Walker Readies Himself as the Candidate of the Mainstream Conservative Movement

Weekly Standard ^ | July 10, 2015 | Stephen F. Hayes

[Cincinatus' Wife]

When Scott Walker formalizes his presidential run Monday with a long-anticipated announcement, he will have at his side a seasoned veteran of Republican politics and an architect of the modern conservative movement. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Walker is expected to name Michael Grebe as campaign chairman as early as Friday.

Grebe’s role, while not unexpected, is nonetheless a coup for Walker, who has firmly established himself as a first-tier candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination. Grebe served as chairman of both of Walker’s bids for governor, as well as Walker’s 2012 recall election – so he knows the candidate well.

Grebe brings vast experience in electoral politics, election law, and the conservative movement to the Walker team. He has served as general counsel of the Republican National Committee and as a Republican committeeman from Wisconsin. Grebe is currently president of the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a position he has held since 2002. The powerhouse grantmaking foundation has driven conservative policy innovation for decades and, in addition to the civic and charity work it has performed in Wisconsin, has been one of the most important forces behind the modern conservative movement.

“He has this unique combination of talent and experience in politics and policy that makes him one of the most respected people I’ve known,” says Karl Rove, former top adviser to George W. Bush.

Those who have worked with Grebe say his equanimity will help bring a steady hand to the Walker campaign team. “He’s bright, low-key, unflappable,” says Rove. “He has the demeanor of the lawyer that your family has depended on for years.”

Bob Wood, former chief of staff to Wisconsin Governor and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, says Grebe “is always at the top of people’s list to call whenever there is a problem or heated issue. Never any headlines, drama or hyperbole – just a clear focus on the issue and how to get the job done.”

Before his work with Walker, Grebe chaired Representative Mark Green’s 2006 candidacy for Wisconsin governor. Fighting national headwinds in what would be the worst midterm election cycle for Republicans in a generation, Green lost a competitive race to incumbent Governor Jim Doyle. “Mike is one of the most respected conservative leaders I know,” says Green, who describes Grebe’s conservatism as “restless and relentless.” Green says Grebe is “quietly one of the most influential leaders on the scene today.”

In a telephone interview Thursday between meetings of the not-quite-yet-campaign, Grebe said he intends to remain in his position at the Bradley Foundation throughout the campaign, much as he did during Walker’s two gubernatorial elections.

Sources close to Walker say that the governor listens carefully to Grebe and welcomes his challenges. If Walker is sometimes his own top political adviser, with an abiding interest in campaign tactics, Grebe will fill the role of senior adviser with an eye towards big picture decision-making. That is a strength.

“For so many decades, conservatism was at a huge institutional disadvantage compared to liberalism. To the extent that disadvantage has diminished, and it certainly has, Michael Grebe is a big part of the reason why,” says Pete Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former top adviser to George W. Bush. “He's a man who is both principled and prudent, two impressive conservative virtues, and he understands the importance of the long game.”

Grebe says he didn’t have a long talk with Walker about the details of his day-to-day role in the campaign because such a conversation was unnecessary, given their past work together. “We have direct and candid exchanges,” says Grebe.

“Mike wouldn’t have taken the job unless he was going to have a significant role,” says one Republican who has worked closely with both men.

Rove agrees and says that Grebe will have a big portfolio. “Mike has the respect of the grassroots, because he came from them; the donors, because he’s one of them; and the intellectuals and thinkers because he’s been involved in their work for years.”

It is in that last role that Grebe may ultimately prove most helpful to Walker. Over his years at the Bradley Foundation, Grebe has developed a strong, national network of policy wonks and analysts on issues ranging from civil society and education reform to national security and urban renewal. Unlike many campaign advisers, particularly at the national level, Grebe, by virtue of his work at Bradley, speaks the language of movement conservatives and understands the importance of policy to a successful campaign. It’s hard to imagine a candidate tutored by Grebe referring to himself as “severely conservative.”

Grebe says Walker doesn’t require much guidance on such matters. “Scott is a movement conservative and he always has been.”

I asked Grebe about a New York Times article from last month that purported to explain Walker’s electoral success. With a hint of dark conspiracy, the article suggested that Walker had been an unremarkable and unsophisticated local politician until Grebe and a band of big-money right-wing ideologues plucked him from obscurity in order to advance their schemes. (That’s no exaggeration: the Times piece reported that while Walker “always liked to go to extremes…what he needed, as he climbed the political ladder, was the money and endorsements that [Grebe] and his conservative allies brought.”)

