David Polyansky.
Iowa has been a home-away-from-home for Polyansky for years. He was deputy campaign manager for Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann when she climbed to a surprise victory in the 2011 Iowa Straw Poll. And he was senior consultant to [Joni] Ernst, who won a five-way GOP primary in June then defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley by 8.3 points in November to claim the U.S. Senate seat held for 30 years by a staunch liberal, Tom Harkin.
And
here's a NYT article on tomorrow's big Iowa event:
The event, which is being hosted by Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, offers Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the most prominent establishment figure on the schedule, a chance to test his appeal among grass-roots conservatives....
The forum on Saturday has the potential to become a gladiatorial matchup between Mr. Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of conservative Christian voters, and Mr. Santorum, who won it four years ago with the same voters. In 2012, nearly 60 percent of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa were born-again or evangelical Christians.
But Walker is also on that schedule — and so are Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson. We'll see how these various characters play to the conservatives.
Posts
67 comments:
If it keeps Huckabee out of the race, I'm all for it.
Walker-Martinez 2016! You heard it here first!
Wow, if Walker's got the guy behind the Huckabee juggernaut on his side ...
Nate Silver believes Walker has highest probability of getting the nomination.
Geography will help Walker in Iowa, but in the end, he won't woo the Eastern elite who are too full of themselves.
Walker-Perry.
Bob E, if that ticket doesn't run, you've just found yourself a hit name for a country-rock duo. Learn some twang and some geeetar, and get 'r done.
Do you think Walker could carry Wisconsin and Iowa against Hillary Clinton in a Presidential year? 16 electoral votes is nothing to sneeze at.
Perry wouldn't do a Walker ticket any good. Perry doesn't appeal to anybody that Walker doesn't appeal to, and it isn't like Republicans need help winning Texas.
Will miracles never cease. Walker is closing fast.
I cast a ballot in the Iowa straw poll in the summer of 1999. My first vote for W.
I was new to the state then and found the entire process to be very insular. Dominated by insiders and the self-important establishment types. W's operation was the slickest of the bunch, but he also was the most confident, enthusiastic, and connected better than anyone else (Forbes, etc.).
Walker has done well to attract people who know what it takes to win a small and idiosyncratic event.
No robots were harmed by this comment.
"The event, which is being hosted by Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, offers Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the most prominent establishment figure on the schedule, a chance to test his appeal among grass-roots conservatives..."
The NYT reporter writing this has to know it is a setup for failure.
Why is Huckabee running? Does he have a book to sell?
Walker, Romney and Perry are my top three. Walker has proven he has the ability, backbone and the temperament to lead our country. Chris Christie has had his fifteen minutes of fame, its all downhill for him.
I am seeing more and more young male's names hyphenated at my company...and I don't like it.
The eastern elite will beat him to a pulp about the no degree. And his wife is fat which is like double trouble.
Interesting, but right now my hedge bet on Rubio is looking better all the time.
@Titus, Obama's wife has a behind fifty percent larger than your average aircraft carrier while McCain's wife was not only a hot blonde but heiress to a major distillery. Didn't seem to affect the results of 2008.
Sorry, meant to include this link in my comment of 12:55.
Walker needs foreign-policy credibility at #2. Coulda been Petraeus.
Althouse's hunch that Walker secretly finished his degree feels more and more likely.
Steve King remains anti-immigration so he is not well liked by the GOP establishment - and you can see that because Jeb and Willard are not invited to his shindig.
But King is looking for power in the party else he wouldn't have done the invite to a group he seems to think hold influence on the right - but help me out! Chris Christie? Rick Santorum? Mike Huckabee? Marco Rubio?
Politicians who are not conservative just cannot identify true conservatives. So Steveyjust goes with the flow.
Walker has a chance to unify the opposition to Bush. Competent staff helps.
But what will he run on? Where is his money going to come from? Does he know where Yemen is? Can he even carry his own state?
He has time to answer the questions but Jeb is ahead of the game.
The Iowa Caucus scenario has not worked well for Republicans. I don't see any change coming and so I expect it won't help Republicans start the process of nominating a viable candidate and/or avoiding the appearance of being a bunch of nuts. But corn subsidies will get more life.
Althouse's hunch that Walker secretly finished his degree feels more and more likely.
How could that secret be kept though?
This is a small midwestern state. Everyone knows everyone else's business.
"MadisonMan said...
Althouse's hunch that Walker secretly finished his degree feels more and more likely.
How could that secret be kept though? "
Good point, it couldn't. But then you had to add this piece of idiocy:
"This is a small midwestern state. Everyone knows everyone else's business."
