Scott Walker
Governor Scott Walker’s day in Chicago started at 8 AM with an appointment with a prospective recruit for his “Open for Business” State of Wisconsin.
It ended with a post-Family PAC appearance on a Chicago River cruise boat.
What the primary purpose of his trip is open to specialization, but only spent at maximum an hour and a half speaking to a sell-out crowd ($90 a person. $175 per couple).
The crowd was the biggest in Family PAC’s twenty years of fund raising cruises on Lake Michigan and up and down the Chicago River.
Maybe he had additional appointments to woo businesses to Wisconsin during the day.
Unlike Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, also a Republican, Walker flew under the main stream media’s radar.
49th District State Senate candidate Tony Giles has just for a picture with Gov. Scott Walker for another camera when I took this one.
All sorts of people wanted a photo with the Republican who successfully took on Wisconsin’s teacher unions.
State Rep. candidate Janet Silosky poses with Governor Scott
In his speech, Walker told of how he faced up to all the pressure. He said he started the days on knees in prayer and continued praying throughout the day.
That’s what he told the Wall Street Journalin a recent interview, too.
State Senate candidate Chad Koppie, running against Karen McConnaughay in a Kane-McHenry County district, chatted with Governor Scott Walker.
Walker told the audience that he spent $13 million to get elected Governor.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker chats with Congressman Randy Hultgren's two boys as Hultgren's wife Christy looks on.
Unions spent almost three times that amount in six state senate recall elections. One who lost was in a district that leans Democrat, while the other Republican loser would have made the National Enquirer had he been in the national arena. (That’s what the Wall Street Journal reporter concluded.)
“Yet we prevailed,” the son of a minister said.
Those on the jam-packed deck appreciated Governor Scott Walker's message.
“The voters in our state want people who first and foremost will stand up for the American people,” Walker concluded after telling the story about President Ronald Reagan’s meeting with conservative Democrats including John Connelly and walking out of the meeting after all the Dems said they could vote for the tax cut if they got something for one of their special interests.
Walker said Reagan said, “I thought we were here to do what was right for the American people,” and walked out of the meeting.
“We put more money back in the hands of people. (They can) spend the money better,” Walker said.
Former State Rep. Penny Pullen can be seen in the foreground of this crowd scene.
He also talked of his state’s “balanced budget.”
Scott Walker explained the impact of his educational reform legislation.
Walker bragged that Wisconsin had gained 9,500 net new jobs while Illinois had “unfortunately” lost 7,200.
He also pointed out that Wisconsin had gone up seventeen spots in the list of business-friendly states in “Chief Executive Magazinem” while Illinois had gone down 47 spots.
Speaking of his educational reform bill, Walker said,
“It matters (if school boards) can hire and fire on merit and not based on tenure.
‘”It will help improve education.”
“Thank you for what you are doing prospectively,” he told the Republican gathering.
He urged those present to “think more about their children, their grandchildren than they do about theirselves.”
That brought applause.
When he said, “Thanks for letting the Packers win the Super Bowl,” most of the audience was in disagreement.
Family PAC Executive Director pomised to pay for buses to being volunteers from Illinois to Wisconsin if Scott Walker should face a gubernatorial recall election.
After his speech, Family PAC Executive Director Paul Caprio told Walker,
“We’re with you in spirit and, if need be, we’ll be there in body.”
Caprio said Family PAC would pay for the buses.