The article “was a totally unfair characterization of our relationship,” Grebe says, offering several specific examples of ways in which he says the piece was misleading in order to fit the preconceived narrative of its authors. (In one, he says that he responded to a question about first meeting Walker by saying that he recalled it came at a meeting of college Republicans at Marquette University, where the future governor was a student. In the telling of the Times, the insignificant aside became a big moment in Grebe’s grooming of Walker for future manipulation).

Grebe made these observations only after a question about the article and in a tone that suggests far more disappointment and resignation than anger. And Grebe made clear that he wasn’t so much concerned about the way he came off in the piece but was frustrated by the way Walker was portrayed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Grebe declined an invitation to dilate on his theory of the race and Walker’s path to the nomination. But asked whether Walker needs to win Iowa, Grebe lowered expectations. “I don’t think he has to win it, but clearly he’s well-liked there. If you look at the polls, he’s doing well in Iowa and I would expect him to continue to do well there.”

But whatever happens in Iowa, Scott Walker has signaled with his selection of Mike Grebe as his campaign chairman that he intends to run nationally as the candidate who's acceptable both to the Republican grass roots and establishment—but even more important perhaps, as the candidate of the mainstream conservative movement.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Shirley & Banister: Scott Walker

Exclusive — Reagan Biographer Firm Signs on for Communications, Strategy for Scott Walker Super PAC

"Shirley & Banister Public Affairs will be handling strategic communications for Walker’s Super PAC, the Unintimidated PAC, and providing historical context that will prove crucial for the campaign. Since the firm’s two partners—Craig Shirley and Diana Banister—are extraordinarily connected among major players in the conservative movement, they’ll be filling a key gap in Walker’s growing team of influential staffers.

“We’re delighted to join this fantastic team working on behalf of Governor Walker,” said Banister, President of SBPA. “His refreshing approach to important national issues, shows Governor Walker is a strong leader who is truly unintimidated by powerful political forces and the Washington-knows-best-mentality that often leaves behind the best interests of the American people. We gladly join him in this fight.”

“One of the hallmarks of SBPA is we only work with people with whom we agree and we not only agree with Governor Walker, we admire him,” Shirley said in an emailed statement to Breitbart News. “He is a conservative, he is honest, ethical, tough and principled. We are proud of our new association with Governor Walker.”

The firm has been active in the conservative movement since 1984, helped Reagan’s re-election, has represented groups like the National Rifle Association, Tea Party Patriots, the Club For Growth, and more........."

[Bratch]

Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance to offer guidance to faith-based organizations in wake of gay-marriage ruling

Posted in June

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In June, in its 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that same-sex marriage is a constitutionally protected right across the United States.  "Religious organizations and communities remain free, of course, to maintain their religiously formed view about marriage," according to a statement from theInstitutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA) in Washington, D.C.  "If their view differs from the new legal view, will they be free to live by their convictions? 

"The majority opinion noted the issue but gave little guidance," continues the statement from IRFA, which is supported by Milwaukee's Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.  "Courts and legislatures will have to weigh in.  IRFA will provide commentary on the decision and guidance for faith-based organizations in the following days. 

"Today and tomorrow, just as yesterday, people and organizations of faith will serve their neighbors and seek to live and speak consistently with the truths that have gripped their hearts," it concludes.

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[Bratch]

In wake of Supreme Court's upholding of Obamacare in King v. Burwell, PRI's Sally Pipes says law still flawed

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Posted in June

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in King v. Burwell, ruling 6-3 that those who purchased health insurance through the federally run Healthcare.govmarketplace were entitled to tax-credit subsidies despite the fact that the law says credits are only to be distributed for marketplaces "established by the state."

"Today's 6-3 decision in King v. Burwell was very disappointing but not unexpected," according to Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) in San Francisco.  "Justices Roberts and Kennedy were afraid to upset the Obamacare applecart.  As Justice Scalia said, 'the court has changed the usual rules of statutory interpretation for the sake of the ACA.'" 

"The law is still flawed," Pipes continued.  "The American people will face higher premiums, higher deductibles, and limited networks of doctors and hospitals in the future.  The GOP must now develop a strategy going forward.  Republican members of Congress have to decide whether they are going to develop and support a single replacement plan that will bring about affordable, accessible, quality care by empowering doctors and patients or are they going to lie down and say the law is in place and live with it ....

