Posted on 05/31/2015 12:38:49 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
DES MOINES, Iowa — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker holds a 7-point advantage among Iowan voters over the rest of the crowded Republican field in the scramble for the party’s 2016 nomination for president, a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll finds.
The poll, released late Saturday afternoon, shows Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee rounding out the top five in the state, which, as the first-in-the-nation caucus, is a critical battleground for presidential hopefuls.
Walker captured 17% of the vote among likely GOP caucus-goers. He first gained notice in Iowa when he sparred with Wisconsin’s labor unions in 2011, and he has played up his connections to the Hawkeye state and his background as the son of a Baptist preacher. He surged to the front of the Republican pack in the state earlier this year after a strong showing at the Freedom Summit, and became the first 2016 contender to open an office in the state.
The poll found that two-thirds of likely Republican caucus-goers view the Wisconsin governor favorably, the highest among candidates in the poll.
We’ll see how Walker does. Cruz has been a real disappointment. I haven’t had much use for junior, but he has gotten my grudging respect. He was one of 5 gop senators to vote against TPA. And he is pretty much single-handedly putting the stop on the patriot Act renewaL. Lord knows junior has done some boneheaded things that leave you wondering WTF?, but on the important stuff he’s been pretty good.
Unless he truly is for amnesty.
Another W in thaw white house trying to destroy the country by pushing amnesty is NOT something I’d vote for. I just escaped Mexifornia and know firsthand how illegals ruin an area. With an amnesty, there would be nowhere to go. May as well have a dem in office.
He’d have to convince me his 3rd time around conversion is staying. Since he can’t seem to make up his mind, I’ll Be a hard sell - but i’ll listen. I hope he can make his case.
Besides I understand Cruz’s point somewhat- with the dumbing down of our education system, our students are not majoring in the hard sciences. ie, the majority of masters in engineering are going to foreign students.
The real solution is to fix the schools - but that will take another generation to come to fruition.
Walker touting amnesty - I will never understand. I passed on voting for McCain for the same reason.
The thing is this - and we have the same debate every four years here on FR: I work with many millennials in a skilled professional context. They are young and dumb. They tacitly assume matters as they stand now are the norm because they don't remember the Reagan years. They might remember Clinton as generally positive. They know, because of an incessant media drumbeat, that "Bush is evil", right up there with Hitler and Mao (Michael Medved even alluded to a recent poll suggesting as much). They don't relish working the long hours, but they don't tie their high effort-to-pay ratio to Obama. It's never Obama's fault in their minds...
On ultimate questions, they will frequently say things like, "I don't know what I believe." They were raised by "helicopter parents" in many cases, and have little sense of propriety as traditionally understood (earning one's stripes before opining, respecting authority figures, etc.) This indicates a lack of grounding and, given America's long spiritual decline, should not surprise us.
We all are paying for the millennials' lack of experience and groundedness, since they voted in huge numbers for the hip, young candidate in 2008 who advertised on World of Warcraft and myriads of other online venues untouched by more traditional campaigns. This guy, they felt, "got" them.
My worry with Cruz, as a straight-laced conservative, will not resonate with the group that is replacing the Greatest and early-stagest Boomer generation citizens that are dying off. They lack the life experience to appreciate him.
They can, however, relate to economic issues. Someone like Walker would be able to bring them along and at the same time introduce them to a president with traditional American values, showing these folks how good it can be for them. Like Cruz, he's a younger man (mid-Xer) not so far removed as to be unrelatable, yet with additional experience of America's more recent golden years and the policies to give the younger generation a taste of that.
Walker is not perceived as "out there" (could win younger votes) and has name recognition. He could help pave the way for a brighter future. He has broad appeal and the executive experience to govern effectively.
Cruz, after two terms as Walker's VP, would have that executive experience and by then the younger generation now will have grown up a bit and be able to appreciate the contrasts between a conservative administration and what we have today.
This is the clearest path to victory I see, with America's current demographics, for a conservative presidency. Sans Walker, I fear we're saddled with Bush and very possibly a 2016 loss because of the tragedy of the Bush name.
As Scott Walker moves steadily onto the national stage I, too, will be watching his statements on immigration closely...
I distrust Walker slightly less than Cruz. Walker is at least saying the right things now. Cruz, on the other hand, is still coy about amnesty and hasn't disavowed his strange Senate speech calling for a massive (500 percent) increase increase in "temporary" foreign workers in our homeland.
“Hopefully his proven ability to take on and defeat leftest ideas, beating them three times in four years, is worth at least something.”
If course it does :)
I would like for him to go to a border state and see the problem, then he might solidify his stance, He’s been pretty protected in Wisconsin. As have people here in Tennessee. I consider it my personal mission to inform everyone here to watch out for the invasion and not to let them (illegals or liberals) get a foothold.
From the perspective of a strategy, your analysis makes sense to win over the youngsters.
However, I think you are underestimating Cruz’ ability to articulate conservative principles and draw people in. Much like Reagan did. When real conservatism is tried, it will win! We don’t need to cross the aisle, but to bring them to our side with clear descriptions of what is wrong now and how to fix it.
Both Cruz and Walker can do this.
The debates should be exciting, since we actually have a chance of a conservative winning this time. I’ll wait to see what both of them have to say, but I like Cruz’ consistency. After being stabbed in the back by RINOs repeatedly, Walker’s flipping is a red flag for me. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t vote for him over any democrat though, as long as he remains against amnesty.
Well, Walker isn’t “backing out” or “helping Bush.”
If Walker backed out (which he isn’t) it would help Rubio (as things stand now).
Walker or Cruz and I’m in.
Des Moines poll reveals Walker leads by 7 points.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin innterest ping list.
I'm looking forward to seeing which one can take out Bush.
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.