Monday, July 6, 2015

Short: The pandering has begun

Of course it's begun. It started long ago. However, it's also very good to read an article that so clearly points out the pandering, as this NY Times article does. The article focuses on how Scott Walker has been changing his positions to influence the very conservative GOP voters in Iowa. Walker has flipped on ethanol, immigration, and marriage equality.

Of course others have used such a strategy, and it tends to work. If some of your previous policies or principles don't align with your target voters, it's a no-brainer to change your position--if you're an ambitious politician, that is.

Those of us attuned to national politics already knew Scott Walker was a kiss-up. There was the hilarious faux phone call from the ultra-rich David Koch, actually an impersonator who released the audio. That Walker is going to kiss-up to Iowa voters, that's not a surprise.

Image: rightwisconsin.com

2 comments:

Dangerous said...

Walker is ahead in Iowa polls because his home state is next to Iowa, and he's still very popular with hard-core Republicans, even in Wisconsin where just about everyone else thinks he's a jerk.

He has a solid chance at the nomination because of Iowa and the positive coverage he'll get from a win there, discounted as it might be. He's a hard-right guv of a blue state who has pounded the opposition -- and that's likely to sell to the GOP at large. But he would lose Wisconsin by a lot in a general presidential election, and moderates (like you, MP) won't like him. Plus, Wisconsin is way behind on job growth vs. the rest of the country, so his economic and tax agenda have been shown to fail miserably, as liberals have been saying all along. he may be a hero to the right for imposing it, and they'll argue everything else is to blame, but the figures will speak louder, as will the polls showing him losing Wisconsin by double digits to Hillary.

Walker/Bush. Bush/Walker. Walker/Bush. And, at the wire, it's Bush by a nose. Why? Florida. A Republican can't win the White House without Florida.

ModeratePoli said...

@dangerous, I thought maybe you were saying that you expect the GOP ticket to be Bush/Walker in 2016. You're not predicting that, are you? Here's an argument showing how Nikki Haley is lining up for the VP slot: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/12/us-usa-election-trump-republicans-idUSKCN0PM0RH20150712