Walker can turn out a big crowd.
Posted on 07/17/2015 3:50:15 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Scorching temperatures near the triple digits weren't driving away the 325 people gathered to hear Scott Walker speak at a Lexington, S.C., barbecue joint Wednesday.
Packed under an open-air porch with fans that were hardly helping, the heat didn't seem to affect the enthusiasm for the Wisconsin governor on just his second day as an announced presidential candidate — and it's the type of excitement he'll need to generate to win the important South Carolina GOP primary.
Clad in his Harley boots, jeans and a button down shirt, Walker bounded onto stage that afternoon to Dirks Bentley's "I Hold On."
That may have been the motto for Walker for the day, running on no sleep since 4 a.m. the day before thanks to flight snafus and cancellations.
Holding on could also be the Wisconsin governor's maxim in the traditionally rough-and-tumble Palmetto State politics. He's at the top of very early polls there, but the Southern prize is wide open, even with one of its sitting senators running.
While Iowa has emerged as a must-win for Walker, with lesser hopes in the moderate New Hampshire, a victory next in South Carolina in 2016 could secure Walker's place atop the GOP field – especially in a state looking to reclaim its streak of picking presidential nominees.
Walker could be just the kind of candidate who can bridge that divide – appealing to both conservative and establishment coalitions across the state's diverse Republican Party as a recipe for a win.
Running on Adrenaline
There was no weariness in Walker's stride though as he barreled from one end of the Palmetto State to the other. The Republican was feeding on pure adrenaline as he delivered his stump speech three times—and at the final stop even had to do an abbreviated version in the parking lot (again, with temperatures reaching into the 90s) to an overflow crowd of 500 at Mutt's BBQ in Mauldin, S.C.
"In case you hadn't heard, I'm Scott Walker, I'm running for president, and I'm asking for your vote," he said to roars at the trio of stops, starting early that morning at 8 a.m. in North Charleston at a Harley Davidson store.
"Americans want to vote for something and for someone, so give me a few minutes and I'm going to tell you what I'm for."
He ticks off his own record, which most in the crowd are familiar with – "we took on the unions, and we won" – and his three victories in four years in a blue-leaning state.
When asked what they know about Scott Walker or why they came out to see him, most in the crowds say it's his fight with labor that impressed them and left them wanting to know more.
"I know that he instituted some pretty major changes in Wisconsin, had a lot of pushback from a lot of people but was able keep, what I think, were positive changes in place," Nancy Nicodemus of nearby Summerville said at his North Charleston event.
To fill out the rest for voters, Walker runs down his history of tax cuts and social credentials. Another top reminder is that he worked to defund Planned Parenthood – particularly resonant in this socially conservative state day after a controversial video that allegedly showed a top staffer discussing the sale of parts of aborted fetuses to researchers.
He's against Common Core education standards – unpopular with conservatives in South Carolina – and gets lots of cheers for his push to reform welfare in Wisconsin, including mandatory job training enrollment and drug testing.
But the main crux of Walker's stump is his humble roots – a not-so-subtle jab at wealthier, more privileged candidates in the race like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and billionaire businessman Donald Trump. He's the son of a Baptist minister and a part-time secretary, whose grandparents didn't even have indoor plumbing while his mother was growing up. He talks of how his first job was as a dishwasher but later was hired to flip burgers at McDonalds. He doesn't mention his own time in college, though, and the fact he never finished his degree at Marquette University.
"We did not inherit fame or fortune from our family," said Walker. "What we got was the belief that if you work hard and you play by the rules you can do and be anything. That's the American Dream, and that is worth fighting for."
Another anecdote he tells to drive that point home is of how his family shops at Kohl's department store – but on the discount rack, and armed with coupons and "Kohl's cash."
It's an illustration he ties into tax cuts and spending. Arguing Kohl's can afford such deep discounts because of the volume they produce, Walker says the federal government should mimic that idea.
"The government could charge higher rates and a few of you could afford it. Or we can lower the rates broaden the base and increase the value of people participating in the economy," said Walker, renaming Ronald Reagan's "Laffer Curve" the "Kohl's Curve."
