Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker still isn’t sure President Obama is Christian, Time reports.
Said Walker: “I don’t know. I presume he is.”
He added: “You’re not going to get a different answer than I said before. As someone who is a believer myself, I don’t presume to know someone’s beliefs about whether they follow Christ or not unless I’ve actually talked with him.”
For Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), “there’s something awkward about the Harley-Davidson motorcycles that he has been posing on at presidential campaign stops: each one bears a sticker on its frame that reads ‘Union made in the USA,'” Reuters reports.
“Walker has made the iconic American brand a centerpiece of his campaign kick-off tour this month, visiting four dealerships and sometimes showing off his own 2003 Harley Road King as he seeks to harness its appeal to older white male voters. But there is another side to Harley that the Republican candidate has been less vocal about — it is a leading example of a successful company that has a strong relationship with labor unions.
Gov. Scott Walker “suggested that Republican primary could drag on for months, driving up the importance of states that vote later in the spring — states like Pennsylvania, which doesn’t vote until the end of April,” Politico reports.
Said Walker: “We’re not just running an early-state campaign. We think with the quality of the field it’s very likely that even states like [Pennsylvania] later in April will play a role. It may go as far as — it could be close to the convention before we know who the ultimate nominee is.”
“Wisconsin is doing terribly. It’s in turmoil. The roads are a disaster because they don’t have money to rebuild them. Schools are a disaster. Hospitals and education are a disaster. And he was totally in favor of Common Core, which I hate.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by CNN, attacking Gov. Scott Walker in Iowa.
Gov. Scott Walker toured New Hampshire with former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The relationship stands to be beneficial for both men: Mr. Walker has access to a well-known surrogate who represents the moderate wing of New Hampshire Republicans; Mr. Brown gets to be seen as a player in presidential politics – he introduced Mr. Walker during his first campaign stop in New Hampshire last week.”
Scott Walker’s aides “say his path to winning the 2016 Republican presidential nomination goes through Iowa, a course that hasn’t worked for any other candidate for 15 years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Only twice since 1976 has the Iowa caucus winner ultimately become the Republican nominee for president after a competitive primary—and not at all since George W. Bush in 2000. That spotty history, combined with Mr. Walker’s decision to adopt more conservative positions to please the state’s electorate, makes Mr. Walker’s game plan an uncertain one.”
Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed a bill banning abortions in Wisconsin after 20 weeks, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
“Wisconsin becomes the 15th state to ban abortions at 20 weeks or earlier, which breaks from the viability standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. Fetuses are generally considered viable at 24 to 28 weeks.”
Politico: “In his first days as a presidential candidate in the state where he’s leading in the polls, Walker showed the consistency and attention to detail that propelled him to 12 victories back home — including three statewide wins. He sported the same campaign trail uniform (a blue-and-white checked, collared shirt, jeans and belt), and used the same prop (a rumpled dollar bill pulled from his pocket). He told the same anecdote about his thriftiness that’s become his signature (his shopping habits at retailer Kohl’s) and quoted whole paragraphs of his announcement speech from last Monday, almost word for word.”
Gov. Scott Walker (R) said he is not sure if homosexuality is a choice, The Hill reports.
Said Walker: “I don’t know the answer to that question. That’s not even an issue for me to be involved in. I don’t have an opinion on every single issue out there.”
He added: “I am going to spend my time focusing on the issues I do know and can work on.”
“If you want to ask me again, I’ll give you the same answer 50 more times. So if you want to waste your time on that question, go ahead.”
— Gov. Scott Walker (R), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, refusing to answer any question about Donald Trump.
“Clearing a potentially serious obstacle from Gov. Scott Walker’s intended path to the White House, the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a secret investigation into millions of dollars spent on financing of recall election victories by Walker and other Republicans,” the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
“The secret John Doe investigation targeted suspected illegal coordination between Republicans and purportedly independent conservative groups leading up to the recalls.”
“The left claims they’re for American workers, and they’ve got lame ideas, things like minimum wage. We need to talk about how we get people skills and qualifications they need to get jobs that go beyond minimum wage.”
— Gov. Scott Walker, quoted by Politico.
Rick Santorum warned that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s dissonance with his wife on same-sex marriage could cause him to be less “active” in his opposition, The Hill reports.
Said Santorum: “Spouses matter. When your spouse is not in-sync with you — particularly on cultural issues, moral issues — you tend not to be as active on those issues.”
Gov. Scott Walker tweeted that he was formally joining the 2016 GOP presidential race: “I’m in. I’m running for president because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them.”
New York Times: “Mr. Walker is aiming to be the candidate who appeals to the largest portion of Republican primary voters, a reflection of the fact that he does not have a single strong base of supporters… The risk is that when your potential political coalition is spread out, it is hard to count on any one part of it showing up to vote.”
Bloomberg has a “scouting report” on Walker.
“He has an altar boy’s appearance. But Darth Vader writes his policies.”
— Wisconsin state Sen. Bob Jauch (D), quoted by National Journal, on Gov. Scott Walker (R).
New York Times: “While Mr. Walker is ahead in some opinion polls, including for Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, a series of early gaffes alarmed party leaders and donors and led Mr. Walker to begin several months of policy tutorials. The collective hope is that Mr. Walker can avoid what Mr. Goeas and other advisers describe as Sarah Palin’s problem — becoming a candidate who is initially popular among Republicans, like the 2008 vice-presidential nominee, but loses luster because of missteps as the campaign goes on.”
“Mr. Walker is now emerging from his crash course with the aim of reassuring activists and contributors, who have given relatively modest amounts to his political operation so far, that he will no longer sow doubts about himself with comments like comparing pro-union protesters to Islamic State terrorists, refusing to answer a question about evolution or saying he does not know if President Obama is a Christian or if he loves America.”
“Scott Walker is running for president, he announced in what appeared to be an unintentional tweet on Friday,” Politico reports.
“The Wisconsin governor isn’t expected to formally announce until Monday, but on Friday afternoon, the Republican appeared to tweet a black-and-white image of himself waving onstage that read, ‘Scott Walker is running for president.’ The tweet was still viewable under his account later Friday afternoon, but had been taken down by Friday night.”
New York Times: “As Mr. Walker, 47, prepares for his formal entry into the presidential contest, he has brought on a campaign manager, a pollster and a group of press aides. But he has not hired a strategist — because it might be needlessly duplicative: Those who know him well say that Mr. Walker has always been his own.”
“For all the attention he has drawn because of his confrontations with organized labor, Mr. Walker is at least as animated by political strategy and tactics as he is by policy and ideological crusades. Except for a brief post-college stint fund-raising for the Red Cross, he has spent his entire adult life in politics, first running for state representative at 22. He has held elected office continuously since 1993; the presidential contest will be his 14th campaign. And he comes to the race steeped in the knowledge required of a good political operative: what it costs to compete in swing states; the science of purchasing television advertising time; the art of getting good press.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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