Posted on 06/14/2015 4:23:49 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
National Review has a piece that essentially asks that question but limits it to the continuum of Republican candidates for President: Forget Reagan — Could Scott Walker Be the Next Calvin Coolidge?
Here the parallels are obvious. Walker’s famous showdown with the public unions elevated him onto the national stage. The liberal press was confident that this confrontation with the unions would be the end of Walker, but the Wisconsin voters felt differently. The manner in which Coolidge, Reagan, and Walker handled their respective crises won the admiration of the American people. ...
Walker’s style of communication seems to fall somewhere in between Coolidge’s and Reagan’s. While not so sparing of words and quirky as Coolidge, he is not the natural communicator that Reagan was. However, the main point the pundits seem to be missing is that Walker’s personality and message do come through forcefully to voters.
You know, I think this guy (and It's not The Meatball) really likes Walker.
I want to like Walker. Like Fox Mulder and the author of that piece I WANT TO BELIEVE but I just don't. Not yet anyway.
Part of that is because I'm me and I hate all that is good and pure in this world. I also hate things that are evil and impure, like politicians.
Walker is a puzzle to me.
What most people know about him is he beat down the unions, won three elections in four years in Wisconsin and he's the Great Beige Hope we've been waiting for since Silent Cal went home to Massachusetts almost 100 years ago.
To me though, he's a cipher.
Is he the take no prisoners, stand up for what's right while shrinking government guy that stared down union thugs and runaway Democrats or is he the guy who inelegantly flips on amnesty and ethanol mandates and can't quite bring himself to say that the Export Import Bank is a den of thieves that needs to go?
There's something I call the "Soda/Root Beer Expectation". Did you ever think a glass was full of something, like Pepsi, take a drink and be a little disgusted because it's root beer? Now you may like root beer just fine but you were expecting the taste of Pepsi so the root beer just tastes wrong.
That's my worry about Walker. We have this expectation of how he will sound and act based on the Wisconsin union fight (how much did you see of Walker compared to frothing union idiots like Ed Schultz?) that may not be accurate. I think a lot of people have sort of filled in the blanks on Walker based on who his enemies are. I'm not quite sure the real Walker will meet the expectations many of us have in our minds. He may wind up getting in trouble not because of who he is but who we think and want him to be isn't bad, just not what we were expecting.
My hope is he's the "better liar" I've been waiting for. A guy who sounds moderate and non-threatening but then slashes government like a drunken Freddy Kruger turned loose on a summer camp.
I just can't quite bring myself to believe that Walker is that guy. At least not yet. Maybe he will send enough signals to comfort the small government right without scaring off soccer moms.
Something to watch for from Walker and the rest of the GOP is their embrace of so-called "reform conservatism". The "reformicons", and Rubio is one of the first to embrace parts of their agenda, are basically the reincarnation of the Bush era "compassionate conservatives".
Will Walker embrace the refomicon path? I hope not. But if he does, he's not going to be the next next Reagan or Coolidge but the next W. One of those was enough, thanks. But if he's really the Terror Of Madison that many on the left think he is, I'll make Brandon seem like a fair weather friend. We'll see.
Addendum: None of this matters. Jeb is going to be the nominee. Sure, no one likes him but he's raising tens of millions of dollars. When you have to tell donors to keep the contributions to a million dollars...for now, you're going to have a lot of money. He'll do what Mitt did...spend it destroying every conservative around. Sure it'll be harder because the field is stronger this year but the establishment always gets its man (1980 being the main exception).
Walker doesn’t make enemies unnecessarily, he earns them. He also likes to pick his battles. He allows himself to mature on issues (common core, ethanol), but by the right people and in the right direction, and that won’t change after the election.
No Jeb, no way.
Forget Reagan — Could Scott Walker Be the Next Calvin Coolidge?
Think about this and then when you've figured it out, you won't have to wonder why he keeps beating the Left.
His mother Jewish?
My guess is the swarm was placed there and nurtured by someone who feared Cruz getting more popular because of his many strengths.
We have some very good candidates who are fairly conservative, Cruz being the best IMHO.
Did you think whoever placed last weeks swarm is going to stop with Cruz? The familiarity of this pattern is frightening. Let's go after each conservative and somewhat conservative candidate one at a time until a certain candidate (whose name shall not be mentioned) has an opportunity to win.
