Paul Ryan wins his primary…
…in something more than a landslide (avalanche? tsunami?): 84 to 16 percent.
The reason? People in his district like him, they really really like him.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
…in something more than a landslide (avalanche? tsunami?): 84 to 16 percent.
The reason? People in his district like him, they really really like him.
I think most people who are more interested in good government than in posturing and bombast really like him.
He appears to be an improvement over the last two Speaker of the House, however low that bar may be. His position on illegal immigration needs improvement though.
The article says that Ryan’s popularity can be attributed in part to “a political style that preaches civility, decency, and positivity.”
Speaking for myself, that’s one of the reasons I have long admired Ryan.
Certainly civility, decency and positivity are NOT words I would use to describe either of the main candidates in the 2016 presidential race.
Likability helps. Pence is likable.
See that, Trumpkins?
THAT is the amount of influence you have over the GOP establishment: none.
I know this from firsthand experience, advocating for Boehner to get primaried in his district as far back as 2012.
The GOPe will not be destroyed by Trump in this, or any other cycle. It is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to destroy them because their supporters won’t just evaporate, even if they lose an election or two. They didn’t evaporate after Cantor, they didn’t evaporate after Boehner stepped down.
You won’t evaporate either, even in the likely event of a Trump landslide loss, but your credibility will take a huge hit. You can expect the GOPe to malign you for your failures the same way they maligned the Tea Party.
My hope is that you moderate your positions a bit after 2016. Certain principles like immigration control will never be altered, but you have to choose your candidates more wisely. If you quit attacking conservatives (ACTUAL conservatives), you might even gain support.
And that is the only way the GOPe will be defeated.
Overlapping and convergent interests. The muted response to Obama’s belief in “redistributive change” is highlighted by the acutely phobic response to Trump’s exposure of the status quo progressed under Obama, Clinton, Ryan et al.
Stopped by another blog site that discussed Paul Ryan. The level of vitriol in the comments was astounding. Seems that he, gasp, compromised to try to make government work. It went rapidly down in the gutter from there.
I added a comment that was mildly complimentary of Ryan, and brought insults down on my head. One anonymous fellow was so personal that if his comments were made face to face I would have no honorable recourse but to challenge and offer him the weapons of his choice. (An archaic practice that if re-instated would likely have a very beneficial effect on the overheated (and often cowardly) political rhetoric of the day.)
A flyer a couple of weeks ago from Ryan in my mailbox asking for donations stated he was someone who would stand up to Nancy Pelosi. Never mind that she said he gave away the store. Civility may be a virtue but not with opponents who throw mud and call a policy proposal a stinkburger Ryan likes to run away from social/cultural issues. Not really someone to deal with the sociopathic traitor in the White House.
So much for the Cheeseheads.
Kindly remember the political history of Wisconsin: The birthplace of academic objective experts in governance, aka the Progressives. Bob LaFollette. Feingold.
Joe McCarthy and Walker had modest effects, all things considered. McCarthy was on a national security crusade that had little to do with his state, only with Washington. And he was right. His opponents? Mostly Democrats.
Wisconsin elects a sensible man to high office but rarely. Ryan is not one of those. He is an empty suit with streaks of self-service and meanness. “He has a nice,sincere face”. Ugh.
News of WI from LA, ground truth. Not so much. You may not have paid attention to Walker’s fight with the WI dems a few years ago. It was brutal and he prevailed. So WI may have something to teach LA?