Gaming a South Carolina win
For Walker, he'll have to use a unique balancing act to win the Palmetto State. Except for the state's wrong pick in 2012 of former Speaker Newt Gingrich, South Carolina had a perfect streak of picking the eventual GOP nominee since 1980.
Past nominees crafted their wins by crafting winning coalitions across the state – appealing to the Upstate's sizable evangelical population while also wooing more "Country Club Republicans," military veterans and retirees in the Lowcountry. That's how George W. Bush got a win in 2000, securing his place. The foe he defeated, Arizona Sen. John McCain, was able to build a winning coalition in 2008, though.
South Carolina GOP consultant Chip Felkel says his then-college professor Whit Ayers – now a national pollster for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign – summed up the state like this: "In the Upstate they want to know where you go to church, in the Midlands they want to know where you work, and in Charleston they want to know what you want to drink."
Felkel, who is unaligned in the 2016 race, says Walker could have the right mix for South Carolina. After he jolted into the national conversation after a fiery Iowa speech in January, his nascent campaign had some growing pain and stumbles. On his announcement tour at least, those appeared to be fixed.
"He's got that blue collar appeal, and his messaging seems that he's going to try to play to that hilt," said Felkel. "I think in certain parts of the state he's got the potential to do pretty well, but he's got to prove he's ready for prime time."
For John Borkowski, Walker might just be the sweet spot for him and other South Carolinians – not too moderate, not too conservative, but just right.
"I think a lot of folks around here are tired of the establishment, of the Jeb Bushes of the world. We love [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz, but sometimes he just talks too much, he's just out there to be heard," said Borkowski. "Scott Walker, when he says something, he does it. He took on the unions and he beat them. He took on the schools and the teachers and beat them. He took on the recall and won. He's a worker – he says what he does and does what he says."
July 17, 2015:
“......Among Republican primary voters, Trump captures 18 percent. He’s closely followed by Walker at 15 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 14 percent. No one else reaches double-digits...
Walker’s up six points since he officially kicked off his campaign. That bump gets him back to the support he was receiving earlier this year. In March, he was also at 15 percent.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul gets eight percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receives seven percent, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson comes in at six percent, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee get four percent a piece....”
I love this line:
“We love [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz, but sometimes he just talks too much, he’s just out there to be heard,” said Borkowski. “Scott Walker, when he says something, he does it.”
It’s true.
[Clad in his Harley boots, jeans and a button down shirt...]
If he REALLY wants to relate to South Carolina voters he should have bounded on stage with a straw in his mouth, a beer in one hand and a Bible in the other.
If you have to pander, Scott, do it right.
[”You start in Iowa and lock up conservatives, because if you don’t do that, none of the rest matters,” said one longtime Walker adviser, who requested anonymity to discuss campaign strategy. “It’s much easier to move from being a conservative to being a middle-of-the-road moderate later on.”]
It is good that the most visible candidates aside from Bush, are Trump, Cruz, and Walker. I wish Christy would come up in the polls to compete with Bush. For all those establishmentarians out there none seems to be in a position to drain from Bush. Even Rubio looks less and less viable as time passes.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-election/scott-walker-presidential-campaign-20150712
....”You start in Iowa and lock up conservatives, because if you don’t do that, none of the rest matters,” said one longtime Walker adviser, who requested anonymity to discuss campaign strategy. “It’s much easier to move from being a conservative to being a middle-of-the-road moderate later on.”
The adviser added: “In Iowa, you see the beginnings of that. He’s capturing that conservative wing first and foremost, and then moving from Iowa to the other states and bringing other voters into the fold.”
The rationale for Walker’s candidacy has always been his unique ability to bridge the Republican divide, appealing to both the conservative and moderate wings of the party while also presenting himself as the type of wholesome, aw-shucks everyman who appeals across party lines.
It worked in Wisconsin. But everything is more difficult, and more scrutinized, on the national stage. Can Scott Walker continue to have it both ways? We’re about to find out.”
“...Relatability is an increasingly rare commodity for politicians. But Walker, pacing the stage without notes Monday, with his light-blue shirt buttoned down and his sleeves rolled up, has proven in Wisconsin that he has it in spades.
