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I’m in the same boat, waffling between Cruz and Walker.
Two thorns for me:
1. Crux was for the TPA before he was against it.
2. Walker seems in favor of amnesty.
Besides those points, who will get past Jeb?”
I hear you on those two points, but Cruz did finally come to the right side on TPA and Walker now seems to be against amnesty and has gone a step further to talk about having an “immigration policy that protects the American worker.” I also understand there will never be the perfect candidate and if I agree with someone on 99% of the issues, I can support them enthusiastically.
As to who will get past Jeb, I’m not sure that’s the right question. Notwithstanding the recent NBC/WSJ “national” poll of 238 respondents (have you ever heard of a sampling that small?) with a margin of error of 6.8% that had Jeb at 22%, every other poll has had him around 10%. Also, I detect little enthusiasm for him and I don’t think he’s as hungry for the job and/or as good a politician as Romney to overcome the “hell no” opposition to his candidacy.
I believe either Cruz or Walker can get past Jeb and win the nomination, and I believe/hope conservatives will eventually coalesce around one or the other.
As for beating Hillary, I think either can probably do that as well, but at this point it looks like Walker has a better chance because he has a soft-spoken disarming demeanor and has proven he can win decisively in a Blue state that has not gone Republican since 1984. He also has a strong record of accomplishments and governing experience to run on.
Cruz’s great strengths are his intellect, ability to effortlessly articulate conservatism off the cuff with no note cards and no pre-rehearsed talking points, and his strong debating skills. This area is still somewhat of an unknown with Walker. He’s definitely smart enough and has looked good in speeches and interviews, but it remains to be seen how good a debater he is. This of course is very important, because I believe Perry would have been the nominee last time around were it not for his poor debate performances.
So at this point, I would say if Walker can show he can at least hold his own and hopefully be strong in the debates, the nomination is probably his to lose.
How many times does he have to say it? Walker is NOT in favor of amnesty.
If Walker does not run, I'm looking at Jindal (listening him announce right now.) Jindal/Trump would make an exciting ticket.
Wisconsin Gubernatorial Final Recall Debate - 5/31/2012 [60 minutes - you'll have your answer]