Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s early surge in the jockeying for next year’s US Republican presidential nomination reflects the belief by conservatives that he is truly one of their own and has a track record to show for it.
However, the governor’s rapid rise to the top of national polls of Republicans is coming at a cost. His recent verbal stumbles have made him look ill-prepared for the national spotlight and exposed his inexperience on the campaign trail.
STRONG SHOWING
Walker’s star appeal was on display at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a four-day gathering of conservative activists outside Washington that concluded on Saturday.
In a surprising show of strength, he came in second in the CPAC straw poll with 21.4 percent of the votes from the 3,007 people who cast ballots. He was behind only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul at 25.7 percent.
When Walker attended a CPAC coffee reception on Friday, a day after addressing the conclave, the crowd spilled out of the conference room and into the hallway, with people straining to hear what he had to say.
ALTERNATIVE CHOICE
Walker might be benefiting as the potential alternative for conservatives to former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whose moderate record has made him the party establishment candidate, but who has alarmed many grassroots activists on the right.
However, his sudden fame is also a result of having governed from the right and lived to tell about it. The CPAC poll found 39 percent of respondents felt the most important quality for a Republican presidential candidate to possess is a solid conservative record, a requirement that Walker appears to meet.
‘MAN OF PRINCIPLE
“I think he’s a man of principle and he has staked out tough positions and stood by them,” CPAC attendee Mike Potaski, 66, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, said of Walker.
Walker, 47, burst on the scene in January at the Iowa Freedom Summit, a gathering of conservatives in Des Moines, where activists reveled in his record of having defeated a 2012 recall effort over his challenge to the collective bargaining process for most public unions in Wisconsin. He is soon to sign right-to-work legislation that would ban private sector workers from being required to join a union or pay dues.
BLUNDERS
With the sudden fame has come increased scrutiny. He stumbled over a question about evolution on a visit to London. And when asked by the Washington Post last week whether he believed US President Barack Obama was a Christian, he hedged in his response, even though Obama has frequently spoken of his Christian faith.
Then, when he addressed CPAC on Thursday, Walker said his battle with labor had given him the mettle needed to take on militant groups like the Islamic State group.
“If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same in the rest of the world,” he said.
The remark drew criticism from Democrats who felt he was comparing pro-union protesters to Islamic State militants.
CONSERVATIVE SAVIOR
The missteps barely caused a ripple at CPAC, where conservatives were looking for a savior who can rally the Republican Party against the expected US Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in next year’s election race for the White House.
“Is he going to be ‘Reaganesque’ in his speeches and perfect in every one? No. But it’s okay,” said Dave Bossie, president of Citizens United, an influential conservative group. “That’s what makes him a little different from some of these guys who are a little more polished. People connect to him.”
However, veteran campaign watchers see the potential for trouble ahead for Walker.
“If Walker responds to such questions in a way that satisfies or reassures fair-minded voters, he passes the test and continues to move up. If he doesn’t, doubts will increase, and, if it happens often enough, he’ll fall back into the field,” political analyst Charlie Cook wrote in National Journal.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number