We got lots of great responses in the comments, on Facebook, and on Twitter last week to my question “Who Would Be Better Than a Scott Walker-John Bolton Ticket For 2016?”

And many readers highlighted issues which cooled my Walker enthusiasm some, moving him back into the “maybe” category for me. Readers from Facebook challenged him on immigration and education:

Ann Coulter raised the issue of Walker’s questionable position on immigration in her column last week, too:

While Jeb was one of the first governors to demand driver’s licenses for illegals, Romney was one of the first governors to strike a special agreement with federal immigration officials allowing Massachusetts state troopers to arrest illegal aliens.

But with the cheap-labor plutocrats up in arms during the 2012 presidential campaign over Romney’s suggestion that their serfs “self-deport,” all the Republican lickspittles rushed to denounce his untoward remark. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker — all of them lined up to take Sheldon Adelson’s loyalty oath, swearing that, as far as they were concerned, illegal aliens should be treated as honored guests.

You better pray for a “flip-flopper” on immigration, conservatives.

The usual setup is for big donors to trick conservatives into supporting some loser liberal as the GOP nominee. With Romney, it was conservatives who tricked the money people into supporting a conservative.

And I’m still concerned about what I mentioned previously, where Walker is at on foreign policy. That this Ron Paul supporter found Walker “acceptable” worries me tremendously:

So I’m back into the searching mode while I try to find someone who has a reliable record on immigration. On the next page are 9 potential tickets which might be worth considering. What do you think? Have a better combination?

1. Ted Cruz and John Bolton?

I’ve felt more cautious watching the ascent of Ted Cruz in the conservative movement and the GOP. While I’ll often sympathize with him on an ideological level, I’m not sure yet if he’s trustworthy on a personal level. Most politicians are narcissists to some degree, the open question with all is whether they worship themselves with more devotion than the God of the Bible.

So while I like what Cruz says, I wonder if he’s the real deal. What do you think? Anybody else at the same place with Cruz? What would he need to do to tip you over into supporting him?

2. Scott Walker and Ted Cruz with John Bolton as Secretary of State?

3. Or how about Cruz at the top of the ticket with Walker as VP?

How does this triumvirate sound? I still worry about where they would go on immigration…

4. Scott Walker and Allen West?

I liked getting to know Allen West during his time at PJ and respect him a great deal. He would bring hawkish foreign policy credibility comparable to Bolton (who imaginably would be secretary of State in such an administration).

5. Trey Gowdy and Walker?

6. Gowdy and West?

7. Cruz and Gowdy?

I really like Gowdy a whole lot and hope his star is on the rise in the GOP but sympathize with the points Bill Roe makes here and also worry about his point on Cruz’s citizenship.

8. Governors Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal – “Let’s Give America Back to the Indians”

Throw in Bolton as secretary of State to guide them down the right foreign policy path and that could be an intriguing team! The hilarious joking tagline alone is enough to warrant consideration.

9. “Douch and bag!” Technology Will Save Us All!

Hank’s looking at the long-term, bigger picture and I very much sympathize with his sentiments in spirit if not in practicality! 

Maybe?

1. Walker and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez?

I’m neutral about Martinez. What do you think of her?

2. Walker and Ohio Governor John Kasich?

Following my Ohio friend Paula Bolyard’s blog posts about Kasich has made me cautious about him…

3. Cruz and Mike Lee?

I’m neutral on Lee. What do you think of him?

4. Walker and Carly Fiorina?

I’m not inclined to consider Fiorina for the VP slot — would anyone be considering her if she were a man with the same experience and qualifications?

5. Allen West?

As much as I respect him and would like to see him as president someday, it’s probably too soon for Allen West to lead the ticket. But him in a VP slot does seem within the realm of dreaming, if not the most plausible of potential tickets.

Honestly, a John Bolton-Allen West, all-chips-in-for-a-hawkish-foreign-policy-campaign would work for me if we’re arguing from dreamland. But in practicality I know that the hawks don’t have an overwhelming enough influence in the GOP and on the Right to make that happen.

No Way!

1. Condoleezza Rice.

One of the big distinctions that needs to be understood and articulated much more clearly in Republican foreign policy is the difference between being a neoconservative and a defense hawk. The distinction between the two lies in how one regards Islam. The fatal flaw in George W. Bush-era Republican foreign policy was that it acted with the assumption that to export “democracy” into the Muslim world would be a way to bring about peace. Use military force to remove tyrannical leaders and “the people” will do the right thing and vote for freedom. It didn’t work. Give the Palestinians elections and they vote in Hamas. Empower the Muslim world to vote on Sharia and “death to America” and you won’t always be thrilled with the results.

2. Father and Son in the Paul Cult

Ron and Rand Paul are not conservatives and they’re not “libertarians” either. They are Paleo-libertarian, anarcho-capitalist radicals trained by their mentor Murray Rothbard to embrace an ideology as diametrically opposed to American constitutionalism as Valerie Jarrett’s postmodernist Marxism and Hillary Clinton’s corporatist narcissism.

3. Ben Carson

Here’s the one question I have yet to hear a real answer to from any of the conservatives supporting Ben Carson for president: would you still be supporting him as the best candidate if he was white?

Every time I see Carson’s name come up in talks about the 2016 presidency it sends chills up my spine. He doesn’t even have enough political experience to be a senator. Why can’t he at least run for Congress first?

4. Fred Thompson and Ben Carson?

Fred Thompson’s chance to do something more than be a celebrity has passed. I can hardly stand his cameos on The Good Wife…

5. Walker and Marco Rubio?

Sorry, but Rubio lost me when he went Establishment-RINO on immigration. What’s the dime’s worth of difference between him and Jeb Bush?

6. Sarah Palin as VP Again?

Sarah Palin never should have even been chosen as VP in 2008. The whole rationale for choosing her was morally broken from the start. Identity politics can’t be what drives the GOP as it does the Democrats.

7. Libertarian Pipe Dreams: One of the Pauls and Gary Johnson

That’s kind of a weird shift from Wade there — how does one leap from Rubio to Johnson?

8. Allen West and Ben Carson

It really bothers me the way that identity politics has been embraced by so many on the Right. The sentiment that the GOP just has no choice and needs to put priority on nominating a Latino, a black, or a woman needs to end immediately. It didn’t work in 2008 with Sarah Palin and it won’t work in 2016. Being Democrat-lite isn’t a winning strategy, as the previous two elections demonstrated.

9. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul?

A Rubio-Paul ticket is like a pickles and fudge sandwich. The commenter Bill Beahan there can just taste the absurdity of pairing two ideological rivals with diametrically opposed values.

So what do you think? Which of these is the best ticket? Or do you have a better one up your sleeve to suggest?