The enthusiastic reaction to Walker’s speech at the January GOP forum in Iowa produced some obvious dividends. The sudden and positive attention helped with fundraising and grass-roots organizing. But the scrutiny that came with it, compounded by Walker’s wobbly handling of various issues, brought the team its first crisis.
At the time, Walker was just beginning to build his campaign. He lacked the infrastructure to deal with the self-inflicted wounds. “None of our senior staff had even been to Madison,” Wiley said. “It’s amazing we survived.”
The small team stepped up its recruiting and brought on policy advisers who could provide Walker with briefings to become more fluent in key issues. By the end of March, the campaign decided to scale back. For the next month or so, Walker made few public appearances, concentrating on policy briefings and fundraising meetings.
“We had to slow it down,” Wiley said.
July 8, 2015
"It’s amazing we survived," says Scott Walker's campaign manager Rick Wiley.
Quoted in a WaPo article by Dan Balz titled "Scott Walker is about to launch his campaign, with Bush and Rubio in his sights."
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34 comments:
It is a marathon, not a sprint.
Is it too early to have Walker fatigue? He should take care of Wisconsin, perhaps give remedial constitution classes to lady senators, instead of running off to be president.
Political news stories are now written like sports pieces used to be.
Wily has to get in the news to distract from the fact Walkers staff were directly involved with the attempt to gut open records in Wisconsin.
For as long as I can remember, these stories are patterned after horseraces. There's little substantive to talk about yet so they draw heavily on polling data (real or manufactured) to report who is leading and why. They could - and probably do - have standard templates that allow them to import the latest poll numbers and auto-generate "news" articles. It's all rather dull except to newcomers.
These guys obviously have to focus on the primary, but if they're smart they'll keep a hand free for the general election, in terms of building ground game and local resources to mobilize in key states (which may not be the same key states for the primaries) and ensure that they won't extend themselves so far as to make the political middle unattainable. The battle for the middle is going to decide whether the GOP gets the White House.
"It’s amazing we survived"
Not what you want to hear from the team of a candidate who's ready for prime time.
@Brando: "The battle for the middle is going to decide whether the GOP gets the White House."
In the battleground states. Where Walker has a legitimate chance, if he gets his act together.
Mark said...
Wily has to get in the news to distract from the fact Walkers staff were directly involved with the attempt to gut open records in Wisconsin.
7/8/15, 10:26 AM
Let me guess, you aren't voting for Hillary either.
I bet the Marquette guys are polling Wisconsin this week.
More bad news in the pipeline for Scotty.
“None of our senior staff had even been to Madison,” Wiley said.
No surprise. The Governor is hardly here himself either.
Let me guess, you aren't voting for Hillary either.
I'm not.
Walker campaigned to add 250K jobs. Failed on that. Walker campaigned on Open Government -- and he then worked to subvert the semi-open-ness of Wisconsin Open Record Laws.
There's a long list of reasons not to vote for Hillary, too, but that's the subject of another thread. This one is about Walker.
Why reward failure? I know there is enthusiasm for Act 10 and all, but beyond that, what has he succeeded at?
"MadisonMan said...
Let me guess, you aren't voting for Hillary either.
I'm not.
Walker campaigned to add 250K jobs. Failed on that. Walker campaigned on Open Government -- and he then worked to subvert the semi-open-ness of Wisconsin Open Record Laws.
There's a long list of reasons not to vote for Hillary, too, but that's the subject of another thread. This one is about Walker.
Why reward failure? I know there is enthusiasm for Act 10 and all, but beyond that, what has he succeeded at?"
Thanks for the reminder of how idiotic you are. Act 10 was huge. He has frozen property taxes and tuition in the state. Lowered taxes by over a billion dollars and counting.. And although we haven't hit the 250K jobs, we have added a ton, and lowered unemployment and increased participation at levels not seen for over a decade.
This is failure?
"Why reward failure? I know there is enthusiasm for Act 10 and all, but beyond that, what has he succeeded at?"
Walker has delivered far more than most politicians. Really, if your criteria for voting for someone is that they realized 100% (or even 25%) of their campaign promises, then you'd never vote for anybody.
It is curious how I only ever hear this standard applied to Republican candidates. As if Democrats are expected to be dishonest and incompetent.
What did he deliver? Cuts to my kids school? Attempts to curtail open government?
Tens of thousands spent prosecuting people singing in the Capitol (thrown out, now damages being paid as people sue the state)?
