"Rinky-dink" Scott Walker’s Secret Weapon

Slate ^ | March 5, 2015 | etsy Woodruff

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MADISON, Wisconsin—Scott Walker loves the haters. In recent years as Wisconsin has moved further to the right, the mild-mannered preacher’s son has become in the eyes of his opponents an icon of all that is evil—and he seems to relish it. On the stump, the governor is fond of talking up the fact that he’s “the No. 1 target in America of the labor unions and many others on the left,” and the hecklers that seem willing to follow him to the ends of the Earth give him a chance to flex his conservative muscles. They feed the perception that in Wisconsin, it was Walker against the world, and Walker won....

..The Wisconsin Senate will vote to pass the new right-to-work bill either late Thursday or early Friday morning,and then the legislation will head for the governor’s desk where Walker will sign his name and add another item to his list of conservative wins....

... without having a statehouse full of allies, it would have been impossible for Walker to distinguish himself from the growing field of potential 2016 contenders.

Republican governors in blue states are typically hamstrung by their legislatures. Walker’s Legislature, to his great fortune, has propelled him. He has become the public face of a state government that is predominantly and combatively conservative. Walker’s success is an important reminder that hundreds of tiny, inexpensive state legislative elections that get zero national media attention can be the difference between being a nobody governor with a rinky-dink profile and being within spitting distance of your party’s presidential nomination.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It will be nice having a President Walker working with the Conservative Band of Brothers and Sisters in Congress.

[exnavy]

I believe he will make a fine president.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Oops - dropped this part of the article in error...

"None of this is to suggest that the Legislature has been in the driver’s seat for Walker’s whole governorship; the Act 10 legislation, which Walker signed in 2011 and which kicked off the massive protests that made him a hero to national conservatives, was his baby. But without having a statehouse full of allies, it would have been impossible for Walker to distinguish himself from the growing field of potential 2016 contenders."

[clearcarbon]

I’ve been curious about how he financed his education because his bio reads that he worked part time while in school.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Yes. Walker worked for IBM and then for the Red Cross [who wanted to hire him full time and he took it].

[Boomer]

I too think he would make a fine President. He has what it takes and he gets things done.

I do hope he has better leaders in Congress to work with than Boehner and McConnell though. They are, uh, feckless to say the least.

[Rad_J]

But what about all of the republican governors who also had republican legislatures?
What did Jeb accomplish in Florida as governor? Did he save teacher’s jobs while saving the state $billions? Did he give teachers more pay by letting them keep rheir own money instead of forced to pay Union dues? Walker also cut taxes, increased employment across the state and has created a budget surplus. Has any other potential candidate accomplished anything noteworthy besides getting elected to office? Walker won more elections than the rest of them too.

Nobody can can even come close to Walker’s resume. It’s about time we had a strong president who has experience, has real accomplishments, and has basic leadership skills. These are all things that Obama lacks.

[Deagle]

Unfortunately, it matters little what we think, it matters how the Liberal Media treats him and you know that it will NOT be good.

He seems to be a really good candidate at this point but in another few months, who knows (for the public).

I really hope that he survives the scrunity though as he seems like an honest candidate (may not be true, but seems to be at this point) and that seems to be very hard to find these days! I have high hopes though.

[Reno89519]

It all depends on his positions vis-a-vis amnesty and the flip-flops he’ll make to position himself as a presidential candidate. Clearly, among the current prospects, he’s better than Bush, Rubio, Perry, Christie, and most of the others. He’s got more experience than Cruz. Cruz is clearer on amnesty, maybe. I’ll wait and see...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I’m thinking Walker’s rapid rise, and good chance for long-term viability, helped the Dems decide to kick Hillary to the curb.

She’d hold her own in a Hillary-Bush match-up but not in a Hillary-Walker fight.

[exnavy]

Good call. I concur.

[taildragger]

Yes, Scott will get the 4 million that sat on their duff in 12 to come out. Even with Lear Deader's 5 million new Amerikan initiative, I am not sure they will be up and running in time to counter Scott.

