Milwaukee
Scott Walker isn’t big on self-reflection.
He spent much of Sunday on a this-is-your-life tour of southeastern Wisconsin with an ABC News production team and World News Tonight anchor David Muir. Late in the afternoon, he signed the biennial budget for the state of Wisconsin, a final item on the to-do list he compiled last winter as he began exploring a bid for the presidency. Today, Walker will formally announce his candidacy for the White House.
It’s pretty heady stuff, but Walker, who grew up the son of a pastor and a secretary, and never completed college, says he doesn’t spend many hours thinking about the magnitude of this next step. “If I spent the time, it probably would be surreal,” Walker said as he sipped water from a sweaty glass on a deck overlooking the Milwaukee River. Few people thought he would win election as Milwaukee county executive or eventually governor, he recalled, and he didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about those moments, either. “I don’t really sit around and go: ‘Hmm, I can’t believe I’m here. You just do it … As crazy as that sounds, I really don’t.”
Nothing in Walker’s demeanor suggests he’s being disingenuous when he says this. His comments came during a half-hour long interview late Sunday afternoon, some 24 hours before he will make his entry in the race official. Among others topics, we discussed: national security, entitlements, the possibility he’ll be unable to ride his Harley Davidson if he wins, and his announcement speech Monday. If the moment is weighing on him, it’s not obvious.
Walker’s speech today will include arguments familiar to anyone who has watched him over the past six months – or the past six years. He will call for a reassessment of the role of government in American life – a dramatic reduction of the scope of government and a redistribution of its power, from Washington to the states and localities. He will emphasize reform and budget discipline, as well as the need for growth. And, speaking without a teleprompter, Walker will develop a theme that he believes sets him apart from the ever-growing Republican field, portraying himself as “a fighter who can win” and implement “commonsense conservative reforms.”
Walker will also use Iran to illustrate the failings of what he calls the “Obama-Clinton doctrine.” He will be joined at the speech by Kevin Hermening, a Wisconsinite who was the youngest of the U.S. hostages held captive by the by the Iranian regime for 444 days until his release on January 20, 1981. “Iran has not changed from the day that Kevin and those other hostages were released on Reagan’s first day in office. This is essentially the same country. Why in the world would we be giving that kind of relief to a country that doesn’t deserve it?”
But in other respects, the official beginning of the campaign will bring some changes. Throughout the six months of his exploratory effort, Walker has taken a distinct Iowa-first approach. It has paid dividends. According to the Real Clear Politics average of polls in the state, Walker has a strong 8-point lead in the state (over Jeb Bush and Rand Paul, tied in second).
But according to both public and private polling, Walker is doing well in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and beyond, too. And Walker does not want to be considered an Iowa-only candidate. So he’s kicking off his announcement tour Tuesday not in Iowa, but in Nevada. On Wednesday, he’ll spend the day in South Carolina and on Thursday he’ll be in New Hampshire, before heading to Iowa Friday.
“We’re doing well in Iowa. But when we go to New Hampshire, I’m going to – even this week – probably challenge them and say: ‘Don’t buy into this media conventional wisdom that just because somebody’s doing well in Iowa, that means that New Hampshire can’t support that person. If you like somebody, and the people in Iowa do, too, just think of the power you have to determine who the nominee is,” Walker said, previewing his message for his visit to the Granite State on Thursday. “It’s not saying that Iowa is not important. It’s saying: ‘Don’t buy into this spin that pundits have that somebody who’s doing well in Iowa that New Hampshire is going to pick somebody else. New Hampshire is going to pick who they want.” Later this month, Walker will be in Tennessee, North Carolina, California, Illinois, and Missouri.
Walker will not be slighting Iowa. Earlier this week, Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register reported that Walker plans to visit all 99 of Iowa’s counties as he campaigns in the state. And when he does finally arrive in Iowa at the end of his announcement tour later this week, Walker will spend three days driving across the state in an RV.
Walker will use the blitz in the coming weeks to elaborate on the themes he lays out in his announcement speech. Walker makes the case that he ought to be elected president in large part because of what he’s done in Wisconsin. So what, exactly, are the “commonsense conservative reforms” he talks about so much? What specifically would he do at the federal level that would expand on his work his work in Wisconsin? And which of those reforms would be his highest priority if elected?
It turns out there are many. “Repealing Obamacare right away.” A “major pullback” and “moratorium…on the out-of-control federal regulations.” Laying out “a plan for true tax reform.” “Approving the Keystone Pipeline on the first day.” “Lifting the sequester on defense spending.” Sending Medicaid dollars to the states and shifting responsibility for many government functions out of Washington: “transportation, workforce development, heck, even education.” Entitlement reform would be addressed “literally in the first 100 days.”
If Walker was eager to talk about what he’d do first if elected, he wasn’t quite as garrulous when I asked him about Donald Trump. Walker casually mentioned Trump unbidden as he discussed the frustration of rank-and-file Republicans toward GOP leadership in Washington and, when I asked him later, Walker said he wasn’t surprised by Trump’s performance in polls since his announcement. Asked what accounts for Trump’s growing support, Walker shrugged dismissively. “Name ID,” he speculated. “I wouldn’t read too much into that.” But then he added: “The bottom line is: Voters are hungry for people to speak their minds. And in the end what makes us incredibly strong campaign that can win is that we’ve got a track record of not just speaking our mind but delivering on it.”
If he can convince Republican primary voters of that claim, he has a chance.