If Walker was leading in Iowa before Trump declared, and went to less than 1% after Trump; and Walker’s base is ostensibly anti-labor evangelicals; what if anything does that say about “anti-labor evangelicals”?
Did they defect to Trump, or to someone they thought was a better counter to Trump? Or did they actually turn on Walker instead of just “trading up”? Did he just turn out to be much more inept than they assumed?
Is Trump anti-labor? Is he evangelical?
Was Walker’s actual appeal something else entirely? What’s the common thread? Maybe there’s a male pattern baldness and combover constituency driving some votes?
Less than one half of 1%. Unbelievable. I don’t get it. My inner hack is annoyed (because I predicted him to win the nomination), but my inner wonk is thrilled. Danger averted. I can’t believe they didn’t see that he was their ideal combination of conservatism and electability. Idiots.
I am happy he’s out. Not so long ago I was musing darkly that he could grab the religious right vote and maybe win it all. Turns out, no, he’s actually too much a prat.
I definitely feel ‘danger averted’ as well. But, as much as I am not a fan of today’s GOP, I can’t accuse them of a SRIOTD for not seeing Walker as electable. The guy was awful. With reservations, I award one point: GOP.
This WOULD NOT have happened if Trump hadn’t entered the race, which is one of the reasons I’m still so thrilled that he’s doing so well.
It’s almost surreal. In another universe, the race would be playing out EXACTLY like all of the pundits had prognosticated: Jeb! & Walker would’ve been fighting it out to be the nominee.
Good riddance. Of all the candidates on the GOP side, Walker was the one which genuinely scared me the most.
I agree he’s awful, but the only one that isn’t really awful is Kasich.
I agree. As much as I enjoy the chaos Trump has caused, the old-school part of me wishes I could also watch the alternate reality version you describe, and see how it would have played out.
Or would it just have been Carson and Fiorina because the Republican primary electorate doesn’t want politicians? P
Well, Kasich comes across as more genuine and ‘cooler’ I guess. He is older and more confident, steadier. He is a bit oily but all of it together and I think he could get away with a bald spot. But I don’t think Kasich’s ideas are all that hot- they resemble Walker’s (and every other GOP politicians’), only enforced with less success in Ohio:
What does Kasich think about AGW? Probably closer to George Willthan Al Gore, but I’m speculating at this point.
But he went for Medicaid expansion, he talks about his greatest responsibility being to help the poor, and he was accused by George Will back in the '90s of being too much of a compassionate conservative.
I’m not saying I would rather have him as president then a Democrat, but he is the only Republican running that strikes me as basically being a decent person at heart.
If he wants to help the poor, I’m not sure bashing unions is the place to start. But still, maybe he really is a nice guy.
People said of Carter, “He’s a nice man but not very good as president.” Carter at least had good ideas (and was cursed with perhaps impossible circumstances). Kasich only has “nice”.
This AFL-CIO boss is certainly not a fan of Walker.
“Scott Walker is still a disgrace, just no longer national,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a one-sentence statement after news that Walker was going to announce he is ending his 2016 campaign.”
You are not wrong. Pataki is capable of sounding intelligent and reasonable at times. Which is why the only way he will ever get in the Oval Office will be on a tour.