I think he's more likely to get away with it here.
"We'll see how these various characters play to the conservatives."
They all play well to conservatives. The problem is that beyond the Iowa Republican caucus, they don't play that well. Look at the cast that did so well: Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee. None could mount any broad national appeal.
I'll cheer for Walker amongst the group based on perceived capability.
More good news for Walker . Mitt has swallowed whole the poison of Global Warmist Alarmist propaganda. He has gone full big lie cultist in addition add to the Mormon big lie cult that he has always preached. Mitt is finished.
As a Democrat, I will be pulling wholeheartedly for Scotty.
Link, tradguy?
"Walker needs foreign-policy credibility at #2. Coulda been Petraeus."
Bush needed foreign policy cred at #2. We got Cheney. Let's not repeat that mistake.
"bbkingfish said...
As a Democrat, I will be pulling wholeheartedly for Scotty."
Really smart guy? Because Scotty has been kicking Democrats' asses his whole life.
"B said...
"Walker needs foreign-policy credibility at #2. Coulda been Petraeus."
Bush needed foreign policy cred at #2. We got Cheney. Let's not repeat that mistake."
LOL
LBJ, HJH, Muskie, Eagleton/Shriver, Mondale, Ferraro, Bentsen, Gore, Lieberman, Edwards, and of course Joe Biden, who has been on the wrong side of a FP position his whole life.
I loved Mccain's wife Rich and Hot!
Michelle does have a huge ass but she is talk so it helps a bit, but it is still huge!
While "Tonnette" is a short little fat walking turtle. If she could stand up straight it would help. And there is no separation between her head, neck, tits, stomach, legs and ankles-not good-call the designer fags! Although, in Iowa she will be the cat's meow. The east coast will rip them apart and spit them out. We are more nasty. Wisconsin is really just Midwest nice.
Walker-Martinez 2016! You heard it here first
Hits all the sweet spots demographically, and Susanna Martinez won reelection in a landslide, I believe. She probably has enough appeal to turn NM red again. But I can't see it happening because of foreign policy, which stinks.
Although, in Iowa she will be the cat's meow. The east coast will rip them apart and spit them out. We are more nasty. Wisconsin is really just Midwest nice.
The coasts are all blue anyway. But Tonnette could appeal to Ohio big time.
Let the fat shaming begin.
Birches said...Let the fat shaming begin.
I'd rather see some serious fab shaming.
LBJ, HJH, Muskie, Eagleton/Shriver, Mondale, Ferraro, Bentsen, Gore, Lieberman, Edwards, and of course Joe Biden, who has been on the wrong side of a FP position his whole life.
The only person on that list who can be blamed for a foreign policy disaster bigger than the Iraq War is LBJ.
And LBJ wasn't added to the Kennedy ticket for "foreign policy" reasons. He was added for "we need Texas to win" reasons.
Walker finishes his degree but could not keep it quiet?
How about finishing the degree through Upper Iowas University? That would make Iowans happy, right?
Or how about the University of Phoenix? Does that state help with electoral college votes?
Doesn't Southern New Hampshire University do on-line degrees? Get the early states on your side!
News flash, kids.
Scott Walker will not be the GOP nominee. Not gonna happen. Everybody goes on about how Walker has been kicking Democrat ass for 4 years and 3 elections.
So what? Lightweight.
You know who has really been kicking Democrat ass? For 23 years?
Rick Perry, that's who. Ever since he became a Republican in 1991 and beating the heavily favored Jim Hightower for Texas Agriculture Commission in 1991, Rick Perry has been rolling over Democrats like a juggernaut.
Don't get me wrong; I like Scott Walker a lot. But as Governor of Wisconsin, where he would be invaluable in defending the Republican northern flank. If Walker gets torn up in the primaries - and he WILL get torn up - then you can write off Wisconsin for the Republicans in the general.
No, Walker won't be the nominee. The only question is how much damage he'll sustain.
Put your money on Perry. He's got the chops. Don't judge him on his 2012 performance; surgery and recovery wiped him out. He's got a proven record and a history of beating Democrats.
You know who has really been kicking Democrat ass? For 23 years? Rick Perry, that's who.
Kicking Democrat ass in a red state sounds super difficult.
I have to say as a Democrat it's going to be fun watching the GOP tear itself apart in 2016 running for the White House. I mean, I'm sure they'll all forget and forgive but as a spectator sport the debates will be fun as will the attack ads they run against each other.
