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Friday, January 23, 2015

Walker, Iowa Ranger?

I hope Scott Walker — who is "my guy" at this point — can navigate this gambling issue effectively. Excerpt:

Another issue where Governor Walker will have to tread carefully in Iowa is the expansion of state-approved gambling. Walker will have to decide by February 19 whether to approve a proposed $800 million Menominee Indian tribal casino in Kenosha. “Influential social conservatives in Iowa are warning Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker that approving a proposed Kenosha casino next month could hurt his presidential bid” was the lead paragraph of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article this month. Newly elected Iowa U.S. senator Joni Ernst joined 600 other Republicans in sending Walker a petition urging him adopt a “No Expanding Gaming” policy. Bob Vander Plaats, a prominent social conservative in Iowa who led the successful defeat in 2010 of three Supreme Court justices who had approved same-sex marriage, has also written a letter to Walker highlighting the “increased societal problems of divorce, bankruptcy, debt, depression, and suicide” that gambling can produce. In 2012, Vander Plaats’s last-minute endorsement of Rick Santorum helped propel the former Pennsylvania senator to a photo-finish victory over Mitt Romney in Iowa.

I dislike gambling because of its zero-sum nature as well as its negative societal effects, the two being closely related. But it wouldn't be a deal-killer for me if Walker came out on the wrong side of it. Sounds from this mention of this kingmaker, Plaats, like it might be a deal-killer for Walker, though.
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4 comments:

  1. pikkumattiJanuary 23, 2015 at 9:06 AM

    I think it's a deal killer only if you want it to be a deal-killer. But as we saw last time around (Santorum accusing Rick Perry of being "soft on sovereignty"), there will be lots of rivals who will want it to be a deal-killer.

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  2. PauliJanuary 23, 2015 at 9:30 AM

    I really hope Santorum stays out this time. NO SENATORS, PLEASE. (Esp. if you lost your last senate campaign.)

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    1. pikkumattiJanuary 23, 2015 at 10:55 AM

      There are a couple current senators who I much prefer over a couple former governors . . .

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  3. pikkumattiJanuary 24, 2015 at 8:45 AM

    Bobby Jindal becomes the first potential candidate to distinguish himself in a very very positive way, with this speech.

    The Nation desperately needs a president with that same clarity. He's moved way up in my estimation.

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