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So, When Is Gov. Walker Going to Announce His Run for President?

Gov. Walker
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
Gov. Scott Walker continues to send strong signals that he'll run for president.

Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton officially threw her hat into the ring Sunday. Marco Rubio, the Republican freshman senator from Florida, entered the presidential race Monday.

Gov. Walker continues to send strong signals that he’ll run for president, but his announcement may not come for several months.

The governor found himself getting a lot of attention early, following a speech he delivered to a conservative gathering in Iowa. Since then, several Republicans have entered the 2016 race, but not Walker.

John Rink is a political science professor at UW-Platteville. He says the governor does not want to be overshadowed by other announcements.

“I think any candidate wants a moment when the rest of the news making world is relatively quiet so that everyone is prepared to hear the candidate’s message and greet it with enthusiasm,” Rink says.

Rink thinks it would be a smart move for the governor to announce this summer. The professor says by that time, many of the serious candidates will have declared and Walker would have the spotlight to himself.

“There’s some advantage in being late. There’s that much more anticipation and you don’t have to respond to quite as many questions from the media with regard to positions on issues. Those questions will go to the candidates who’ve already announced,” Rink says.

The delay would also allow Walker to get his ducks in a row, according to UW-Stevens Point Political Science Professor Dennis Riley. For instance, Riley says, the governor must get a better grasp of foreign policy issues. He has just started a business trip in Europe.

“He needs not necessarily foreign policy credibility, but he needs at least not to be considered a joke in the area, not to be considered somebody who has no idea what’s going on. He needs to burnish those credentials,” Riley says.

And, Riley says, the governor must wrap up important state business, most notably, a two-year budget. Riley says he wouldn’t be surprised if Walker pushes off his announcement until early fall. Yet whenever it is, attention will follow.

“What he’ll try to do is say I’ve been an administrator, I’ve been a governor. I’ve survived the attacks of the Democratic Party three different times. I’ve fixed my state, I got control of public employees. He’ll go through his whole litany. He’ll say that’s what Ronald Reagan did at the national level and it needs to be done again,” Riley says.

Riley would also expect Walker to play up his “fresh face” image in a field of also-ran candidates. Some are on at least their second run for president.

Marti was a reporter with WUWM from 1999 to 2021.
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