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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Scott Walker in Wisconsin

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 12th, 2010 at 09:30 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I’m with Jeb Bush on this one. I think Scott Walker is a great candidate in Wisconsin. I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about him because I’ve been pre-occupied at the gubernatorial level with Karen Handel and Nikki Haley, but I’m glad to see the Drudge Report mentioning Scott.

Jeb Bush is endorsing him and, miracle of miracles, Newt Gingrich and I are on the same side here. Walker is a compelling candidate for Wisconsin. This is a man who gave back part of his government salary because he thought it was too much.

If I lived in Wisconsin, I’d be voting for him. His website is here.

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COMMENTS

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  • satchmo

    That’s a giant red flag.

  • Jon E. Schultz II

    I’ve met both Scott Walker and his primary competitor Mark Neumann each a couple of times. Both are good men.

    Neumann was in the US House of Rep for Wisconsin’s 1st District (my district), and was succeeded by the illustrious Paul Ryan after Neumann tried and failed to knock off Feingold in the Senate in ’98. He’s been building houses in the private sector for the past 10 years.

    Scott Walker was a State Assemblyman in Wisconsin for 10 years before taking the post of Milwaukee County Executive in 2002. Milwaukee is one of the two bastions of liberalism in Wisconsin (Madison being the other), so for a Republican to be elected as county exec in Milwaukee (yes, I know it’s technically a non-partisan position) is remarkable. Even more remarkable is that he hasn’t raised the county tax rate for his entire tenure in office. He was opposed to taking stimulus money, and is opposed to the 800 million dollar light rail boondoggle their trying to push through in Wisconsin. He is fiscally responsible, does his job with integrity, and he will be the next Governor of Wisconsin.

    In less than two weeks, the WISGOP will have our state convention, and there will be an endorsement for Scott Walker. I am a delegate and will be voting for him.

    I’ll write up more in an actual post in the coming weeks about this race, and the democratic contender, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

    Jon

  • Duke

    Not much makes me proud to be from Wisconsin these days, but the honor of having Scott Walker for a candidate to replace Diamond Jim Doyle as Governor takes away some of the sting of being from New York, Midwest.

    Scott isn’t just a Republican, he’s a conservative. He’s been able to present balance county budgets in Milwaukee County, in spite of the corrupt political apparachiks on the County Board. I’ve been happy to donate money to his campaign in the past, I’ll be privileged to participate in his motorcycle run around the state this summer, and I’ll be working hard as we approach the primary (yes he has one) and general elections in the fall.

    Scott Walker – he’s the man!

  • noretreat

    Its still a close primary, if you look at who will be voting, rather than just listen to the Wisconsin Republican establishment. Both candidates are proven conservatives at least. I personally have grave concerns about Walker.

    Walker has clearly chosen politics as his profession. I’ve had it with guys who make politics their sole career from both sides of the isle. Walker is a college drop out who worked for a non-profit for a while (the American Red Cross). Apart from that his whole resume is as a politician. No wonder Newt and Jeb have endorsed the man.

    Neumann on the other hand has t succeeded in the private sector,has a Masters degree, and isn’t making a career of politics.

    We really need someone in Madison who will go in and clean house without being focused on the the next step in their political aspirations.

    In my opinion this is not a battle of right vs left. Both men are on the right side of that divide. Its a question of insider verses outsider politics.

  • charlesjthomas

    I said that having those two come out and endose him so strongly made me nervous. They haven’t exactly been correctly or accurately leading the charge in the conservative momvement, especialy Newt. I guess I’ll have to take a skeptical second look.

  • Jon E. Schultz II

    …let’s be honest, the only reason you could consider him an outsider is because he lost his senate race in ’98. If he had it his way, this would have been his career as well.

    Not that I don’t like the man; I’ve met him a couple times, heard him speak, and I like what he has to say. But let’s not be disingenuous and pretend he’s some kind of innocent white knight riding in to save us.

