Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “is poised to become the 15th Republican to declare his presidential bid, with at least one more candidate expected to enter soon after. But at this point, his campaign advisers said this week that they see just two principal rivals for the GOP nomination: former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio,” the Washington Post reports.

“For months, Walker’s team has been preparing for a race against Bush’s money and Rubio’s compelling personal story. Advisers said Walker’s record as governor is more current than Bush’s and draws a sharper contrast with President Obama. Rubio has attributes that Walker has spoken about favorably in private conversations, but the governor’s campaign advisers consider the first-term senator far less tested. Walker’s path to victory, as outlined by his closest advisers, is not significantly different from that of his rivals, but his team says the calendar sets up well for him.”

“Iowa is the key: Walker is leading the polls there and, as a neighboring governor, he has easy access to the state. His advisers expect him to win the Iowa caucuses early next year, and they say he can follow that with top-three finishes in New Hampshire and South Carolina. They also think he can score an early victory in Nevada’s caucuses.”

President Obama launched a frontal assault on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in a visit to his state, the New York Times reports.

Obama likened Walker and the “bus full” of Republican candidates to an “Uncle Harry” at Thanksgiving dinner who says something that makes no sense.

Said Obama: “You still love him. He’s still a member of your family. Right? But you’ve got to correct him. You don’t want to put him in charge of stuff.”

Gov. Scott Walker will file paperwork with the FEC this morning to formally jump into the GOP presidential race, with a formal announcement event planned for July 13, NBC News reports.

New York Times: “To protect his lead in Iowa, a state with a heavily conservative Republican electorate, Mr. Walker has taken a harder line on a number of issues than his allies had anticipated. Now a growing number of party leaders say Mr. Walker is raising questions about his authenticity and may be jeopardizing his prospects in states where voters’ sensibilities are more moderate.”

“His response to the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage most emphatically demonstrated his sharp shift to the right: Mr. Walker called the court’s ruling ‘a grave mistake’ and reiterated his call for a constitutional amendment that would allow states to ban same-sex marriage. It sent a clear message to social conservatives, and one that was noticeably not echoed by two of his leading rivals, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush — who warned last year that Republicans would need to campaign as if they were willing to lose the nomination if they hoped to win the general election.”

“As Gov. Scott Walker prepares to announce his campaign for president next month, promising to bring what he calls ‘big bold leadership’ to Washington, as he did in Wisconsin, he faces a cloud over that story line: Republicans back home are in revolt,” the New York Times reports.

“Leaders of Mr. Walker’s party, which controls the Legislature, are balking at his demands for the state’s budget. Critics say the governor’s spending blueprint is aimed more at appealing to conservatives in early-voting states like Iowa than doing what is best for Wisconsin.”

In his firmest step yet toward a White House bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has created a “testing the waters” committee that will allow him to raise money for an eventual campaign, Bloomberg reports.

“The new committee allows Walker to raise resources to be directly controlled by him and his prospective campaign. The new fund is on top of Our American Revival, a tax-exempt group he’s had since January, and a super political action committee, Unintimidated PAC, formed in April by former top aides.”

As an “intense standoff” over Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) program-slashing budget drags on, Walker is taking another taxpayer funded foreign trip, the Washington Post reports.

“It was not an ideal time for Walker, a likely GOP presidential candidate, to leave town, and it provided yet another opportunity for Democrats to criticize him for spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on foreign trips while preaching budget frugality.”

“Walker has been governor for 4 1 / 2 years, but up until this year, he had taken only two foreign trade trips — traveling to China and Japan in 2013. Now a potential GOP contender with a lack of foreign policy expertise, Walker in recent months booked three taxpayer-funded trips in quick succession: Four days in the United Kingdom in early February, followed by a week in April in Germany, France and Spain, and now this journey to Canada.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Scott Walker leads the GOP presidential field with 17%, followed by Jeb Bus at 15%, Marco Rubio at 13%, Ben Carson at 12%, Mike Huckabee at 11%, Ted Cruz at 8%, Rand Paul at 8%, Carly Fiorina at 5%, and Chris Christie at 4%.

“Small though the lead may be, this is the fourth consecutive national survey we’ve done where we found Walker out in front.”

Mike Allen: “Most likely Scott Walker announcement date is Mon., July 13. He isn’t making a decision until after the Wisconsin state budget deadline (June 30), and we don’t have to worry about Fourth of July. So look for it soon thereafter.”

Amy Walter: “What makes Scott Walker such a formidable candidate in the primary is also what makes him vulnerable in a general election. As Walker flexes his conservative muscle on everything from immigration to gay marriage to abortion, he also risks being easily portrayed as ‘out of touch’ to the moderate voters needed to win next fall.”

“Winning over moderate voters means finding a way to get at least within earshot of the center on key issues. And, on two issues in particular – immigration and gay marriage – the GOP position is light-years from it.”

“In a fluid race where there’s no consensus frontrunner and even the eventual size of the presidential field is up in the air, there’s one thing that most Republicans can agree on: In Iowa at least, Scott Walker is the man to beat,” Politico reports.

“Midwestern roots did little to boost their presidential campaigns among Iowa’s Republican voters. Regional appeal, in fact, hasn’t helped any Republican candidate win here since Bob Dole of Kansas carried the GOP caucuses two decades ago.”

Gov. Scott Walker, “who began building a national profile four years ago by sharply cutting collective bargaining rights for most government workers, has turned his sights to a different element of the public sector: state universities,” the New York Times reports.

“As Mr. Walker takes steps toward announcing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, he and leaders in Wisconsin’s Republican-held Legislature have called for changes that would give a board largely picked by the governor far more control over tenure and curriculum in the University of Wisconsin System. Critics said the proposal, which is championed by Republicans in the Legislature, would burnish Mr. Walker’s conservative credentials as he is scrutinized by likely primary voters.”