic announcement on November 1 that he, as Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, was killing AB 210 by letting it die in his committee. In response, Walker then approved an emergency rule that bypassed the state legislature, accomplished the same purpose as AB 210, and thereby brought Wisconsin statutes into compliance with ObamaCare law.

5. His administration has helped sign people up for the ObamaCare exchanges.

In the meantime, Walker has encouraged state agencies to work with individuals to help them transition to coverage on the exchange. “Even though I’m obviously not a supporter (of Obamacare), I don’t want people to fall between the cracks,” he said.
Interestingly, though liberals have accused Republican governors of trying to sabotage Obamacare, Wisconsin is one of a small number of states where signups for health insurance through February tracked better than projected.

“At least for me, and probably other governors who are in a similar position, we’re not proponents of the law, but it is the law, and more importantly, until we can change and come up with something better to replace the law, we still care about our constituents, we still want people to do well,” he said. “A lot of people think that Republicans like me would want to sabotage the law by making it hard or difficult for people to sign up. I think that’s somewhat shortsighted by our critics, because what we care about more than anything are the people we represent.”

6. He went after public sector unions, except those that he didn’t want to go after.

Walker has introduced a bill that would strip public employees across the board – from teachers to snowplow drivers – of their right to collectively bargain for sick leave, vacation, even the hours they work. But absolutely nothing would change for local police, fire departments and the State Patrol.

The bill smacks of political favoritism for public safety unions that supported Walker’s election bid last year and sets up new haves and have-nots in Wisconsin government, said Paul Secunda, a Marquette University professor who specializes in labor law.

“That’s called ’thank you, I got your back,’” Secunda said. “There’s no surprise there. This is the worst type of favoritism there could be.”

7. He has endorsed crony-capitalism by way of providing $220 million in taxpayer money to finance an NBA stadium.

Calling his plan a “common-sense, fiscally conservative approach,” Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday said new growth in income tax revenue from Milwaukee Bucks players, employees and visiting teams will generate enough money to cover debt payments on $220 million in state-issued bonds for a new arena.

Walker told members of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and media at a news conference that he would put the plan in his state budget next week.

Walker called it a “Pay Their Way” proposal.

8. He’s a seemingly reluctant fighter on abortion.

“I’m still pro-life,” he added before dismissing how important the laws he signed were to voters. Defunding Planned Parenthood, he said, “gets some activists worked up, but taxpayers say ‘What’s the big deal there?’”

Last July, when Walker signed several pro-life bills, he did so without the fanfare that typically accompanies major bill signings. He signed the legislation behind closed doors the day after Independence Day, a Friday, when it was sure to get little media attention. His only announcement about the legislation was a generic tweet: “Spent the morning signing 18 bills into law.”

Walker’s downplaying of abortion has been more than rhetorical. Walker now seems to be backing away from support for several pro-life bills that may soon reach his desk. One would ensure that state taxpayer funds are not used to fund abortions for state employees and exempt religious entities from having to pay for health insurance coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs; another would outlaw sex-selection abortions; and another would allow for voluntary purchases of Choose Life specialty license plates, like those available in many states.

Having already passed the state assembly, these bills are being held up in the Republican-controlled Senate. The consensus from Wisconsin political observers is that Walker could easily get them passed in the Senate and to his desk for signing — if he made them a priority.

…

Pro-Life: Walker hired a pro-child killing spokesperson for his re-election bid, which ultimately led him to craft a campaign commercial that “Live Action” declared the wimpiest pro-life ad of 2014. Walker actually put the following into writing in his re-election campaign: “I support legislation to increase safety and to provide more information for a woman considering her options. The bill leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor. Now, reasonable people can disagree on this issue. Our priority is to protect the health and safety of all Wisconsin citizens.” Note there was nothing about the health and safety of the baby in there.

9. He opposed the ObamaCare-defunding efforts of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100% and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) 100%.

“I believe the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable, and will have a negative impact on the economy of my state,” he said, adding that he would have preferred for it to have been blocked by the Supreme Court. “But I don’t extend that to the point that we should shut down the government over it.”

“I support limited government,” he added. “But I want the government left to work.”

10. His administration has denied the right to conceal carry in state buildings in contradiction with state law.

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is barring openly carrying guns into state buildings, even for people with valid concealed carry permits.

The Republican governor’s administration is also declining to say how many state employees have told their bosses that they’ll be bringing concealed guns to work after the administration decided last month to allow that for valid permit holders.

The new policies all came in response to the state’s new concealed carry law, which on Nov. 1 made Wisconsin the 49th state in the nation to let citizens carry hidden weapons.

“As a matter of policy, open carry will not be allowed in state buildings, thus any person openly carrying a weapon in a state building will be asked to leave,” Department of Administration spokesman Tim Lundquist said in an email.

11. He does not stand up for traditional marriage.

Around March of 2013, Walker started suggesting that opposition to gay marriage was “generational,” and that it was wiser for Republicans to focus on economic issues. And just this week, after the Supreme Court decided not to weigh in on on the decision striking down Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban, his administration announced they would recognize same sex marriages, going back to June.

12. He was against the renewable fuel standard before he was for it (in front of an Iowa audience).

He held steady, thanks in part to a flip-flop on ethanol.

The RFS requires that renewable fuels such as ethanol be blended with transportation fuel sold in the U.S – a mandate Walker has a history of opposing, according to news reporters in his home state. Ag boosters here don’t want to lose the benefits, and Walker doesn’t want to lose his lead. Perhaps that’s a cynical way of looking at things, but when Rastetter asked Saturday, Walker said he supports the RFS’ continuation.

13. He supports unconstitutional NSA spying.

Speaking to talk radio host Michael Medved, Walker said it was “incredibly important” for national security that the government retain the legal authority to collect Americans’ metadata en masse.

Walker said that he understands Paul’s concerns, but thinks that the problems with the surveillance programs are “specific to this president and this administration,” rather than issues with the law itself.

14. He is using gimmicks to increase spending and debt in his latest budget:

Without adjusting for this change, spending would actually increase by $3.09 billion – a jump of 4.4 percent.

In addition, the budget would also borrow $1.56 billion for transportation, a new Bucks arena and a couple smaller projects. Transportation bonding accounts for $1.30 billion of that borrowing, while the Bucks arena plan requires $220 million in bonding.”

If it is true, Walker is not the person we need leading back from the Marxist revolution.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.