    I don’t think the primary is going to be as close as you hope it will be, but then again it’s not until September (…yes, it should be moved to April or June…2 months between Sept and Nov is not enough time)

    Jon

  • proudgop

    I gave a contribution months ago

    I really wish we didn’t have a primary here

    Perhaps, Neumann should run against Feingold

  • wood

    Who cares? Give me results, not degrees. Typical elitist tripe.

  • zachv

    Jeb and Newt are behind Walker because he has the almost unanimous support of the Republican leadership, rank-and-file and conservative leaders in Wisconsin.

    Walker is *the* conservative in the Wisconsin Governor’s race, and has served the county of Milwaukee with an excellent conservative record. In fact, as County Executive since 2002, Walker has yet to return a county budget that has proposed increased taxes.

  • zachv

    Of course, Neumann seems to get more enjoyment out of poking everyone in the eye.

  • http://www.libertytreehugger.com reverelth

    Walker would have clobbered Feingold, too.

  • noretreat

    The point is that Neumann at least has private sector experience. Walker has no more private sector experience than Obama. I’m just not interested in voting for a guy who is just looking to add to his resume.

    And to be honest I consider him to be an outsider because he largely is to the Republican establishment in Wisconsin. The party rushed to anoint Walker as the payoff for walker stepping aside for Green last time around. Walker is a creature of the party.

  • noretreat

    Lets consider:

    Walker- Great conservative record
    Neumann- Great conservative record

    Walker- Great public policy experience
    Neumann – Great public policy experience

    Walker- Zero private sector experience
    Neumann- Successful entrepreneur and business owner

    Walker- Dropped out of college his senior year (for no reason that hes bothered to give)
    Neumann- had the character to finish an postgrad degree.

    They are BOTH good guys. It’s just that Neumann is a good guy with more experience and better credentials. Thats not elitism, its logic.

    Without a college degree Walker would have a hard time getting a job managing a convenience store in Wisconsin, yet its elitism to consider his lack of follow through when looking at giving him the position of CEO of a multi billion dollar enterprise?

  • noretreat

    We need someone who will go in there and clean house. Which is why the establishment of BOTH parties are scared to death of Neumann. He’ll call out the Republican’s as quick as the Dems. Neumann isnt looking to make a career , he wants to go in, serve a term or two, fix it, and get out.

    Do you seriously and honestly believe that Walker would do anything whatsoever to jeopardize a potential presidential run?

  • noretreat

    Neumann recounted a time in Congress when he refused to vote with his Republican colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee on a defense spending bill. Then-speaker Newt Gingrich put his arm around Neumann and said, “Mark, walk with me.”

    “You don’t get this,” Neumann recounted Gingrich as saying. “Your career in politics is over if you don’t cast the vote yes. ? It’s not about the bill, it’s about you being on a Republican committee and it’s a Republican bill. You can’t do it the other way.”

    Neumann told Gingrich that he didn’t have a career in politics. He said he was a homebuilder. Republican leadership booted Neumann from the committee.

    “You have to be able to look these folks back in the eye, and say, ‘I don’t care what you do to me in terms of re-election,” Neumann said. “My career is not here in politics. I’m going to do the right thing for the state of Wisconsin.”

    http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091205/APC0101/912050492/Wisconsin-candidate-for-governor-Mark-Neumann-touts-private-sector-experience

  • noretreat

    Yeah, he’s the “real deal” alright.

    http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=12483798

  • tngal

    WTAQ says its because his facebook site got hundreds of criticism messages.
    Walker’ own site says :

    “After discussing with several state legislators who both authored and sponsored the new law in Arizona, I?m satisfied that the amended bill provides adequate protections against racial profiling and discrimination.”

    Apparently the facebookers, caused him to have an about face. He called got the answers he needed and is now comfortable with the law.

    If this is the reason people were holding off on voting or otherwise showing support for this candidate, consider that he apparently does listen to constituents and he can be made to see the will of the people. .

    www.scottwalker.org

    http://www.wtaq.com/news/articles/2010/may/17/gov-candidate-walker-changes-mind-az-immigration-l/