It’s going to be a busy Monday for our friends at the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin and 2016 GOP Presidential candidate will be in town for a fundraiser.
The Mass Fiscal folks may have some of last year’s campaign debt still to retire. In 2014, they and an Independent Expenditure PAC called Jobs First spent quite a lot of money in direct mail efforts targeting 20 incumbent Democratic legislators for defeat. They sent out flyers charging that these lawmakers had taken many scandalously unpopular positions, such as favoring “illegal immigrants over military veterans.”
That this accusation was a distortion in the extreme did not go unnoticed in the press or, apparently, among voters, and 18 of the 20 legislators overcame whatever threat Mass. Fiscal’s “voter education” efforts may have posed and prevailed in their races. Nevertheless, the Democrats are feeling pretty sore about it all and will be holding an event to “expose the truth” about both Mass. Fiscal and Scott Walker at the State House at 1:00.
As it happens, Scott Walker’s views on immigration issues have been much in the news in the last week. Just as it was being reported that he had won the heart and mind of the Koch Brothers, which would pretty much guarantee him the Republican nomination, he began to talk about immigrants taking American jobs — a topic that worries his would-be patrons. The Koch Brothers prefer their candidates to adopt a relatively low profile on immigration policy, the better to emphasize the issues that are more important to their big business agenda, like crushing unions and denying climate change. (Speaking of denying climate change, a Wisconsin state agency voted earlier this month to prevent its staff from even discussing the topic.) Walker’s recent comments to the effect that our immigration policy ought to protect American workers and American wages is contrary to his past statements and to Koch Brothers “right-to-work” orthodoxy. It might also mean that Walker sees a need to pander to the nativist wing of his party.
So it would be interesting to see whether Scott Walker steers clear of this controversial subject altogether when he meets with the Mass. Fiscal faithful. I say “would be interesting” because of course the event is closed to those of us who do not pony up $500 to hear him. (Monday, 4/27 at 1:30 at the Union Club, 8 Park Street.)
(Cross-posted at hesterprynne.net).
all the Republican presidential candidates are going to be so shot full of holes by November 2016, I can’t see how they mount even a credible challenge to Mrs. Clinton. The one exception might be Jeb Bush, if he hangs in through the early going despite finishing further down, and picks up some momentum after.
The GOP should consider (though of course impossible) having blue state early primaries to end having to pander to Iowa, NH and SC. Hardly representative of the country as a whole in the general election.
The man is a real snake and will say or do anything to get elected. He has the Dubya conservative populist persona down pat with a nod to libertarians and the country club Republicans by his union busting. Only credible candidate other than Rubio capable of bringing the three stools together.
I know, I know, I said the same about Pawlenty but that guy would never fire up a crowd like Walker. He has the Sam’s Club Republican ‘I shop at Kohl’s routine” for NH, the evangelical pastor’s son BS for Iowa and SC, and he is getting funded and advised by a significant number of neocons. It’ll be him v Jeb in the downstretch. Rubio is there in case Jeb has a scandal, and to be considered for VP.
FWIW Team Clinton agreed with my assessment. Rubio could actually bring in latinos and independents, Cruz is so polarizing he actually wins over few Latinos than white guys like Jeb or Christie. And Walker puts PA, WI, OH, and MI in play, the double down on white working class rust belt strategy. They aren’t too worried about Jeb, he will be so bruised and compromised by the time he gets through to a general he’ll be Mitt 2.0. The other irony is they need the other to be the nominee to make the dynasty issue a wash.
If it is Walker, the rich-bashing at Mrs. Clinton’s expense. Just as election season entertainment.
The media is already in the tank against the Clinton’s over the foundation and emailgate. And at the end of the day, despite Hillary’s surprisingly bold pivot towards the working class in her economic agenda, the voters will see that one guy shops at Kohls’, didn’t finish school, and ‘worked his way through’ while the other is an effete Ivy Leaguer with Goldman salaried speeches and a shady Foundation getting ‘foreign money’.
Jeb neutralizes all of that, he is far more privileged than the Clintons, the Carlyle Group is even shadier, etc. Brown v Coakley 2.0 on a national scale. And I say that as an apt comparison since like Brown, Walker is an empty suit the real suits can easily buy and coach to talk tough and win votes, and like Coakley, sometimes Clinton sounds completely out of touch.
…that Walker puts those rust belt states out of reach. He is about as toxic as they come to the working class it would seem after all the drama in his first term. Organized labor especially will work harder than they’ve ever worked for HRC just to take vengeance on Walker even if they aren’t completely satisfied with her.
Walker got re-elected despite his record. The man is the apotheosis of the modern Republican officeholder.
Between the different turnout of a presidential year and the visceral reaction against a promotion I’m banking on he’ll have more trouble. Even WI despite homestate advantage I wouldn’t bet the house on.
It got him a donor list and the WI Dems blew their load on that race, which had even lower turnout than the midterms. Didn’t help they nominated an outsourcing centrist CEO to go up against him, she ran against the war on women and made no mention of the war on workers.
I would ask whose brilliant idea that was, but I assume Dem voters chose her via primary.
“Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin”