GOP Seeking that “New Car Smell”?

Scott Walker                         Chris Christie                       Marco Rubio

"I assume [Marco Rubio]'s running. He will help the party turn the page, politically, to the next generation."

--Wayne Berman, veteran Republican fundraiser, Chair of John McCain's 2008 presidential fundraising, now lining up donors for Rubio

Conservative Byron York has just re-interpreted the GOP presidential primary race after looking at South Carolina, where one of the earliest primary face-offs will take place. In line with Berman’s opinion (above), York writes:

Republican activists around the country [are] hungry. . . for a presidential candidate who is new. They didn't want Mitt Romney to come back for another run. They don't want someone who ran in 2008 or 2012. And [they] count former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the old category, not because Bush himself has run before but because his family has been running for president since 1980.

[In] South Carolina. . ., Bush leads the field, although very narrowly, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has shot up from out of nowhere to a virtual tie for the lead [--] Bush 18% and Walker 17%. And [while] 99% of the Republicans surveyed have heard of Jeb Bush[, j]ust 58% have heard of Walker. . . for Walker. . . to end up in a virtual tie at the top means a lot of South Carolinians are really taking to [him].

Yet while the new car roars forward, York found that in the donor class:

"I would say there is a sense of loyalty of people who contributed to George H.W. and George W.," says Barry Wynn, a former South Carolina state party chairman. "I don't think I've talked to anybody who was involved in those financial efforts who's not ready to saddle up again for Jeb. I don't see any of them giving any money to Rubio, Walker, and the new class."

Still, York opines, what South Carolinians really want is “someone who can win.”

That could be Walker. While “next generation” candidates include Ron Paul, Chris Christie, or Rubio, right now, the “new car” is Walker. In the overall "RealClearPolitics" average among serious candidates, Scott Walker leads Jeb Bush 15.0 to 14.7, Paul is at 9.3, while Christie is at only 6.0 and Rubio worse off at 4.7. That means Christie and Rubio, the two challengers who must take Bush down, combined still trail Jeb by 4.0.

Early days? Walker for President?