Althouse: "Running for president requires having the mettle to keep your boots on, not change into flip-flops when it starts getting hot."

March 11, 2015

"Running for president requires having the mettle to keep your boots on, not change into flip-flops when it starts getting hot."

"I think the flip-flop label hasn’t yet stuck to Walker because unlike Romney, until now he’s had a low profile nationally."

WaPo quotes "Bush ally Ana Navarro" in an article officially titled "Jeb Bush, Scott Walker emerging as front-runners for GOP nod — and rivals."

I believe the unofficial title is: Oh, how we wish the top 2 GOP candidates would destroy each other!

Did you know Scott Walker gave "a subtle poke" to Jeb Bush recently by saying that there should be "a new, fresh approach"? Did you know that a lawyer who is a longtime Bush supporter recently tweeted: "Did u know S Walker was for path to citizenship. Now not? Did u know he was against ethanol subsidy, now he is for? Do u really know him?" Did you know that back in 2012, Bush called Walker "the real deal," but shortly afterwards expressed "growing concerns about the modern GOP and its 'orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement'" and then Walker said that Bush "e-mails him 'quite a bit on things out there," but "Since then, the two have been more cordial than chummy"?

So... they were chummy, but now they're cordial.

23 comments:

Will Cate said...: I don't even buy into the notion that Jeb Bush is a frontrunner.; 3/11/15, 7:10 AM
machine said...: "He opposed federal pro-ethanol rules for years. Now he's in favor of them."

It must be getting warm...change of shoes required.; 3/11/15, 7:19 AM
rehajm said...: Something will stick because they will make it stick. If nothing sticks they'll pretend.; 3/11/15, 7:27 AM
tim maguire said...: Jeb Bush is a front runner only because the media keeps insisting on treating fund-raising as an indicator of popularity.

As for the rest: desperation, they name is dying media.; 3/11/15, 7:42 AM
Bill said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/11/15, 7:52 AM
Bill said...: I know they are trying the flip flop meme in regional before they hit Broadway,but this metaphor seems to go a shoe too far:
“Running for president requires having the mettle to keep your boots on, not change into flip-flops when it starts getting hot."
Why is that? Do you want a President who walks on the beach in boots? A socially inept doofus? The picture of Nixon on the beach in dress shoes was bad enough.; 3/11/15, 7:54 AM
Brando said...: Fun as this all may be, it's hard to take the race too seriously at this point--remember March of 2007? Rudy Guiliani was the overwhelming favorite for the GOP nod, and Hillary was so inevitable that the only question was who she'd pick for her ticket?; 3/11/15, 8:00 AM
Mark said...: Kind of hard to constantly punt on answers when labelled a flip flopper.; 3/11/15, 8:04 AM
Hagar said...: Fund-raising is a measure of popularity - second hand, but still better than polls.; 3/11/15, 8:04 AM
MadisonMan said...: If your tweets contain "u" for you, you're doing it wrong.; 3/11/15, 8:07 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Walker bomb sight is focused now on the drop zone and the flack is bursting all around him as he opens the doors for release of Reagan Bombs. Will he hit the target? Maybe unless the JB109s get to him with accurate cannon fire.; 3/11/15, 8:27 AM
garage mahal said...: "He opposed federal pro-ethanol rules for years. Now he's in favor of them."

Big. Bold. Fresh. Unintimidated.; 3/11/15, 8:53 AM
Writ Small said...: For those saying Jeb is not a frontrunner, please avail yourself of poll data.

This attack strategy by Jeb is not smart. His previously revealed strategy of seeking to be voter's second choice was MUCH smarter, although it wasn't particularly smart to say it out loud.

The attacker is damaged nearly as much as the attacked and there are lots of credible candidates. At this stage of the campaign, it is much better to make a connection with primary voters by attacking Hillary and Obama and letting some candidate who can't play the long game break down and start attacking Walker. Or Jeb could simply wait for the media and Democrats to start to do the work for him. The media will always attack the perceived more-to-the-right choice, which is clearly Walker contra Jeb. It's why the media is protecting Hillary so little. They think correctly more-to-the-left Democrat contenders are out there.

Team Romney was so much shrewder. Jeb deserves to lose if he can't play the game any better than this.; 3/11/15, 9:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Let's see: Walker was formerly in favor of a "path to citizenship", and he was pretty popular with Republicans. Now he's against it, and he's pretty popular with Republicans. So which of those two opposed positions is the GOP orthodoxy that no one's allowed to deviate from?; 3/11/15, 9:09 AM
Drago said...: If Walker wants to shade/alter previous "WI only" positions into a more viable national strategy position all he has to say is that he is "evolving" on an issue.

That particular tactic comes pre-approved (and heartily so) from the lefties so I expect we won't hear any complaints when Walker pulls it out.; 3/11/15, 9:13 AM
Drago said...: On the "flip" side, Hillary constructs a framework where only certain reporters were allowed access and an even narrower slice of reporters was "preselected" to ask hard-hitting and probing questions!

Bigger. Bolder. Fresher. "Unintimdated-er".; 3/11/15, 9:20 AM
Laura said...: Some politicians flip flop. Others evolve.

Journalists are objective and just know the difference.; 3/11/15, 9:38 AM
bbkingfish said...: The big Walker boom lasted about two weeks. He's roadkill now.

Up next for the anti-Jeb crowd...ladies and gentlemen, please welcome...Dr. Ben Carson!; 3/11/15, 1:40 PM
hombre said...: The rule in politics still seems to be: It's okay to be stupid as long as you're consistently stupid.

Was it Einstein's definition of insanity ...?; 3/11/15, 2:52 PM
mccullough said...: These are mild jabs at each other, and well within the customs of criticizing fellow party members during primaries.

This will be a dull news beat. The job of the frontrunners is to spend the bulk of their time criticizing Hillary and Obama.; 3/11/15, 3:47 PM
Titus said...: Wait until they hate each other.

No one believe Obama evolved on fag marriage-he was lying.

Walker did flip flop though and thats ok.

tits; 3/11/15, 5:46 PM
Titus said...: Wait till Turd Blossom works his magic.; 3/11/15, 5:47 PM
bbkingfish said...: The Iowa Republican: News for Republicans, by Republicans, also has noticed Walker's flip-floppery.

http://theiowarepublican.com/2015/walker-the-biggest-flip-flopper-you-will-ever-find/

The air is leaking from the balloon, and he hasn't even declared yet.; 3/12/15, 3:26 PM