In a fiery exchange with the front-running Trump, Walker said the country didn’t need an “apprentice” in the White House because it already had one. This year, he signed into law a bill to make Wisconsin the 25th “right-to-work” state – one in which workers can’t be compelled to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment, even if the union negotiates collective bargaining agreements that benefit them. People can talk all they want about the issues that are important to them, but what their gut tells them is usually much more persuasive than what their mind has to say.
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Then Trump said: “But when the folks of Iowa found out the true facts of the job that you’ve done in Wisconsin, all of a sudden… he was No. 1 and now he’s No. 6 or seven in the polls”. After making an early big splash with grass roots conservatives in Iowa and capturing an early lead in some national polls, Walker – like other traditional candidates – has been totally eclipsed by billionaire Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. “And I may be an entertainer because I’ve had tremendous success with number one bestsellers all over the place, with “The Apprentice” and everything else I’ve done”. “He certainly needs to find a way to reverse the decline he’s seen…which really threatens to take him out of the top tier of candidates”, Franklin said. Created to be a dramatic moment on Walker’s signature issue, he wasn’t asked about it during Wednesday’s debate and he didn’t bring it up on his own. Rick Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
While Walker has pledged to terminate the Iran deal “on day one” in the Oval Office, Bush argued, “it’s not a strategy to tear up an agreement”. It’s hard to view what Walker is doing as anything other than a forced downscaling aimed squarely at political preservation, and the track record for success for candidates who’ve made a similar calculation is not good.
When Barack Obama was fresh on the political scene in 2008, he presented detailed policy positions, but it wasn’t policy that inspired his most ardent supporters to favor him over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School poll, said Walker was “pushed to the side” during the debate because he got few questions from moderators or mentions from other candidates. He touted his efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin and insisted he would only send in troops to fight the Islamic State when America’s national security is at risk.
“I’m going to be talking about it on the campaign trail… because that’s what people want to talk about”, said the governor.
Kall of the University of Michigan said theres no telling what kind of psychological impact the polling free fall and debate fallout has had on Walker and his team.
AP Photo/Mark J. TerrillWalker with Carly Fiorina at the debate, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.
The GOP candidates will next debate in Colorado, in October. Marco Rubio of Florida.
Overall, pro-union sentiment has been on the rise in the US. He didn’t get a direct question until nearly 90 minutes into the debate.
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Facing dwindling poll numbers and following lackluster performances in the first two debates, Walker is thus doubling down on an anti-labor platform that reads more like a Koch Brothers wish-list. Death threats? Walker did not back down.