“He’s a Midwestern, all-American boy. And that’s what we need right now—not somebody from the East Coast or the West Coast,” said Debi Gillingham, a 60-year-old retired mail carrier from nearby Franklin. “We need someone who understands us.”
“He’s honest. We can trust him. He’s a common man,” said Glenda Rose, a 52-year-old Waukesha native who owns a cleaning business.
Shawn Wagner, Rose’s lifelong friend and fellow Waukesha native, interjected: “He’s one of us.”
These are the voters Walker has wooed in Wisconsin over the past two decades—first as a state representative, then as Milwaukee County executive, and finally as governor. And they are similar—demographically and ideologically—to the voters he’ll be courting next door in Iowa.
Reagan didn't do that and he didn't get 100% of the Electoral College. He should have listened to Rove. Damn!
These people have the most brilliant example to follow that they could have but insist on shading their eyes or looking away. They are totally absorbed in petty tactics and unable to see the whole picture or it blinds them and they cringe. They concentrate on getting votes in this unreachable group and that one and miss out on the great mass of disaffected voters who want relief from the oppressive State and viscerally understand what needs to be done even if they don't artiulate it well. Rove is the model for these guys, not Reagan. Reagan won BIG. TWICE. Rove is a consistent loser. Most of these fellows would rather get all the "right" buttons pushed than actually win.
You are a lying POS who is trying to smear a solid conservative.
Everything Walker has done as governor has been absolutely conservative....more conservative than when Ronald Reagan was governor.
But if you are a lying POS, you do not care about FACTS, you twist stories and quotes to smear conservatives.
He's dropped considerably in my estimation.
http://conservatives4palin.com/2015/07/gov-scott-walker-%E2%80%A2-one-on-one-%E2%80%A2-hannity.html
You must be biased. Walker was great on Hannity!
Correct, I am biased toward preserving and protecting the Constitution. Walker is clearly not, preferring instead the path of expediency that leads necessarily to tyranny.
325 people come out to see Walker. 9,000 come out to see Trump. I’d say Walker’s got quite a hill to climb. :-)
How so?
“Businessman Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican presidential field, but a newcomer to the race is hot on his trail.
Trump took 18 percent support in a national Fox News poll released Thursday evening. Right behind him is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with 15 percent.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush dropped to third place, garnering 14 percent support.
In the previous edition of the Fox News poll, released June 15, Bush led the field with 15 percent, followed by Trump at 11 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent, and Walker and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tied at 9 percent.
Paul checked in at fourth place in the new survey at 8 percent, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio at 7 percent and Carson at 6 percent.
Following them are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 4 percent, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 3 percent.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Sen. Rick Santorum are tied for tenth at 2 percent. .....”
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/248292-trump-leads-another-2016-poll
Walker can turn out a big crowd.
Also, he does better on the "Who would cause liberals the bigger hissy fit?" test.
Are you just playing dumb or do you not realize that the PATRIOT Act approach to national security is opposite to the underlying principles of the Second Amendment?
This too:
: )
....Pleasant. That’s even how Walker’s bitterest political foes describe him.
In the heat of the state’s showdown with its union four years ago, Rep. Peter Barca, the Wisconsin State Assembly’s top Democrat, publicly denounced the governor at protests across the state. “You know, Governor Walker, you have defiled our heritage,” Barca said at one rally. “You have disregarded our values.”
But Walker, who declined to be interviewed for this article, never took it personally. “I’d give a speech in front of 50,000 protesters saying,‘Walker’s got to go,’“ Barca says, “and you’d see him the next day and you’d think I just sent him a coffeecake or something.”
Barca is part of a small group of leaders who meet regularly with Walker during the legislative session,but Barca said those gatherings are almost never satisfying. “Generally, when you meet with him on the major issues,you don’t feel like it’s a dialogue,”he says. “We get along just fine. He is sort of chitchatty. He exchanges pleasantries,makes some jokes. But you just feel like that on the big issues he is just there to tell you, ‘Here’s what I am going to do.’”
The roots of his immovability may lie in what he calls being a “P.K.”-a preacher’s kid....”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3311629/posts
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