Because the man did lose here.
Who will Donald Trump endorse? That’s the big question heading into this weekend’s Republican state convention in Middleton.
The defeated former President came out of Tuesday’s 05-17-22 primary elections around the country with mixed results. Trump endorsed the winner in Pennsylvania’s governor’s primary, a fellow election-denier. His pick for Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, awaits a recount. Trump’s picks in Nebraska and Idaho crashed and burned. So did his unconscionable endorsement of the bad boy wonder, Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina. (He makes Marjorie Taylor Greene look like Atticus Finch — but so does Cawthorn.)
Wisconsin’s primary elections aren’t until August 9 (!!!) — but Republican convention delegates endorse — unless they decide not to. Some candidates don’t want the convention to endorse anyone — mostly because they don’t expect to get a majority of delegates. Kevin Nicholson is in that category.
Right out of the gate!
Trump may wait until a front-runner emerges to run up his score. Because we’ve got a Republican horse race for governor of Wisconsin. Tim Michels — the latest entrant into the race — just pulled ahead of the first announced candidate, Rebecca Kleefisch, according to Public Policy Polling, by 27 to 26% — well within the margin of error. But still remarkable, given that Michels has been in the race just three weeks. Becky announced eight months ago! After serving eight years as lieutenant governor and beating a well publicized recall with Scott Walker (who is endorsing her). (Nicholson has no traction at 9%. The best news is that champion election-denier Timothy Ramthun merits only 6%. But he’ll have the My Pillow man at his hospitality suite Friday night.)
Which may explain Becky’s latest campaign mailer, which informed delegates (on the flip side of the card shown above):
“Only one candidate still stands with President Donald Trump: Rebecca Kleefisch.”
Is it an act of desperation? Bob Dohnal, the founder of the Wisconsin Conservative Digest, contends Kleefisch’s cupboard is bare. Michels, by contrast, can self-finance and (we hear) is spending $1 million a week. Michels’ mailer to delegates this week makes no mention of the Head Insurrectionist. Is the contruction magnate following the playbook of Virginia’s deep-pocketed governor, Glenn Youngkin, and keeping #45 at arm’s distance? Is Trump the embodiment of Newton’s Third Law? That for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?
Jonathan Bernstein writes in Bloomberg: “Win or lose, Trump’s candidates are winning about a third of the vote. That’s not nothing, but it does mean that two-thirds of Republican primary voters are either ignoring or opposing his wishes. … The Club for Growth, big individual funders such as … Peter Thiel, politicians with local clout such as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina, … and most of all Republican-aligned media such as Fox News and talk radio hosts are probably a much bigger story in terms of actually moving votes than Trump is.”
Blaska’s Bottom Line: As for convention endorsements, we remember when Republicans endorsed Bob Kasten for governor but Lee Sherman Dreyfus won the primary and the general election. In 2018, the convention endorsed Eric Hovde but voters chose Tommy Thompson in the primary. Tapped out by the intramural contest, Tommy lost to Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senator.
Blaska Policy Werkes 
7 responses to “Is getting all Trumpy a winner in Wisconsin?”
The problem i have with kleefish is if she was interested in helping wisconsin where was she last election cycle. That role does almost nothing, i.e. tax cheat Barnes his role is filled with fluff. If she wanted to be taken seriously, she needed to run and win a job as state assembly woman or state senator in 2020 and the legislature and state gop would have worked to promote her as an up and coming star. Something they are quite terrible at doing btw. The leaders in legislature many times seem distant and uncaring about wisconsinites. The only thing they do correctly is creating reasonable budgets even though they allow Evers to run on their hard work in keeping surplusses and taxes in check for the last 12 years.
I will say it again, thank you Scott Walker from the bottom of my heart.
I do not care if trump endorses a candidate or not, i care that they bring a fresh set of eyes and energy to the party that has been lacking since walkers departure.
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If she had run for Assembly or Senate in 2020 she would have run against another Republican. What’s wrong with another Scott Walker?
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In a word: Foxconn Absent that debacle of corporate statism, Mr. Walker would be leading two solid Republican legislatures and Wisconsin would be better for it.
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Foxconn original plan was great, he set the bar so high to get tax credits that none were ever given out. Please ask yourself who was the governor that weakened the threshholds for foxconn to actually qualify for the credits, it was not the gop, it was the current governor Evers. He made it easier for foxconn to cash in.
My response, so be it, if the WI GOP, thought she was really the next big thing they would have asked the competing candidate to step aside for the sake of future party leader. Kleefish is no walker and is a typical lt.gov check a box lightweight. If she wins the primary, it is 4 more years of Evers. They have had 3 years and this is best they can do , seriously. WI GOP is run by total jokers, sorry i know you care deeply and dedicated your life to this but until they have a come to Jesus moment so to speak, they will be reminicsing about the good old days of Walker being in charge
I am not sure you realize this but you are the last real republican supporter with a wonderful flair for words to the people in southern wisconsin. You are it, try not to alienate those within the party that simply disagree.
Though we may be fewer in numbers than they are, but we carry the message they so need to hear!
Balboa out!!
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Balboa, I have to agree with you. Kleefish should have run for state office after she was Lt. Governor. In that manner she could have started a track record of how she was on the issues that are presented to us as Sconnies every day, but she did not.
I’m starting to think that I am leaning on voting for Kevin Nicholson or Rebecca Kleefish but am not sure. I would have said that Tim Michels would be a great candidate but it seems that he only spends a certain amount of time in Wisconsin and the rest in New York and Connecticut. This to me is like being the President of the United States but living in Italy and Switzerland most of your time.
I think that we who are conservatives should concentrate on putting up candidates in local races to represent our views on how people in government should represent the people of the State of Wisconsin. Based on their track record, let us pick from them the kind of people we want to represent We the People of the State of Wisconsin.
For it is not the job of people in government to RUN the state, but to represent the people in the State of Wisconsin.
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Bill, thanks, was kinda my point. She needed to stand on her own, to build her voice and chops.
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Just read her Wiki page … beauty pageant winner to news anchor to hard right pol. It’s a big No for me. I predict she and Mandela Barnes will both lose big then combine forces for a speaking tour like Timothy Leary and G. Gordon Liddy did. They’ll discuss the burden of being the token female / black on Gubernatorial tickets. They might even get Kamala to be special guest in large markets.
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