In the mean time, the hildabeast has zero connection with this swarm, they don't really want to run agains the Bush family, and the Paul groupies are running wild (of which Ace is a fringe member).
Think man. It's one at a time. And we here can all help by voluntarily joining the swarming purist circular firing squad that has become such a wonderful feature of FR.......
Principled mindless see the band wagon passing and climb on lest they be mistaken for non purist
Many don’t shop at walmart for fear of being seen
some seem to think free trade is the only thing important.
I agree with this premise. I am not excited about Walker at all.
Cruz for me. If picking a governor it would be Sarah Palin who had and has real values she sticks to. Needs no one to bump her into the right view to appeal to conservatives.
Funny,
Hasn’t he “evolved” on immigration too?
Nobody is blasting him on his support of TPP. Why is that?
I guess his support of the Patriot Act is good for you too?
A swarm?
Jeff sessions’ warnings are part of a swarm? Mark Levin?
Silly
From my previous posting:
“
In order to win leadership in Wisconsin, Walker needed to begin the process of educating the voting public on issues that needed attention. He knew that if he took on that task during the election, that he would loose the election, and never get a chance to reform. So instead, he positioned himself as a person in a learning process on these issues (even though he had very developed positions, based on his experience).
This “questioning” approach caused a lot of Wisconsinites to ask questions too, and be open to arguments, instead of hanging on the bumper-sticker responses they had been fed for years.
Questions like “why are our government bodies providing accounting and banking services for public unions” in the form of union dues deductions?
“Why are municipalities forced, via public employee contracts, to purchase health insurance from a union-formed company”, that are charging exorbitant rates?
“Why is state university tuition increasing, while these same schools are accumulating huge cash pools that are being buried in the university budgets?”
Walker’s political style is to plant questions in the minds of voters, not to tell them what they want. These questions cause the voters to come to the conclusions themselves.
Walker has raised issue awareness, and in turn, brought voters to his position on those issues. He wants the voter to make it their idea, an idea they can now explain and support.
Bottom line: Walker knows you win leadership roles by educating voters. He plays the humble role of teacher.”
Thanks...
The anti-Ted swarm has been active even before he declared. GOPe elements fed opposition research to the news media during his Obamacare fight. Anti-Ted zealots populate the internet in abundance, even posting comments here at FR!
Unlike Progressives and Democrats, who actually fight on behalf of their constituents, the GOPe fights AGAINST the interests of its nominal constituents - True Conservatives, Evangelicals, and Tea Partiers - and fights FOR big Corporate interests and the Country Club set. All the while, the GOPe will masquerade as supporting conservatism.
The GOPe is perfectly content with their abundance of clown candidates in the race, as long as Ted is defeated.
Nobody can take this guy serious and he should be out as soon as he is in the race. He can’t even handle his personal finances and is in debt up to his eyebrows. Anybody that would want him to handle America’s money needs his head examined.
“He may wind up getting in trouble not because of who he is but who we think and want him to be isn’t bad, just not what we were expecting.”
I am sure the author had a meaning in mind when he wrote this sentence but after reading it ten times I am still uncertain what it was supposed to mean.
Thank you, that’s a brilliant perspective. I had noticed a difference in the way he took on these issues but I never thought out his process into steps like that. It does make sense and it explains how he has had such great success when other very good conservatives failed to gain traction on the same problems.
Yep, I agree. This all stinks to high heaven.
Cruz and Walker are the best candidates BY A MILE.
The rest are complete JOKES or RINOs or both.
Terry Branstad tried something like that in Iowa back in the mid-1980’s and was slapped down like an errant toddler.
No, Walker is not the Greatest Living Human Being.
Walker has many flaws.
He supports free trade, but supports the TPA, which, in my view, is unconstitutional.
Walker supported the Patriot Act.
Both of those positions were the “mainstream” GOP position.
When it came time to lead, Walker never just accepted the mainstream position. He asked questions and analyzed issues.
One only has to look at his long list of accomplishments outside of unions in Wisconsin.
Every action Walker has taken as governor has been solidly conservative. He did that with a mostly purple, GOP-e legislature.
On immigration, Walker ended sanctuary cities and ended in-state tuition for illegals. Walker ended Common Core in Wisconsin by leaving the decision up to local districts.
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