Posted on 04/01/2016 9:46:55 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MILWAUKEE — In her Wisconsin debut as a Donald Trump surrogate, Sarah Palin was met with tepid applause and stone-faced silence Friday night at a Milwaukee County Republican gathering.
In contrast, the 750 Republicans at American Serb Hall cheered enthusiastically for Sen. Ted Cruz, who was introduced by Gov. Scott Walker and talk radio host Vicki McKenna.
The contrasting receptions illustrated why the Texas senator has surged past the real estate mogul and reality TV celebrity in the latest polls, especially in southeastern Wisconsin.
Palin opened with a call for unity among the candidates in supporting former Green Bay Packer offensive lineman Jerry Kramer’s induction into the NFL hall of fame, a joke that mostly fell flat. Her free-flowing, seemingly stream-of-consciousness speech from prepared notes criticized crony capitalists on Wall Street for profiting from open borders, free trade and military intervention while regular people suffer.
“The establishment’s interest runs counter to the interests of the people,” Palin said. “Common sense is an endangered species in Washington.”
Palin said Trump is the only candidate who creates jobs, balances budgets, builds “big things” and “understands this reality.”
After Palin, McKenna, who Trump hung up on during an intense interview earlier in the week, fired up the crowd by slamming Trump’s criticisms of Walker and the Wisconsin economy.
“Governor Walker is the single most substantive governor in the history of this state,” McKenna said. “I am tired of people coming into my state and telling me how bad it is.”
Walker then introduced Cruz as a candidate who would bring to Washington the same “common sense conservative leadership” that Walker brought to Wisconsin.
Palin was the second featured speaker after Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had a small contingent of supporters in the crowd and was introduced by former Gov. Tommy Thompson.
Kasich noted that recent polls have shown 38 percent of voters in the state don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
“I guess that’s what happens when you’re positive all the time and don’t enter a demolition derby,” Kasich said.
Palin is also scheduled to join Trump at town hall events in Racine and Rothschild on Saturday. Palin will also participate in a solo meet-and-greet event in Marathon City on Sunday afternoon.
The former Alaska governor’s past visits to Wisconsin include a 2013 book signing at a Wausau Wal-Mart and a 2011 tax day rally in Madison, where she defended Walker’s controversial changes to public sector collective bargaining.
“Your governor did the right thing, and you won,” Palin said in 2011. “Your beautiful state won.”
This week, after Walker endorsed Cruz, Trump laid into Walker for the performance of Wisconsin’s economy, telling hundreds of supporters in Janesville “he’s not doing a great job.”
Milwaukee County has become Cruz country as conservative talk radio has aligned against the real estate mogul and reality TV celebrity and behind the first-term senator. The latest Marquette Law School Poll found Cruz leading Trump 53-15 in Milwaukee County. Kasich came in second with 22 percent support.
Attendees at Friday night’s event said the vast majority of the crowd were Cruz supporters, which was borne out by the response to the speakers.
Among the Cruz supporters was Christina Bauman, 53, a registered nurse from Waukesha who said Republicans in Wisconsin are supporting Cruz because “we are ground zero for conservatism.”
“People are just fed up,” Bauman said. “We want results.”
Warren Matson, 57, a Realtor from West Allis, said he is undecided, but has been leaning toward Trump after Ben Carson dropped out of the race. However, Trump’s gaffes over the past week, such as reversing a statement that women who receive abortions should be punished if abortion were to become illegal, have raised doubts about Trump. Matson’s wife Maggie is supporting Cruz.
“We may need marriage counseling after this if I vote for Trump, and I almost want to do it,” Matson said, adding the way the Republican establishment has moved to stop Trump illustrates how “he isn’t beholden to anyone.”
Michael Willner, a cable CEO from New York, traveled to Wisconsin Friday to volunteer for Kasich.
“He has a fabulous record,” Willner said. “He really was the Republican architect of the last balanced budget this country has had.”
His assessment for why Kasich hasn’t caught fire in Wisconsin, a purple state, is because it is less moderate than states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania and more divided between conservatives and liberals.
Thomas Kroon, 50, a truck driver from Oak Creek, said he supported Walker for president, then Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and now Cruz. He said the antipathy toward Trump among many Wisconsin voters is driven by how he distorted Walker’s record during last August’s Republican debate.
“There’s nothing about Trump that’s conservative,” Kroon said.
