Posted on 02/06/2015 8:40:59 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
"... Among candidates that the conservative base consider “real” conservatives(as opposed to Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, apostates on various key issues),Walker is the most likely to win the Republican nomination.And Democrats should hope he gets the nod.
The fundamentals suggest that the 2016 election will be extremely competitive. With economic growth picking up and President Obama’s approval rating trending back toward 50 percent,Democrats have a real chance now to capture a third term in the White House,historically a tough ask. But under all but the best conditions,Hillary Clinton will need every advantage she can get. As John Sides and Lynn Vavreck show in their must-read 2012 postmortem “The Gamble,”polls suggest that Obama,not Mitt Romney,was the candidate less ideologically similar to the average voter,and Obama’s liberalism may have cost him several percentage points with independent voters. It must be noted that truly independent voters(not voters who say they are independent but almost always vote for one of the parties)make up a small percentage of the electorate. But in what the fundamentals suggest will be a very close race,running a more moderate Democrat in Clinton against a stridently more conservative Republican in Walker could provide that 1 percent difference.
Furthermore, a losing Walker-led ticket would provide the best proof for the GOP base that the “our guy would have won if he was more conservative” argument is a myth. As much as outsiders rolled their eyes at post-election claims that Romney and John McCain “weren’t conservative,”it’s certainly true that they were on the more moderate side of their respective primary fields. It’d be impossible to claim that with Walker(though some will no doubt try).Maybe, just maybe,that will be enough to stop or at least stall the Republican Party’s sprint to the right and finally bring the GOP back to the bargaining table.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
If Nixon wasn’t the One, why would Walker be?
For all you Walker-ites out there that think you can bully Conservatives and who think they can win with a candidate who won’t precisely define where he is on illegals, amnesty and legalization of same.
From my POV he has a very lot going for him. His incomprehensible explanations thus far on illegals and what he’d do as President are sorely, sorely lacking.
Fix it or go home.
Furthermore, a losing Walker-led ticket would provide the best proof for the GOP base that the “our guy would have won if he was more conservative” argument is a myth. As much as outsiders rolled their eyes at post-election claims that Romney and John McCain “weren’t conservative,”it’s certainly true that they were on the more moderate side of their respective primary fields.
so basically the moron writer is mocking something that’s true? how many conservatives stayed home and did not vote the past two presidential elections??
oh yeh- and leave it to the criminal liberal media to dream that people will feel hillary more a man of the people versus Scott Walker...left wing spin at its best!!!
According to the Washington Post Hole Digger, Walker is already out of the race.
Well, at least that’s what Brian Williams told them...
He must define himself on the border. I will not vote for another open border RINO, but will instead stay home.
Here’s a prediction. Walker will delay a definitive concrete position on border, illegals here, and future illegals until more of the other Republican wannabe chaff have been ousted in the primaries.
I’m for Cruz, but a Walker with an ANTI-amnesty (clearly real) and border fences that stop Mexicans would help me seeing a clear path to voting for him if Cruz does not prevail.
If he cannot, will not define a clear position on this, the eff him. I’ll stay home. Let the RNC, GOPe and CoC deal with a few million like me staying home. I’m just not gonna hold my nose again - I’m tired of the stench that permeates my nose from doing it.
Yes, securing the borders and deporting EVERYONE that is here illegally needs to be a top priority, along with stopping Obama’s open door policy toward Muslims from hostile countries.
More Leftists tell Republicans what they ought to do to win. Pffftt...
The only thing I will demand of my candidate - before I cast a primary vote for them - is to demonstrate, and merely pledge, that they will have the guts to go after Hillary or the Dem nominee.
I WILL NOT vote for any Republican that will beat the snot out of other Republicans, but will be completely civil, and respectful, and tender towards the Dem nominee. Remember McCain, and Romney? Tough, and dirty against Republicans but gentle, sweet, and supportive of Obama. Heck, 8 days before the election McCain told everyone that we had nothing to worry about with an Obama presidency!
No more. Any candidate that wants my vote is going to have to prove that they are going to go HARD after the Dem — whether that Dem is a woman or not!
Yes. This is what passes as conventional wisdom in the Beltway Bubble.
The GOP-e runs screaming and the Left laughs, as they know Walker would govern Right - roll back Big Government and Big Education - turn chunks of it back over to the states, and they think. They’re hoping that they can sit back and let the GOP-e run over him.
I’ll give him some time to come around on the immigration issue if he keeps fighting the left instead of trying to appease them.
The magic words to utter nowadays to the State Department are “I’m a victim of reprisals, fear for my life, blah, blah, blah.....” seem to be the watchwords for automatic approval for immigration against quotas.
It further seems that these approvals are largely for Muslim and non-white Africans,middle easterners.
Whoever wrote this article is an idiot. When Goldwater lost to Johnson in 1964 the GOP turned tail and ran. And look where we are today. One big mess. If, in every election since 1964, the GOP had held strongly to conservative principles our nation would be in much better shape today.
I disagree, it's always a close contest around 50-50. In 2016 at least 1-2% of Obama voters are sooo dismayed that they will vote opposite, for the non Dem. I predict just about any Gop candidate wins.
Isn’t James Downie the brother of Ben Downie?
You want to give him enough time to force others in the race out over an undefined position then. This whole game is nothing but gamesmanship. You cannot tell who wants what because they lie, dissemble, obfuscate and demur for the sake of position in the race. What does it matter when they finally commit to get that last holdout group and then betray them when elected? This is the past.
They must commit when they don’t know who feels what. It’s the only way to be sure. Otherwise, nuke it from orbit because that’s the real way to be sure.
Don’t throw us in the briar patch. We don’t want a more conservative candidate, we want a more conservative President, a more honest candidate.
Can someone tell me what “GOP-e” means? I see it all the time, but I never got the memo. It clearly refers to the Republican establishment, or to RINOs, but the significance of the “e” escapes me.
Let’s see, there was Obama’s Executive Order on Amnesty which as of now, doesn’t offer citizenship to illegals. Yet, Cruz’s bill is not called amnesty either???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.