GOP Must Nominate A Governor For POTUS, Says Governor Who Might Run For POTUS

Governor Scott Walker, whose name has come up as one of the Governors who may throw his hat in the ring in 2016, thinks the GOP should pick a Governor as its next Presidential nominee:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the 2016 GOP presidential ticket should be made up of governors, not members of Congress.

“I think it’s got to be an outsider,” Walker said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stepahnopoulos.” “I think both the presidential and the vice presidential nominees should either be a former or current governor, people who have done successful things in their states, who’ve taken on big reforms, who are ready to move America forward.”

“So that rules out Marco Rubio, it rules out Ted Cruz, it rules out Rand Paul,” said ABC’s Jonathan Karl.

Walker responded, “All good guys, but it’s got to be somebody who is viewed as being exceptionally remote from Washington.”

What about home state Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)?

“I love Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan, if he had a fan club, I’d be the president of that,” said Walker.

Walker isn’t the first Republican to make comments along these lines, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said something very similar last week and, as I noted, there is a certain amount of historical and political logic to the argument. As for Walker himself, his name has come up as a possible “dark horse” candidate for the nomination, although before he gets to that point he needs to win reelection in 2014. Nonetheless, it would seem he’s at least thinking of the idea.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Mr. Prosser says:

    “Governor Scott Walker, whose name has come up as one of the Governors who may throw his hate in the ring in 2016,” Freudian typo there, sir.

  2. Nope just a typo. Fixed.

  3. rod mantia says:

    so which gop gov has overseen growth in the private sector. or reduced poverty of his residents. or expanded rights to those lacking. or supported initiative to aid returning vets. or cleaned up the pollution. or expanded health care for uninsured citizens of his state. or rebuilt failing bridges. or advanced education parity and test scores. who has protected the middle class and workers. who has fought the incroachment of big money buying votes or halted would be mini popes in trying to install a theocracy. or business an oligarchy. or anarchists crazy chaos?????????
    name me this republican governor. just one.one single republican governor who by his respect of constituents needs and has the respect of the nation that he could withstand an onslaught of radical gop rank n file to withstand a primary and beat hillary/cuomo in ’16?

    inquiring minds want to know.

  4. Tillman says:

    Given the national political entertainment complex we’ve got going, there’s no such thing as an “outsider” in Washington.

  5. Rafer Janders says:

    As I said in another thread, the mere mention of the name “George W. Bush” should make the GOP think long and hard before it nominates another governor, and the rest of us think even longer and harder before we ever vote for a Republican governor for president…..

  6. Tillman says:

    @Rafer Janders: Yeah, the example of a governor who served two full terms as President should totally make them rethink trying to get another governor.

    Bush’s foibles are irrelevant to the calculus here. His electoral successes stand, and it’s electoral success the GOP wants.

  7. legion says:

    @Tillman:

    Bush’s foibles are irrelevant to the calculus here. His electoral successes stand, and it’s electoral success the GOP wants.

    That’s actually very important. Regardless of how disastrous such a campaign would be on the national stage, it’s very clear the GOP kingmakers learned _nothing_ from Bush’s mistakes. They would gleefully do the exact same things again, and it would actually guarantee a primary win. It would crash and burn in the general election, but it would sweep the field in the GOP primaries.

  8. edmondo says:

    Will he be wearing a jacket with his sponsors’ names on it like they do in NASCAR? “Bought and paid for by the Koch Brothers” seems apt.

  9. al-Ameda says:

    Scott Walker, just the man to bring Americans together.

  10. M. Bouffant says:

    I am quite amused that one of the “Related Posts” between the post & the “About Doug Mataconis” box is “Republican Governors Remarkably Unpopular,” from July 2011.

  11. Tillman says:

    @legion:

    Regardless of how disastrous such a campaign would be on the national stage, it’s very clear the GOP kingmakers learned _nothing_ from Bush’s mistakes.

    What precisely would make the campaign disastrous on a national stage? Recall, Bush ran against the Congressional GOP of his time as a Washington outsider downplaying his party’s established platform (“compassionate” conservatism). And won.* Nothing in our current healthcare clusterfark convinces me the Democrats have ’16 locked in.

    * On a flimsy technicality.

  12. mike shupp says:

    @rod mantia:

    A Republican governor with relatively liberal credentials? Hmmm…. Spiro Agnew, VP candidate in 1968 and 1972, with Richard Nixon. It didn’t all quite work out as it should have.

  13. Scott says:

    I normally am partial to governors as candidates but let’s not forget the last election where a Governor was picked as the GOP and the 2008 election where a governor was picked as the VP nominee. Be careful what you ask for.

  14. grumpy realist says:

    Hmm. Dear old Scottie might think he’s carving out a path for his nomination, but I think he’ll be surprised at the number of axes that will come flying at him through the air. From all sides.

    If the American populace is stupid enough to elect him at POTUS, it deserves what will happen to it.

  15. gVOR08 says:

    House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said something very similar last week

    McCarthy’s argument was that governors have had to reach across the aisle and work with both sides. That doesn’t seem to be Scott Walker’s reputation, does it?

  16. Tyrell says:

    Democrat Dream Team: Clinton (Hilary) / Schwarzenegger
    Republican Dream Team: Gary Johnson / Christie (or Ventura)
    We need exciting people in there. What we have had the last several years: boring!

  17. al-Ameda says:

    @Tyrell:

    We need exciting people in there. What we have had the last several years: boring!

    Three points:
    (1) It seems to me that Obama excites a lot of conservatives, to the point where 51% of the Republican Party still does not believe that he was born in America, not withstanding the fact that Hawaii was a state at the time Obama was born.

    (2) Republican Dream Team: Sarah Palin/ Allen West
    Democratic Party Dream Team: Stand Back / Watch Those Two

    (3) Schwarzenegger is a Republican.