You may have noticed that the media likes to run critical stories about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — sometimes without doing much checking first.

As the Walker for president talk gains steam, you can expect to see more media attempts to break him in. That’s to be expected. But for now, that might be less important than the media he does have in his corner.

Consider how rapid Walker’s rise has been. As late as November, he usually polled in the single digits. Public Policy Polling had Walker at 5 percent last March, compared to 25 percent in its latest poll.

(snip)


It can’t hurt that Walker has another secret weapon: Rush Limbaugh, the biggest name in conservative talk radio, has been touting him even before that breakthrough speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican Party has a genuine star,” Limbaugh said on his radio program the day after Walker a second term in November. In case you missed the point, the transcript ran on Limbaugh’s website under the headline “Scott Walker Superstar.”

Rush raved about Walker’s Iowa speech, praising its “pedal-to-the-metal, wall-to-wall conservatism.”

“If you have spent any time listening to this program in the last two years, you know that I believe Scott Walker is the blueprint for the Republican Party if they are serious about beating the left Scott Walker has shown how to do it,” he said.

Conservative media’s track record in swaying the Republican presidential primaries isn’t good. Outlets like National Review certainly boosted Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan in the pre-talk radio era. Other than that, there’s not much.

Sometimes the candidates boosted on conservative magazine covers don’t do well with grassroots conservatives (otherwise we would have gotten much closer to a President Brownback) while some candidates who do connect with the rank and file aren’t favorites of the conservative elites (think Pat Buchanan, Mike Huckabee).

Other times, the candidates themselves haven’t given conservative talkers much to work with. Laura Ingraham gave a barnburner of a speech introducing Mitt Romney at CPAC in 2008. Romney followed her out and promptly suspended his campaign, endorsing John McCain.

While Limbaugh hasn’t formally endorsed anybody, he does seem to be rallying early. National Journal tracked how often Rush has mentioned Walker on his show: 200 times just over the last week of January and the first week of February alone.

National Journal’s headline? “Scott Walker Is Winning The Rush Limbaugh Primary.” Meanwhile, The Hill described Jeb Bush as having a conservative media problem.

How much this would help in the general election if Walker was the nominee remains to be seen. But it can’t hurt in the Republican primaries and seems to have helped raise Walker’s profile.

Limbaugh has long joked about fighting with half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair. Maybe that’s all the fairness Walker needs.


http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/01/can-ru...-man-president/

w