Posted on 04/06/2015 1:40:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It was only weeks ago that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker emerged as a prospective 2016 Republican presidential candidate who might be best positioned to unite a fractious GOP. Walker’s ostensive ability to appeal to both the Republican Party’s tea party wing and the coastal “establishment” faction indicated that Walker might enter the primary field a prohibitive favorite. Some speculated that he could run as strong a campaign in Iowa as he would run in New Hampshire. What looked like an open field for the GOP ahead of 2016 suddenly began to appear virtually closed.
Polls of the national GOP primary electorate – an admittedly fictitious animal — still indicate that Walker enjoys Jeb Bush levels of support from Republican voters, but that backing has begun to ebb as voters learn more about the Wisconsin governor. The Washington Examiner’s Byron York noted that there is probably a correlation between Walker’s lack of name recognition among Republicans and his relatively high levels of support.
For a candidate who starts out with little national recognition, a campaign is a long process of telling voters who he is. With the general public — and all three polls cited above were of the public, not just Republicans — Walker is still a mystery for a large number of people. Even some Republicans who know of Walker and like him base their opinion on what they know about Walker’s stand against public-sector unions in Wisconsin, and little beyond that. Despite all the attention the media has paid to the campaign so far, Walker is still starting out when it comes to explaining to voters who he is and why he’s running.
And while Walker is defining himself for the Republican electorate, other candidates who have already established their brand are surging.
According to the results of a Monmouth University survey of the national GOP electorate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) now polls competitively with Walker at 11 percent support each. In that survey, Jeb Bush maintains a nominal lead at 13 percent.
What’s more, Cruz and Walker have similar favorability ratings among GOP voters. Monmouth found 49 percent of the Republican electorate views Cruz favorability while 44 percent have a similar opinion of Walker.
While Monmouth noted that Walker continues to enjoy a significant amount of support from conservatives and his favorability ratings have markedly increased in recent months, “nearly half of Republican voters in the country don’t know enough about him yet to form an opinion.”
But the most interesting finding in this Monmouth survey came when the pollsters narrowed the field to just Cruz and Walker. In a head-to-head matchup, Republican voters backed Cruz over Walker at 41 to 36 percent.
The Scott Walker boomlet that characterized the early months of 2015 has not entirely dissipated, but the surge of support for Ted Cruz that accompanied his presidential announcement has elevated him to the top tier of 2016 candidates. According to this poll, Cruz at least has the capacity at this stage of the race to unseat Walker as the singular anti-Bush.
Walker had a chance and he dropped the ball at every opportunity. Cruz in EVERY case picked up the ball and advanced down field.
I don’t think you will find a Bush bot on this website.
“stay out da Bushes!”
I’m a Cruzer, Feel my firebrand sizzle! SSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Cruz and Bush mono a mono is a contest I would welcome.
I will literally flip out if my name here will be the ticket.
well Cruz/Paul. looks like West isn’t running.
I want Cruz to win but I also like Walker. Walker is much better than anybody else running besides Cruz in my view.
Cute, but Walker hasn’t even announced yet. Time will tell.
It’s Walker’s own fault. He went soft (or revealed himself to be soft) on illegal immigration.
He and his campaign staff
I totally missed the day Walker announced he is running for President. What a day that must have been. I think Walker will be the last one to announce which is a brilliant strategy because all the others will have their little bump and he will arrive last with his bump which hopefully lasts.
Oh please NO!!! I dont think we can take another 4000 debates.
lol. Only 12 are scheduled from June until December....I am not sure how many in 2016. They are having less then in 2012.
I’m for Sen. Cruz- but Gov. Walker has a clear record of accomplishment. Doubt, at his point, that he’s “fading”.
Cruz is out campaigning. I would hope his numbers go higher.
I still support Walker between the two.
Either one would be outstanding.
I don’t want a RINO following Cruz...so no VP Walker or Paul for me.
One can disagree with Walker over his (apparent) immigration policies (which appear to change daily)---as I do---yet still respect him for what he has accomplished and to use it as an inspiration to stand up to the media.
This is a marathon and not a sprint, and we’re very early in the process. So polls at this stage don’t mean a lot.
Bush has the money, but faces a pretty unified group of conservatives.
Rubio might siphon off some of Paul's younger support, but he and Jeb will split the pro-illegal vote.
So far, I think it will come down to Cruz and Walker.
Ted Cruz also argued cases before the Supreme court successfully.
Was in charge of a whole federal department FTC.
Solicitor general.
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.