"The 2016 Republican candidates will have to develop a plan as to how they will deal with SCOTUScare, as Justice Scalia called it in his dissenting opinion," she concluded.  "There is no doubt that Obamacare will be a major issue in the 2016 election campaign."

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee supports PRI.

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[Bratch]

AFPC's Ilan Berman says Iran is both a country and a cause

Posted in June

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"Is the Islamic Republic of Iran a country or a cause?" begins a June Iran Strategy Briefby Ilan Berman from the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) in Washington, D.C.  "For decades, the question is one that has bedeviled Western observers.  Foreign politicians and diplomats long have struggled to reconcile the Iranian regime’s radical rhetoric and destructive international behavior with its pragmatic participation in numerous treaty arrangements, and its prominent role in various multilateral forums."

Berman is vice president of AFPC and author of Iran's Deadly Ambition:  The Islamic Republic's Quest for Global Power, forthcoming from Encounter Books and from which the June paper is drawn in part.  Milwaukee'sLynde and Harry Bradley Foundation substantially supports both AFPC and Encounter.

"The dichotomy has become even more acute over the past two years," according to Berman in "Iran's Various Voices."  "Since November of 2013, the Islamic Republic has engaged in extensive diplomacy with the P5+1 powers ... over its nuclear program -- a dialogue which, as of this writing, appears likely to result in a political settlement that will be exceedingly favorable to Tehran.  Yet the same period has seen a surge in destabilizing global activity instigated or abetted by the Islamic Republic. Indeed, even as it engages in diplomacy with the West regarding its nuclear ambitions, Iran is actively seeking to revise the geopolitical status quo in its favor, both in the Middle East and beyond.

"It has done so through four distinct ideological narratives," he continues, "each of which is carefully calibrated to appeal to different constituencies and designed to accomplish different strategic goals.  Cumulatively, these messages play a critical role in advancing Iran's foreign policy objectives along separate -- and often seemingly contradictory -- lines."  These messages are pragmatic mercantilism, pan-Islamism, Shi'ite sectarianism, and Third World populism.

"Today, Iran's leaders have come to believe that their regime can simultaneously behave as a modern global actor, with all of the political and diplomatic benefits that accrue from that role, and as a radical movement dedicated to the spread of its Islamic revolution," Berman concludes.  "And, even as it engages in a dialogue with the West over their nuclear program, the Iranian regime is acting out that conviction, with detrimental effects for both regional and global security.  With the Islamic Republic poised on the brink of détente with the West, its leaders may soon have far greater freedom and resources pursue its ideological objectives."

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[Bratch]

A brief summary of some of the recent positions that Mr. Grebe’s Foundation has taken on current issues.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Good list!

Thank you.

[Godebert]

I will not vote for Walker under any circumstance after his disparaging remarks regarding the Confederate Battle Flag.

[catfish1957]

Mainstream Conservative Movement? Sounds synonomous to RINOism.

Cruz or Lose 2016!!!!!!!!!!!

[catfish1957]

He made disparaging comments about the CBF?

Hey Walker ..... read my tag line you RINO facist SOB.............

Reason No. 11, why I won't vote for him ......EVER!!!!!!!

[sauropod]

No.

Walker has jumped the shark.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Care to elaborate?

[afraidfortherepublic]

Walker’s upcoming announcement.

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

If Walker sneezed out of his left nostril instead of his right nostril, you’d find it suspect.

: )

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Which candidate passes muster for you?

[Caipirabob]

I will continue to consider walker as an alternative to my primary choices leading with Cruz.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Good!

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/jan/06/scott-walker/walker-says-wisconsins-pension-system-only-one-cou/

Walker says Wisconsin’s pension system is the only one in the country that’s fully funded

TRUE!

[BobL]

Sounds like Walker is still struggling to understand what a conservative is, at least at the national level.

Maybe he’ll figure that out by 2020.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

“....Grebe told the Journal Sentinel in 2011 there was nothing secretive about what the foundation does.

“We’re going to run off tackle, right over there, and we’re telling you we’re going to run there and we’re going to knock you on your butt and carry the ball down the field,” Grebe said then. “There are no surprises.”

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/313215501.html

[Balding_Eagle]

It takes a brave man to jump into a room devoid of oxygen.

Trump has sucked it all out.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Walker will push back the partitions, open the windows and let in some fresh air.