Welcome to the Spotlight, Scott Walker
“Everyone” is talking about Scott Walker…but is America listening?
Let the circus begin.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker brought down the house at the Iowa Freedom Summit last week; and ever since then, everyone from grassroots activists, to the mainstream media, have upped the chatter regarding his chances to move to and stay at the front of the field and seize the GOP nomination.
According to Public Policy Polling, Walker has for the first time burst though into double digits (although those numbers include the possibility of a Romney candidacy). He’s not on top yet, but he’s getting there:
He’s reached that level of support despite having the lowest name recognition of any candidate we tested, which is a pretty good indication that when voters get to know him they’re coming to like him. Walker’s near 3:1 favorability rating among those who have heard of him is second only to Carson. Things are headed in the right direction for Walker.
On ABC ‘This Week,’ Martha Raddatz did her best to make Walker say something stupid about Marco Rubio, Syria, immigration, football (BREAKING: he likes it,) and his own breakout performance:
World News Videos | ABC World News
Was he perfect? No, but you can see what Raddatz was doing. Bam-Bam-Bam goes the hard-hitting interviewer!
I think Walker has the media freaked; you can tell by Raddatz’s tone and treatment of Walker that she was convinced she’d be able to force him to drop a fatal soundbite given enough interruptions and “but…but” redirects.
When Raddatz assumed he’d be running against Hillary Clinton, though, Walker’s answer was pretty perfect:
RADDATZ: The Republican nominee could be in a race against Hillary Clinton. Let’s just say it’s you. What would you say to Hillary Clinton? What is the best case against Hillary Clinton?
WALKER: I think the biggest thing I hear from Americans applies both in the primary contest and I think in the general, if I were a candidate and if I ultimately had earned the nomination, and that is I think people want to look to the future. They don’t want to go back in time, they don’t want to repeat what we’ve had in the past. We need a candidate not of the 20th century, but of the 21st century. Ironically, that’s what her husband brought to the table in 1992 when he-
(CROSSTALK)
RADDATZ: What marks the difference between those two candidates?
WALKER: I think there is a clear difference. I think former Secretary of State Clinton embodies all the things that we think of Washington. She lives here, she’s worked here, she’s been part of the Washington structure for years. Not just as a Democrat, but across the spectrum. I think Washington represents the top-down, government knows best, go (inaudible) mentality. I think Americans overwhelmingly want fresh new ideas that build the economy from the ground, that put the power back in the hands of the people, not only at the state and local level, but of individual Americans. I don’t think they want government telling them what to do, and that’s what I’ve been advocating for a long time.
Walker is right—we don’t want the government telling us what to do. That mini-stump is a great jumping off point for a messaging strategy that works for America, but isn’t the kind of red meat populist narrative that doesn’t work when successful, powerful people serve it up.
Progressives know that Walker has what it takes to lead. That they’re already this nervous about him should have activists, bundlers, and the conservative media taking a second (and third and fourth) look at Scott Walker the Presidential Candidate.
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Comments
“… and the conservative media taking a second (and third and fourth) look at Scott Walker the Presidential Candidate.”
Uh… conservative media was the first to identify Walker as a potential presidential candidate several years ago. More recently Rush Limbaugh all but endorsed him, telling the establishment GOP that Walker has the plan and method for defeating big government progressivism if they want it. He repeated ‘if’ jokingly, because he thinks Walker might not be squishy enough for the current GOP leadership and is too much the DC outsider. Conservative support is the bulk of Walker’s current surge.
What makes you think conservative media has rejected Walker and needs to take further looks?
Most Americans only know of Walker what they are spoon-fed by the corrupt media outlets they so ignorantly rely on.
It is up to the rest of us to ‘argue with neighbors, get in their face’ (as our traitor president once suggested.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCMDur9CDZ4
If we don’t, well… Enjoy a democRat president in 2016.
And if we do win but continue to tolerate the malignant propaganda spewed against a GOP president in 2016 and beyond by the corrupt American media, enjoy a democRat president in 2020.