Kroon also knocked Kasich for taking federal money as part of a Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, something Walker has resisted.
“Kasich wants to keep everything the way it is,” Kroon said. “We need bold changes at this point.”
A fact not pointed out by the media that the great Mitt. paul combo didn’t win Wisconsin against Obama
MSM doesn’t want the standing O as the headline. Like Obama they want
Misleading. Quite to be the headline
When a number of con artists hire the dirtiest political campaign manager in the nation and put that man with a liar like Cruz who has zero morals -you are going to create hate. Cruz is a master at lies, deception, and blaming others.
Sarah was their heroine for years. She backs Trump and these shallow minds now hate the one who hung their moon. UNREAL.
You Cruz voters are just so precious. You actually believe his popular new friends in the GOP club are going to bestow the nomination upon him after he does their bidding and blocks Trump.
Bless your little hearts!
Yep. Held my nose. Won’t do it again.
Thanks. I forgot to mention that Milwaukee is only 90 miles from Chicago, so we have no idea how many attendees were even locals, and not ppl who traveled to attend.
Yes, Wisconsin, the bastion of conservatism. One needs to look no further than the shining city on a hill of Madison.
Surely you jest!
Aside from Texas,
Cruz’s winnings equal the population of Wichita., ha,ha.
Tell me what electoral votes states like WY, ID, IA, ND, KS, ME, UT, etc. will bring in the GE, when it counts? ... go ahed and try and justify that.
Sorry, he’s been a loser riding on Trump’s coattails for too long.
Cruz lost the entire evangelical South!
Cruz lost 3 key battleground states: FL OH & VA
Cruz has no legitimate path to victory.
Crus is being propped up by the media.
Cruz wins in states with the lowest electors.
Cruz is not needed to deliver Texas in the G.E.
Cruz is good for sabotaging a proven winner, nothing more.
And the Cruz supporters accuse Trump of supporting liberals when Cruz has basically done the same:
Ted Cruz’s law firm where he was a partner with Morgan Lewis & Bockius gave 100s of thousands of $$ to Obama, Hillary, and the DNC and along with campaign shady practices said in this article.
http://linkis.com/www.texasinsider.org/zdEEh
Another very troubling piece of the puzzle!
It’s less the Walker endorsement that helps Cruz than it is Trump’s criticism of Walker that hurts Trump. That was an error Trump cannot recover from. He should cut his losses and move on to the northeast now.
However, Wisco is not a winner-take all state, so Trump should get some delegates—especially up north away from GOPe supported radio.
and Palin is actually well liked throughout WI. At least that has always been my impression. She has a very WI speaking manner; “dontcha know”.
*****
Hey Bubba, where y'all from?
Because it sure as hell is NOT from Wisconsin!
Like most Trumpers, you have no clue at all what you are talking about and are projecting your own beliefs onto the Wisconsin electorate.
Polling indicates that Trump will fare the worst in Milwaukee County. Further, the suburban counties surrounding Milwaukee will also rack up huge turnout for Cruz.
Haven't you been watching the news or reading posts here at FR? Local conservative talk radio in Wisconsin has been leading/reflecting extreme skepticism and dislike for Trump.
The only places in Wisconsin where Trump might do well are extreme rural areas without local TV/radio/newspaper markets like the northwoods 7th congressional district. Some might even call this population "low-information voters." I will refrain from doing so (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
Trump is polling even with Kasich in the lean Dem 3rd CD along Wisconsin's "west coast", but trailing Kasich in the 2nd CD centered on the People's Republic of Madistan. Cruz will handily win the 5 districts in entire eastern half of the state (where most of the population is).
Finally, "dontcha know" is a Minnesota, Fargo or northern plain expression. The phrase does not at all fit linguistically with Wisconsin's largely Germanic heritage.
When she endorsed Trump, I was shocked at the level of hatred released on her.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/democratic-republican-voters-worlds-apart-in-divided-wisconsin-b99249564z1-255883361.html
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/09/26/polarization-reshaping-wisconsin-elections-poltitics/16293575/
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/176122491.html
http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=13125
If Cruz stays in the race after being mathematically eliminated from the 1st round, it should be clear to all that his only reason for remaining in the race is to stop Trump. The GOPe have no intention of letting Cruz win the nomination and are just using him to stop Trump. They have said as much, and Cruz is smart enough to understand why the GOPe has temporarily coalesced around him and the role he is playing.
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