Gov. Scott Walker started the 2016 cycle as the perfect Republican candidate.
Fresh off his third victory in four years in a blue state, Walker was hailed as a presumptive front-runner, appealing to monied interests like the Koch brothers and tea party populists, such as media personality Rush Limbaugh, alike. The abrupt end to the Walker campaign has experts and party officials scratching their heads.
According to UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden, the seeds of Walker’s demise were planted as his poll numbers were reaching their peak in the spring.
“He had the problem of expectations that were too high in the spring,” Burden said. “He had not yet hired adequate staff, and he had not yet boned up on foreign policy and some other issues where he did not know as much.”
Forced into the spotlight with an early lead in Iowa, Walker’s message was fuzzy and undefined. He compared protesting public union employees to ISIS, refused to speak to the merit of the theory of evolution while in England and waffled on the validity of birthright citizenship.
“There were some statements that he had to correct or amend or walk back in some cases,” Burden explained. “There was a fair amount of uncertainty amongst voters who were not sure if he was with them on the issues they care about.”
Regardless of Walker’s early misfires, his poll numbers held firm until Donald Trump entered the race in June, at which point Walker’s self-styled image as a regular Kohl’s customer and a hard-nosed steward of tax dollars began to fall flat.
“The everyman approach worked well early on,” Burden said. “People in Iowa especially were really enamored by his personal background and his modesty, his humble roots. But later, maybe amid flashier candidates who had business backgrounds like Trump and later Fiorina that were a little more bombastic and dramatic, he was boring.”
The “Summer of Trump” sapped Walker of both public backing and cash while he hemorrhaged support from donors and fell out of favor with the tea party right. After another weak debate performance, Walker opted to quit.
“I think they wanted the campaign to end gracefully rather than sadly in an embarrassing way,” Burden said. “[His exit from the race is] maybe more positive than coming in 10th place in the Iowa caucuses or having to fire staff.”
In a statement released Monday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said a crowded field caused too much noise for Walker to cut through.
“It is unfortunate that the bluster of candidates overshadowed his substance,” Vos said in the statement.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning eulogized Walker’s campaign differently.
“Once people saw he had the same plans for the nation that he used in Wisconsin, his support evaporated to zero,” Laning said in a Monday statement.