We CAN do this. Come on, we’re the country Obama said that built the Intercontinental Railroad. As Obama also said, let’s make the corrupt American news media show us R-S-P-E-C-T. We all need to become tallying corpse-men of the conservative cause. Each of us — in all 57 states.
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama-isms.htm
It is up to the rest of us to ‘argue with neighbors, get in their face’ (as our traitor president once suggested.)
If they bring a knife, can we bring a gun?
And if they bring a gun, can we bring a bigger gun?
Walker could be great but eff him if he’s pushing Amnesty.
Sorry Da Mav – I down rated your comment in error. I was trying to reply to you and clicked wrongly.
I agree that Walker’s position on amnesty seems to be a problem but so many politicians are trying to thread the needle on this issue.
Hmm, where in that ‘interview’ was Walker supporting amnesty?
Methinks I heard the phrase “I’m not supporting amnesty.” proceeding from his mouth.
Don’t interpret “we need immigration reform” as supporting amnesty, they aren’t the same thing.
I am wholly against Amnesty in any form and think we should deport every single illegal. If there aren’t enough busses then use those big Wiley Coyote Sling Shots to get them back across the 12 foot high fence that needs to be built.
However, there are parts of our immigration system that need to be changed. Currently it’s most broken aspect is the lack of enforcement which has been worsened by this administration. But there are other things as well.
Here is an example. I had two friends who were both doctors from the Philippians, husband and wife. They came here to finish medical school and to live in america. They immediately began working on getting their citizenship. They turned in their paperwork together, every time they had a deadline they met or exceeded it. Did their best to do everything right. The wife got her citizenship in 2 years, the husband took 7 years…WTF!?!?
He had no history that should have slowed him down or anything. It should not have taken 5 more years for his citizenship. One of the dreams they had was taking the oath together, which eventually they got to do, but the wife was already a citizen so it really wasn’t what they had wanted.
So yes there are some things about or immigration system that need to be reformed and some that need to be just done away with all together. There are also things that need to be added. But just “Immigration Reform” doesn’t equal blanket amnesty.
No America is not listening and that is a good thing for Walker in that it will allow a lot of left wing slander to come out and be dealt with before the campaign actually starts.
Raddatz is a terrible interviewer. She never allowed Walker to answer her questions. It is one thing to keep interrupting if he was avoiding her questions but he wasn’t.
How rude!
She never allowed Walker to answer her questions.
MSM party-line megaphones like Ms. Raddatz know that they must control the discussion, and rub the audience’s noses in the QUESTIONER’S point of view, truncate the answers, and keep the interviewee on the defensive.
Happy to say, Governor Walker stood up pretty well against those corrosive methods and got his points across – showing that he thinks well on his feet without Teleprompter. His reference to surviving 100,000 shrieking protesters while remaining in office was particularly apt.
It never fails to amaze me that comments on conservative websites about potential candidates will a always have a “eff him if he’s pushing ______” (fill in the blank). You are never going to get an ideologically perfect candidate.
Walker, Christie, Bush, Rubio, Huckabee, even Trump would make a better POTUS than Hillary whose only accomplishment is staying married to Bill.
Get behind the candidate that can WIN. Walker sure seems to fill those shoes.
Ehh, I tend to think those folks are either “single issue” voters or progressive plants.
What makes you think conservative media has rejected Walker and needs to take further looks?
What would make one think that the ‘conservative media’ is more than a spit in the ocean of the vast MSM hurricane which will be directed all too soon against Scott Walker?
What a hag — the misery and resentment are written all over her face. By the way, Obama was a guest at her wedding. He was a classmate of her first husband Julius Genachowski at Harvard Law.
Frankly, I’m not really interested in the whines and moans of foreigners about legally immigrating to the USA. It’s not my or our problem.
Foreigners do not have the “right” to come here. If they find it too arduous, too bad. Don’t come here.
