Posted on 07/24/2015 7:07:58 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Iowa Republicans are getting to know Gov. Scott Walker, and based on early polls, it appears that they like him. Many voters there appear enthralled with the story of Walker, the conservative folk hero, and seem prepared to overlook potential shortcomings.
While it's unclear precisely what caused Walker to surge in the Iowa polls earlier this year and then stay there, the people who turned out to his rallies last weekend suggested that the image the governor's going for in this race is sinking in. At a Harley Davidson dealership in Carroll, Iowa, James Hedeen said he started paying attention to Walker after Wisconsin's 2011 collective bargaining battle.
"I've watched as he's gone along and the stands that he took, took guts," Hedeen said.
When Walker calls himself a fighter in his stump speech and draws repeated comparisons to Ronald Reagan, it clicks with Hedeen. He knows Walker has been a polarizing figure in Wisconsin, and he said he's ok with that.
"It takes a polarizing figure right now in order to turn the truck, you know?" he said. "It's not going to take some mediocrity — some guy that's going to stand on the fence and say 'ok, let's play this game and then let's play this game.' It's going to take somebody that's going to stand up and say, 'Look, we've got to go this direction.'"
At the same Harley dealership, Theresa Hildreth said Walker is spot on, exactly what the country needs.
Walker supporter Theresa Hildreth said she likes him because he seems relatable. Shawn Johnson.
"What I like the most about the governor is I can relate to him," Hildreth said. "He's like me. He's not above me. He doesn't talk to me like I'm below him."
Hildreth is sold on Walker: He rides a Harley. She rides a Harley. Walker shops at Kohl's. She shops at Kohl's. And Hildreth learned this week that Walker has no college degree. She likes that, too.
"That impressed me because I went to college, too, but I don't have a college degree. I don't have a college diploma. But I feel like I've been successful in what I want to do with my life," she said. "So, like I said, he's common folk. I think he's going to go a long ways. I think a lot of people can relate to him. I can relate to him."
This is exactly what the Walker campaign is going for. His pitch to Iowa voters is that he's just like them, and the contentious Wisconsin experience proves that he fights and he wins. But there are key pieces of the Wisconsin experience that Walker leaves out. At nearly every campaign stop, he's introduced as the governor who came into office with a $3.6 billion deficit and filled it.
Not mentioned is that, using the same math, Walker's tax cuts helped create a more than $2 billion budget deficit this year that the Governor plugged in part by borrowing and by cutting $250 million from the University of Wisconsin.
Pressed on that point, James Hedeen acknowledged that not everything's perfect in Wisconsin.
"No, it's not all roses, but I mean, like I said, the more you can put in the American peoples' hands — not only money but decisions — I mean, there's too much federal government right now making too many decisions for the average joe out there working today, and it's costing them a lot," he said.
Theresa Hildreth said tax cuts are a good thing, even if they lead to budget cuts.
"We've gotten real fat. We're expecting — it's always more, more more. We've got to make due with what we got," she said.
When it comes to others issues, Republicans' views of Walker might not be so clear-cut. For example, Walker talks tough on foreign policy. He wants the U.S. to spend more on the military and to take the fight to terrorists before they bring the fight here. This gets big applause at campaign rallies, but it turns off at least some Republicans like Vincent Campos of Council Bluffs.
"It stirs up peoples' emotions to support these wars, and I think a lot of it's not true," he said.
Campos said he's an Iraq War veteran and he thinks Walker sounds too eager to start another war.
"People who've actually been there understand what it's all about, and they know first-hand and they understand that decisions to go to war should not be made unless it's an absolute, there's no other way," he said.
Campos said he's leaning toward other Republicans in this race, and with Iowa's caucuses more than six months away, there are still several who have a chance. But for the time being, Scott Walker is the clear frontrunner in Iowa, and it isn't even close.
© Copyright 2015, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Lame stream media promoting anyone they thing The Hiilarnazi can beat!
Iowa “Conservatives” just LOVE their RINO/GOP-e s. There are VERY FEW REAL Iowa Conservatives(Bob Ray and his BUTT BOY Terry Branstad and their “Merry” “Band” pretty well have STAMPED them out).
Unmentioned is the tacit support Walker is receiving from Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Sen. Joni Ernst. Caucuses mean party regulars turn out and have staying power past casting a straw vote for president and leaving.
Wait, didn’t Joni’s dad come out in support of Cruz?
Oh, and Walker would crush Hillary.
Hey! Free Republic posting a story that’s about a good conservative candidate for once! Awesome.
What’s amazing is that they love an actual conservative Republican.
Maybe.
Did you miss Ernst’s Roast and Ride?
Ernst is friendly with Cruz, for sure. Politics isn’t as smooth and logical as people wish.
Yep. I wasn’t sure. I knew about Branstadt, but I thought he was in the camp of a RINO...not Walker.
Wasn’t sure...just asking.
Branstad is kind of a RINO, but doesn’t have hatred for conservatives like most RINOs. Ernst has successfully captured RINO and conservative support even a little better than pro Branstad. But she’s just getting started in the national spotlight.
Professional politicians (and others) frequently support candidates they have loyalties to over others that might better reflect their views.
My question:
What has Walker done about the sanctuary cities in his own state?
That will tell us a lot.
Walker looks and seems a lot like “W” Bush. Will all of the Walker “BOTS” on here tell me different?
Are either Ernst or Walker deserving of loyalty from Brandstadt? Why?
Also, Joni needs to be a bit more Conservative on the floor...glad she beat the Dem, though
All of the Walker cheerleaders fall all over themselves to tell me how strong he is on immigration (even though he is on record as voting for amnesty as a county executive).
If that’s true, I would like to know what actions has he taken against the sanctuary cities in his state?
The anti-sanctuary city bill isn’t being called the Walker Act by the enemy.
>>..and by cutting $250 million from the University of Wisconsin.<<
That’s a feature, not a bug.
While calling someone a “bot” probably isn’t the most effective way to get a response, I’ll bite anyway...
Bush ran as a “compassionate conservative,” remember? The result was that he couldn’t rein in his GOP Congressional majority when they wanted to spend money. It was a budget-busting spending free-for-all once he went into Iraq and Afghanistan. Show me where the Left took a single dollar cut in Bush’s 8 years in office. Just one dollar, anywhere. It probably did happen somewhere, but he certainly wasn’t noted for it.
Walker, on the other hand, has cut Planned Parenthood (before the videos brought all the rest on board), cut spending on state-level “climate change” projects to near zero, refused the “free” bullet train money from DC knowing that eventually WI taxpayers would be on the hook for overspending, cut the budget of the UW, one of the most incestuous Leftist dens in the state, all while holding property taxes at or below the level when he took office.
And that’s without even getting into Act 10 that decimated public sector unions in the state, or taking university tenure protection out of state law, or spreading the Milwaukee voucher program across the state.
Bush gave us No Child Left Behind and massively increased federal interference in education; Walker would be a good bet to dissolve the federal Department of Education. And that would be a good thing.
And what’s really good about this time around is that Walker might not even be the best candidate we have. But he would not be Bush reincarnated, of that I’m certain. (With the exception that both are of excellent character, that is.)
June 27, 2011: Walker Revokes In-state Tuition For Undocumented Students Attending Univ And Colleges In Wisconsin [ONLY state that has] "- On Sunday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) signed his two-year 2011-2013 budget, which included ending in-state tuition for undocumented students attending public universities and colleges. In-state tuition for undocumented students was approved two years ago by former Governor Jim Doyle (D) after the Hispanic community struggled for 10 years to pass it.".
BTTT
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