My property taxes went up last year. My city raised them as the state cut school funding g ... Walker can claim cost-shifting property taxes to localities and counties from the state, but he cannot claim my overall taxes went down. Bullshit accounting isn't a tax cut.
If your local school district wants to spend more money, then you should pay more in local taxes. Stop expecting taxpayers in other districts to support your district's spending. Learn what the principle of subsidiarity means.
The state's responsibility is to make sure that all districts have a floor of spending, not to pay for any and all boutique spending that each district wants. If your school district wants all kind of extras, then your local taxpayers should foot the bill, not somebody else on the other side of the state. Walker is right on this issue.
"Mark said...
What did he deliver? Cuts to my kids school? Attempts to curtail open government?
Tens of thousands spent prosecuting people singing in the Capitol (thrown out, now damages being paid as people sue the state)?
My property taxes went up last year. My city raised them as the state cut school funding g ... Walker can claim cost-shifting property taxes to localities and counties from the state, but he cannot claim my overall taxes went down. Bullshit accounting isn't a tax cut."
Your city has all the tools needed to hold the line on taxes, and fund the school. It's not Walker's job to swing the hammer. He also didn't ass rape you annually like Doyle did.
We used those tools. School funding continues to fall year after year. Those tools were only good for once, now there is $150 per student less next year but no new tools.
Once costs are cut and there is no magical new savings the next year so that you can absorb another round of cuts beyond those you were given tools for.
Mark you are an idiot. The savings from Act 10 are annual, and provide additional savings over time because they are used against an ever increasing cost (pension and healthcare).
Sure, your property taxes may have gone up slightly, but are you going to say they would have been less if Act 10 was not enacted? Additionally, income taxes have gone down also. These would have been jacked up too if not for Act 10.
Try again.
Is it a good national campaign strategy is to tout cutting funding for more than half the public schools in your state?
"MadisonMan said...
Is it a good national campaign strategy is to tout cutting funding for more than half the public schools in your state?"
The current budget increases school spending. What are you talking about?
(Link).
Honest question - in those districts where allocations have decreased, has student enrollment increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
Most of the time, in government speak a budget cut is whenever they didn't get as big an increase as they wanted, not that the actual amount of spending decreased.
Yes, you Wisconsin squish! Become fluent in the fucking issues! Hide your cheddar-like qualities until you have gained the Office. Do not admit your alignment with the nation's elite. Polish your lies on immigration!
LarryJ, I really don't know how the amount of State Aid is computed -- I doubt anyone does. It must be nightmare to be a budget person in a school district trying to predict it.
I don't *think* Madison's enrollment numbers have dropped that much, but the state axe did fall, >10%.
DPI is required to put out these estimates on 1 July (regardless of whether a budget has passed the state, and this year it still hasn't passed). In the past, the estimates have been good indicators of final results.
Yawn. This has to with how the pie is split up. And no one in the Walker campaign is "toting" cutting funding to half the schools.
The best educated generation in this country's history was afforded one room for K-12. Spending was.limited, even on.an.inflation-adjusted basis.
Tell me why spending matters with respect to academic results, please. Or STFU about spending. (And especially spending versus unrealistic budget expectations!!)
Curious, you are the one who brought up the tax cuts. How campaign-worthy are they if someone can immediately point out that half the public schools in the state lost funding as a result?
Yawn indeed.
Madison Man,
I will wait here as you establish the causation between spending (on any basis) and student learning.
Fucking stupid shit like what you offer, when you know better, is why this country is completely fucking fucked. Fucking shit head.
Wisconsin is still the 2d highest State on ACT scores.
There were plenty of stories about schools that were able to save enough to hire more teachers and start new programs.
Odd that someone’s property taxes went up when that was the avenue through which Walker bestowed the taxcuts from the last budgets. I had a nice reduction.
----Under Walker's bill, the average income tax filer would receive a tax cut of $46 in April 2015 and the typical homeowner would save $131 over the existing law on this December's property tax bills, according to the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office.----
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-set-to-sign-tax-cut-legislation-b99231851z1-251936261.html
LarryJ, my district and the neighboring district had enrollment increases yet reductions in state aid.
Per pupil state funding went down for 2016-7 in both districts.
Mark,
Show the link between funding and student success. (You cannot do so. The literature is clear on this point. But indulge me and educate yourself.)
The continued stupidity burns.
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