Saturday Politics Thread: Messaging on Economic Freedom [Y-not]

I was debating about what to do as a follow up to last week's post in which we looked at the economic policies of potential GOP candidates for 2016. After Tuesday's terrific election results (and the uptick in names being bandied about in light of those results) it occurred to me that it might be useful for us to actually listen to the candidates. In addition to helping us glean something about each candidate's economic vision, it may also give us a feel for some of their personal qualities that factor into a successful campaigner. I admit that, with the exception of Perry and Cruz, I have not listened to most of these folks at any length, so it's probably time to remedy that.

Without further ado, here are some speeches given by the potential candidates we've been considering, running in order of candidate popularity. I decided to use their CPAC speeches, when available. They're delivered before a friendly audience and the point of the speeches to sell themselves to conservatives. All of the speeches run under 20 minutes in length. Whenever possible, I've linked to transcripts as well, although I think listening to and watching the candidates is a useful exercise. (I also tried to find a second, shorter clip just for the impatient among us.)

Let's start with Governor Scott Walker, who just won his third electoral victory in Wisconsin garnering 52.3% of the votes cast (his opponent captured 46.6%). Walker skipped CPAC this year, so I'm providing you with his 2013 speech. It runs about 13 minutes:

I was not able to find the text of Gov. Walker's speech. If anyone has a copy, put the link in the comments and I'll update the post.

For a change of pace, here's Walker's victory speech from this week:

The next candidate on our list is Senator Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas. You'll recall that after a hard-fought primary battle, Ted Cruz "cruised" to victory over his Democrat opponent.

Here is Ted Cruz's speech at CPAC 2014:

And here's a link to the transcript of the speech.

If you don't have the patience for a longish speech, here's a shorter clip of Cruz in which he is talking about Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech:

Our next 2016 prospect, Rick Perry, is finishing up a record-long stint as governor of Texas, having been elected three times and serving for a 14 years in that office.

Here's Governor Rick Perry speaking at CPAC earlier this year:

And here's a link to the text of his speech.

For a change of pace, here's a short clip of Governor Perry speaking at a ceremony honoring Tim Cole, the young Texas man who was falsely convicted of rape (and who died in prison). Background about the case is here.

(I chose this clip because it's short and it shows Perry in a different, non-red meat, context.)

Our next 2016 hopeful, Governor Bobby Jindal, was not up for re-election this year. He has been governor since 2008, having won re-election in a landslide in 2011.

Jindal spoke at CPAC this year:

Here's a link to the transcript of Governor Jindal's speech.

And, for something shorter, here's Jindal smacking Obama upside the head after a meeting with the nation's governors:

Our next candidate,Governor Nikki Haley, was re-elected this year by a margin of 56% to 41.4%.

Governor Haley introduced Mitt Romney at CPAC 2013 and used the four minutes that she had to talk about South Carolina's fight with Washington, D.C.

For something longer, here's Nikki Haley's RNC 2012 speech:

Our next prospect,Representative Trey Gowdy, is in a safe district, winning re-election with over 85% of the vote.

Here's Trey Gowdy giving a fiery speech on the floor of the House slamming Obama's executive over-reach:

I wasn't able to find any campaign-type speeches for Gowdy, but here's one of his campaign ads from 2010:

Our next 2016 prospect, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, won re-election 57.3% to 42.7% last week. Governor Martinez did not attend CPAC because it conflicts with New Mexico's legislative schedule.

Here's her speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention:

(Transcript here)

And for a change of pace, here's one of her campaign ads from this year:

By the way, if you're interested, this site has a round up of the CPAC 2014 speeches for the top 2016 contenders.

So, what do you think about these candidates' ability to deliver a conservative message and to connect with Americans?

I confess that I like Jindal's style the best. He held my full attention throughout the entire CPAC speech. In contrast, I think Susana Martinez's delivery is a little too "soft" for the top slot (she might make a nice foil to a harder edged running mate). In all fairness to Governor Martinez, I did not have many video clips from which to choose. That said, all of these prospective 2016 candidates seem acceptable to me in terms of "stump speech" skills.

How about you?

posted by Open Blogger at 11:14 AM

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