We do not exist merely as an employment office for the world. The USA was not founded on the principle of “come one, come all”, open immigration. If was not founded by immigrants, nor have immigrants ever been more than about 10% of the population (until recently).
The problem with immigration these days, is the brutal fact that the Ruling Class in the Beltway, for a good 15-20 years now, have decided not to enforce immigration laws. It is a sort of “planned invasion” of the 3rd world. Why? the libs/Dems want a constant flow of poor, dependent people to hook into government social spending programs (in exchange for votes). The Repubs want a steady stream of peasants to work for business owners.
Native born Americans, generally speaking, want illegal aliens deported and legal immigration REDUCED. Will we get what we want?
No. We have no representation.
It’s only going to get worse, and hopefully he’ll even get better.
Serious question for the women at LI. is he cute?
Let me expand on that question. In T.V. they have something called ‘Q-factor’ which is the appeal that people present on television.
It has been important since the Kennedy/Nixon televised debate.
I have also heard it said that Sarah Palin would never win the women’s vote because she is too pretty.
Since we can expect Karl Rove and the Democrats to attempt to demonize Walker, I wonder if his ‘Q-Factor’ will counter-act those attempts.
I look forward to your informed opinions on this matter. Maybe a poll?
He isn’t handsome nor is he ugly. The bald spot may be a small problem but that can be handled. Is he better looking or more charismatic than Hillary? Oh God yes.
He’s a midwesterner — decent, competent, steadfast. Don’t expect charisma or dynamism. I don’t care myself. I just want an authentically conservative adult without a sociopathic ego.
Not so fast. I like Walker, and certainly he did what had to be done in WI, and needs to be done in all the old rust bucket blue states, just to tread water. WI lost 111,000 Americans to other states and only gained 100,000. If it were not for 19,000 foreign migrants, WI would have had a net loss in population.
Has Walker presided over an economic miracle in WI? Are young people flocking into WI from around the country to snap up the HOT jobs of the future? Not so much. How about businesses from IL, Chicago especially, moving across the border? However, like Kasich in Ohio, he has managed not to go backwards which is nothing to sneer at, given that the economic rational for the Great Lakes is no longer what it once was. All I know about Walker comes from the Althouse blog so if you have additional positive statistics, please share.
Oh, and one more thing, WI is not a cross section of America.
What you see is what you get with Scott Walker. So far, Walker has been a simple, three-legged stool conservative that sticks to his core beliefs. He hasn’t pandered to specific crowds as many seasoned politicians do, so he hasn’t had to remember a lie he told to crowd “B” yesterday or the policy shift he intimated to crowd “A” the day before. As a governor he’s been able to keep an incredibly simple message. The key to his success in Wisconsin has been that he says little in a plain spoken manner and then actually follows words with actions.
A candy man he ain’t. He sold pain to get himself elected and it took a lot of middle-of-the-road Wisconsinites a long time to warm up to his ideas. It takes time to build trust. People are used to having their votes bought with baubles and trinkets of one form or another and that just isn’t Walker’s game. Or hasn’t been so far.
As sad as it is, I really don’t think the country is ready for a Scott Walker. Too much of the country still doesn’t want to be lectured about pain and sacrifice. Especially when the other politicians standing next to Walker are more than willing to tell the voters the lies they still want to hear. I’m all for Walker raising his profile, but he’s going to be elbowed aside by the usual smarmy GOP-e type. His time may yet come, but not this time.
Martha appears to have learned how to interrupt her guests from Hannity and O’Reilly, two masters of interrupting their guests and insisting their guests answer as the host wishes, not as the guest wishes. Maybe Martha should try and emulate Megan instead. Except, Martha is too much a dedicated Socialist to do that.
Still, the interview demonstrated that Walker knows well how to deal with the MSM bunch and showed, in many ways, how adroit he is at handling hardballs and the sudden changes of directions that the MSM bunch like to use when dealing with Conservatives. Don’t know where Walker will stand when the selection process gets down the road but he should do well and regardless, he’s a good possible candidate for 2016.