Perry has been governor in Texas longer than anybody. So it's not a case of kicking democrat ass as its a case of being likeable and competent.
Texas was a blue state til the 90's, Scooter.
Texas was a blue state til the 90's, Scooter.
Texas was a blue state til the 90s, Scooter
Do you know what "red state" means, Scooter? It means a state that reliably votes for Republican presidents.
1972: Republican
1976: Democrat
1980: Republican
1984: Republican
1988: Republican
1992: Republican
Wisconsin is actually a pretty good microcosm of the electorate that will actually be voting in 2016. The Eastern elites and the much-reduced 2016 Black voter are reflexively Donk votes so they're a known quantity. A Martinez VP candidacy won't win the Hispanic vote but it could very well draw enough to tip the balance. These days even landslides are won on the margins. Walker will be up against Hilary so no First Lady beauty contest. FP is a non-issue. Most voters couldn't find Italy on a map embellished with leaning towers and gondolas. Talk a good game and you're golden there. Walker is not an excitable boy and that will serve him very well against both the GOP old lags and against Hilary. Plus, secret routers! You can run a deadly GOTV blitz with those babies
Who a small minority of religious fundies in a blue state like Iowa prefer is important? I don't see it.
The GOP needs to completely revamp its presidential nominating process to something more coherent, rather than leave it all to these archaic mechanisms in tiny blue states that don't vote Repub in general elections anyhow. When was the last time Iowa or NH voted Rep? How valuable is their input really? Nominating the party's presidential candidate this way seems retarded and distinctly unhelpful and it has to be changed. Either that or the GOP will face extinction on the presidential level.
Amazed a cop-killa like Huckabee didn't show up at the #BlackLivesMatter rallies...
Did you look at our state and congessional delegations, Scooter? GOP didn't start getting majorities there in local and state politics til the early 2000's.
TX voted Dem in sheer reflex since the abuses of Restoration. If the Democrats couldn't seal the deal in over a century, that's on them.
Restoration = Reconstruction. Get my posturing nobility mixed up sometimes. Sorry.
Why is Huckabee running? Does he have a book to sell?
Huckabee appeals to a fairly large segment of the Republican Party. The type of large segment that could easily decide too stay home if pissed off.
While Huckabee is far from ideal to my point of view, he is a perfectly legitimate candidate.
John Bolton/Joni Ernst in 2016!
I'm going to vote for the most fiscally conservative small government candidate on the primary ballot. Then I'm going to vote against the Democrat/Marxist/Socialist/Communist/Statist on the ballot in the general.
The man who helped engineer Mike Huckabee's Iowa caucus victory in 2008 has signed on with Scott Walker.
Cool! Now Walker can follow in the footsteps of President Huckabee.
But Walker is also on that schedule — and so are Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson. We'll see how these various characters play to the conservatives.
It doesn't matter how they play, i predict the nominee will be Jeb or Rubio.
There really is no point for Christie to be there, other than as a foil for why other governors would be better candidates. I don't, personally, dislike Christie (far from it, as long-time readers here know), but he has not proved himself a good candidate for president, and not just only because he hasn't been able to deliver (the perhaps undeliverable) in and to his own home state.
There is good reason for why I like governorship try-outs, and preferably two terms of the like. Sharp eyes will notice that I am consistent on this point and that also I apply it accordingly (no matter the pain and regret, for example).
And also have advocated for such tryouts... .
; (
Without regard, and also regardless of regard.
As a side note, FWIW:
Isn't the Steve King-Chris Christie "thang" interesting? Can't help but think it has partly to do with Terry Branstad and "thangs" like that.
*snort*
[AKA] Mark Twain's friend Charles Dudley Warner is now, as he was then, dead on right. I'm trying to think of a better example in the very most recent of times than Steve King and Chris Christie, but I'm hard put to do it. It's a slog. Hmmm.
Talk about an epigram, personified, or something akin to that, anyway.
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of election,
Iowa for a stage, pundits to act
And electors to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the quiet Walker, like himself,
Take the helm of party; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should Romney, Bush and Christie
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
The flat skeptic spirits that have dared
On these wintry fields to bring forth
So great an object: can this caucus bind the testy voters to coherence?
...
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
I would love to see Walker and Bobby Jindal on the ticket, with Bobby at the head. He seems to be the smartest and most accomplished elected official with some name recognition.
Of course, the Dems will go all racist on him and the wacky socons at Free Republic will complain that he is not a "natural born" American citizen because his parents are from India. I have yet to find that clause in the Constitution.
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