It’s been a while since I posted about the 2016 Iowa caucus campaign. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker agreed to headline the Polk County Republican Party’s spring fundraiser in May. According to Kevin Hall’s report for The Iowa Republican blog, Governor Terry Branstad helped make arrangements for Walker’s appearance. Like Branstad and unlike eight other GOP governors around the country, Walker opted against taking federal funding to expand Medicaid in his state.
Hall reports that retired insurance executive Cameron Sutton “played a key role in securing Scott Walker’s appearance” as well. Sutton was one of seven Iowa Republican donors from the business community who flew to New Jersey in May 2011 to urge Governor Chris Christie to run for president. (Christie’s star has fallen in Republican circles since he praised President Barack Obama’s handling of Hurricane Sandy and later agreed to expand Medicaid in New Jersey.) Sutton endorsed Newt Gingrich for president before the Iowa caucuses but wasn’t pleased with the way Gingrich bashed Mitt Romney during the GOP primaries.
Any comments about the next presidential campaign are welcome in this thread.
3 Comments
Walker? Meh, mebbe we'll get lucky again
Remember a few years back some Iowa repub org or society was bragging up a dinner speaker but just before the dinner the guy had a very humiliating self-induced fall from grace? I don’t remember his name now but I believe he was a Nevada senator and got caught bribing for secrecy over his boinking of his aide’s wife.
Anyway, the Iowa org or society had to eat some public crow because they had been advertising the guy as a rising presidential star.
Of course I took immense delight at the quick change of plans.
Mebbe we’ll get lucky and something dirty will yet be found that’ll finally stick to Walker. Keep fingers crossed.
conservative-demo Thu 14 Mar 3:17 PM
that was Senator John Ensign
Yeah, he was very sleazy and probably broke laws to cover up his affair.
It was our old friends Nick Ryan and co at the American Future Fund that invited Ensign to Iowa, back in 2009 when Tim Albrecht was the American Future Fund’s communications director.
Wasn’t there some poll showing that Hillary Clinton would easily defeat Scott Walker even in Wisconsin?
desmoinesdem Thu 14 Mar 5:29 PM
Hillary has a commanding lead in some polls for 2016
but I didn’t see Scott Walker mentioned as possible GOP candidate. From a 3/7 Quinnnipiac poll:
Markos Moulitsas wrote a diary, “How can Hillary pass up 2016?” that analyzed her strength, both in a primary and in the general.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
cocinero Thu 14 Mar 7:18 PM