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Protesters Give Walker a Needed Energy Boost
U.S. News and World Report ^ | August 17, 2015 | David Catanese

Posted on 08/17/2015 10:27:54 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

His supporters, waving blue-and-red signs, ate it up. Soon, the cheers were drowning out the detractors.

Scott Walker's entered a late summer slump.

The Wisconsin governor was largely sidelined at the first Republican presidential primary debate, when his rival candidates earned more attention with flashy one-liners.

He's also forfeited his monthslong polling advantage in Iowa, where he's slipped behind Donald Trump and even Ben Carson, according to the latest CNN survey of the outlook for the caucuses.

So when he stepped on the Iowa soapbox stage at the state fair Monday, Walker probably would've preferred not to look out and see an assembly of protesters from his home state.

When he began touting his record in Wisconsin of beating back public unions, defunding Planned Parenthood and requiring a photo ID to vote, his comments were met with a round of boos.

His supporters fought back valiantly with cheers, creating a rowdy environment that appeared to energize the sometimes humdrum Walker.

With his face pressed firmly against the microphone, Walker's speaking pace picked up considerably, and he confronted his hecklers directly.

"This is a great test with the protesters. I'm the only one who stood up to 100,000 protesters," he said, recalling his Badger State battle over collective bargaining in 2011 that spurred rounds of demonstrations in Madison.

At one point, when a man in the front row of the crowd was chastising Walker, the governor looked down and pointed, "I am not intimidated by you, sir, or anyone else out there."

His supporters, waving blue-and-red signs, ate it up. Soon, the cheers were drowning out the detractors.

The entire episode played into Walker's message of how he's not only fought the good fight on highly polarizing issues against Democrats in a blue state, but won it.

"You want someone who is tested? I'm right here," he said.

Campaigns typically see protesters as an onerous distraction, but in this case, they seemed to reinforce the fighting image Walker needs to recapture in order to infuse his campaign with renewed energy.

Perhaps this performance will help stave off critics, who are beginning to wonder whether he has the pizazz needed for the presidency.

"Scott Walker is the Tim Tebow of politics … the pro-life, conservative sensation on top of the world (or the polls) one moment, the invisible man the next," Mediaite columnist Joe Concha wrote this weekend.

Going forward, look for Walker's campaign to seize on his Monday performance to portray Walker as the tested fighter in the field, not an unreliable quarterback who can't toss the long ball.


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2016; gopprimary; walker
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To: gov_bean_ counter

Walker is a runner so he’s thin, but he’s as tall, or taller than the others.

You really are looking for something to criticize.


21 posted on 08/17/2015 11:26:51 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: afraidfortherepublic; All
Rush is wrong about this:

Where is all of the competition here? It's clear that a single issue or... Well, let me put it another way. It's clear that a single issue, maybe a couple small ones in addition, a single issue may be responsible for this Trump phenomenon. And nobody wants to get in on it? Nobody wants to compete with him. Nobody wants to try to steal it. Until now. The me-toos are beginning. "Hey, my proposal is just like Trump's." You watch.

In fact, right here in The Daily Caller, headline: Scott Walker, "My Immigration Plan's 'Very Similar' to Donald Trump's." Scott Walker today "responded to Donald Trump's newly-released immigration position paper by saying the plan he is offering is 'very similar.' Asked on Fox and Friends if he gives Trump's plan a thumbs up, Walker said: 'I haven't looked at all the details of his, but the things I've heard are very similar to the things I mentioned.'"

The me-toos. The me-toos are now starting. Rather than people trying to steal it, people are gonna want to get in on it. It has the potential here to be a genuine movement, so transformative that the inside-the-Beltway people, even while studying it and looking straight at it, still stand a chance of being blindsided by it. That is how far off the beaten path on this issue they are. And then of course there are side effects to all this.

CHECK THIS OUT RUSH! Walker has been all over this.

22 posted on 08/17/2015 11:44:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Walker is imminently qualified to be president and has shown the intelligence to attack the Democrat Party at its base, public unions. By stopping the state from automatically deducting union dues to the teachers’ union, notoriously Left, he has reduced the paying members by over one third.

As a consequence the unions are determined to prevent his nomination as shown by the dumbasses protesting. Anyone believing them “plants” knows little of what he represents.


23 posted on 08/17/2015 11:45:18 AM PDT by arrogantsob
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

LOL..... I see him as the runt of the litter....in many ways.

He will not win, but I will give you this: You have been his most staunch supporter...you have given your all in his support. In the end, you will be both sad and mad....then life will go on. ;>)


24 posted on 08/17/2015 11:50:48 AM PDT by Gator113 (~~Cruz, OR LOSE~~ Ted Cruz REMAINS the only true Conservative in this race. ~~ just livin' life~~)
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To: Reno89519

Scott Walker has defeated the enemies of conservatism FOUR times. This included unions from all over the country flying in demonstrators, funding the protests and leading them. He beat them cold. He beat them again when they tried to recall him. He beat them yet again when they lost trying to unseat the Supreme Court Justice, and just recently he crushed the commie running against him for governor.

Now it is true that the electorate is dumb as a door post and may prefer a flashy candidate but our party and country would be well served by a president who has recognized a major problem and tackled it head-on at all costs.

And all this is a Blue state. Remarkable.


25 posted on 08/17/2015 11:51:46 AM PDT by arrogantsob
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To: Gator113

Cruz is clearly not more conservative than Walker nor is he eligible to be president since he is not a Natural Born Citizen.


26 posted on 08/17/2015 11:55:36 AM PDT by arrogantsob
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To: arrogantsob

Some of you folks are Retarded. I try not to pick on retarded people, but I will let them wash my cars.


27 posted on 08/17/2015 11:59:14 AM PDT by Gator113 (~~Cruz, OR LOSE~~ Ted Cruz REMAINS the only true Conservative in this race. ~~ just livin' life~~)
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