“It was a memorable political ad: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin spoke directly into the camera in a 30-second spot last fall and called abortion an ‘agonizing’ decision. He described himself as pro-life but, borrowing the language of the abortion rights movement, pointed to legislation he signed that leaves ‘the final decision to a woman and her doctor,'” the New York Times reports.

“That language was gone when Mr. Walker met privately with Iowa Republicans in a hotel conference room last month, according to a person who attended the meeting. There, he highlighted his early support for a ‘personhood amendment,’ which defines life as beginning at conception and would effectively prohibit all abortions and some methods of birth control.”

“The anti-union law passed here four years ago, which made Gov. Scott Walker a national Republican star and a possible presidential candidate, has turned out to be even more transformative than many had predicted,” the Washington Post reports.

“Walker had vowed that union power would shrink, workers would be judged on their merits, and local governments would save money. Unions had warned that workers would lose benefits and be forced to take on second jobs or find new careers.”

“Many of those changes came to pass, but the once-thriving ­public-sector unions were not just shrunken — they were crippled.”

“Scott Walker likes to say that the recall election he survived three years ago, when national media descended on Madison to cover his showdown with Big Labor, prepared him for the rigors of a presidential campaign. But the Wisconsin governor is learning how wishful that may be,” Politico reports.

“Nothing, in fact, compares to the scrutiny of a presidential campaign. After a barrage of recent criticism for not answering questions about foreign policy or evolution, and not speaking up after Rudy Giuliani accused President Barack Obama of not loving America, it was more of the same for Walker on Saturday.”

Matt Lewis: “Walker has been surging in recent weeks, and there is a sense he could be the guy to bridge the gap between the Republican establishment and the grassroots conservative base. But campaigns are crucibles, and if the last couple of days are a harbinger of things to come, he’s in trouble.”