Again I harken back to Men in Black II the scene with the car, it describes Hillary to a tee. "Old and Busted, New Hotness".

She is old and busted the 20 to 40 year old's IMHO aren't gonna go for her, she is not likeable for one and I get a sense they get at their core she is not truthful.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It’s hard to see her coming out of this [unless it’s to insulate her and again say - “we’ve covered that - it’s old news.”]

I don’t think they much care that she’s untruthful [that’s right up their ally] but rather that she’s unelectable against someone like Walker.

[Yosemitest]

Surprise, when he does another PRO-AMNESTY Deal for UNIONS to collect dues from all those "NEW" Workers, who'll work for less wages than the current workers.

I quote Scott Walker and his PRO-AMNESTY position:

Endorses path to citizenship for immigrant workers

Scott Walker distanced himself from House Republicans debating a new immigration bill by endorsing a path to citizenship for immigrant workers.Walker acknowledged that a substantial number of Wisconsin farms depend on migrant workers, some of them here illegally.
He also was sharply critical of how difficult the federal government makes it for those workers to come to this country.
"If people want to come here and work hard and benefit, I don't care whether they come from Mexico or Ireland or Germany or Canada or South Africa or anywhere else," he said.
"I want them here."
The Democratic-led U.S. Senate passed an immigration bill last week that features a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
Many conservative House Republicans oppose the bill, viewing it as rewarding law-breakers.
He said as a gubernatorial candidate in 2010 that he would sign an Arizona-style bill, which would allow local police to stop suspected illegal immigrants.
Source: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, "Endorses path to citizenship" , Jul 3, 2013

Make it easier to enter the country legally

Walker said he is in favor of the Senate immigration bill--that features a path to citizenship--but called it a backward "Band-Aid" approach,
saying elected leaders should make it easier for people to enter the country and become legal citizens in the first place.
"Not only do they need to fix things for people already here, or find some way to do it, there's got to be a larger way to fix the system in the first place," he said.
"Because if it wasn't so cumbersome, if there wasn't such a long wait, if it wasn't so difficult to get in, we wouldn't have the other problems that we have (with people living here illegally)," he said.
Walker's stance on immigration reform evolved over the years.
Source: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, "Endorses path to citizenship" , Jul 3, 2013

2010: stop suspected illegals; 2012: that's a distraction

Walker's stance on immigration reform evolved over the years.
He said as a gubernatorial candidate in 2010 that he would sign an Arizona-style bill, which would allow local police to stop suspected illegal immigrants, if he were elected.
Then, in December 2012, Walker said he no longer favored such a bill, telling reporters that such legislation would become a "huge distraction" from accomplishing his agenda for the state.
Today, Walker said he would support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants under some circumstances.
Source: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, "Endorses path to citizenship" , Jul 3, 2013

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Betsy Woodruff's companion piece at Slate:

[FR thread] Is Scott Walker Losing His Ability to Enrage the Left? [signals for state media to ignore him

[Does so]

Walker got into my radar two years ago; ironically, from a raging, critical, Liberal blogger—and have since supported him with donations made directly to “Friends of Scott Walker”.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

More ways to contact Scott Walker.

Walker's campaign site: Our American Revival - Good opening video and Ronald Reagan quote:

"It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government." - President Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981

Scott Walker on Twitter

[USS Alaska]

Republican governors in blue states are typically hamstrung by their legislatures. Walker’s Legislature, to his great fortune, has propelled him. He has become the public face of a state government that is predominantly and combatively conservative.

PA recently had a pubbie gov with a pubbie senate and house, and you know what they did? Not a damned thing and we now have a communist gov with a pubbie senate and house and they will raise taxes, pass common core, put more freeloaders on welfare, give out more free phones, I could go on but you know the rest of the story.

You have to give Walker credit, yes he has a pubbie house and senate, but he also has a set of brass balls.

[Paladin2]

W quickly discovered that Congress is way different from a State legislature.

[Joe 6-pack]

I like much of what I see and know about Walker at this point. I would be curious to find out more about his relationship with Priebus, lest we have another Rove, self-styled kingmaker *advising* from the shadows.