
The three men: Senator Ted Cruz from Texas, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, while they by no means complete the list of good quality candidates, do represent the best of Conservative thought and principles, each with his own special impact. If Conservative Republicans are to defeat the RINOs and the likes of Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie in the primary, they must find a way to jell behind a single candidate before the primaries and these three men each are prime candidates.
I want to say a few words about each so for the sake of brevity, I will do one a day for the next three days. I'm going to start with Walker, a man who has fought hard against a rabid opposition and won despite unbelievable odds. He has turned a blue state purple and has offered hope and an improved life to millions of Wisconsin in the four years since he was elected Governor. Now beginning his second term, his star is rising rapidly based upon his determination and accomplishment.
Walker is one of the few politicians to have run for office on a platform that would be difficult in any state, but especially so for a Republican running for Governor in a blue state. But Walker was used to such challenges. After all, he came to the governorship from a successful stint as County Executive of Milwaukee County, one of the bluest of the blue in Badgerland. His secret: taking his ideas to the voters, explaining them clearly and pointing out the advantage and benefits they offered. In Milwaukee County, he took a struggling county and made it work, balancing the budget and avoiding tax increases for a population that really couldn't afford any more government.
As Governor in his first term he did the same. Walker took on the unions, literally breaking apart the power of the public sector organizations by giving workers a choice of whether or not they wanted to be members. When workers opted out and found out how much more money they had in their pockets without any adverse consequences to their work conditions, they were ecstatic and union membership dove.
He made logical cuts to state spending and saved so much money that Wisconsin's serious budget deficits that he inherited from the outgoing Democratic administration ended in a comfortable surplus. Business started picking up, jobs became available and growth resulted. The voters realized that their Governor was a man they could trust to do things right.
In accomplishing these things, Walker still had to fight tooth and nail with liberal politicians, lobbyists and street thugs who went out of their way to make his life miserable. On one occasion they even delivered a threat to the life of his wife, stating that they "wanted to gut her like a pig". He survived a special recall election with plenty of room to spare during his first term and then turned around and gained a second term by a comfortable margin as well.
The unions threw everything they had at him and lost, and their financials were drained accordingly. And now the good Governor likely wants to show the nation that he can do for Washington the same types of things that he did for Madison. Speaking before this past weekend's conservative extravaganza in nearby Iowa, he made it clear that he would push for economic freedom and opportunity in any endeavor he should seek such as the White House.
Governor Walker also proved something else while in Iowa. Many supposed experts thought that despite his great record of achievement, he lacked the vim and vigor of excitement on the stump and he clearly proved them wrong. If he markets himself properly and can gain the funds necessary to really compete, Scott Walker has the potential to by a very credible candidate, one who can excite Republican conservatives and independents seeking cost effective and sound governance. Even the RINOs can't deny that his record is one to be envied.
So we'll see what happens over time, but one thing is for sure. Comparing a man like Scott Walker to the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, clearly will put major pressure on the Democrats. Stale old liberal rhetoric versus fresh, energetic and competent Conservatism is not a comparison that, in this writer's humble opinion, will be a winner for the Democrats.
Let the fun and games begin.