JUNE 13, 2015
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) announced today that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. Walker becomes the 15th GOP candidate for President and, including Democrats, the 20th candidate overall.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Waukesha, just outside Milwaukee, Walker promised to be a small-government conservative and vowed to fight the Affordable Care Act, as well as any dealings with Iran on nuclear weapons.
Walker, a staunch opponent of public unionization, came to national fame when he survived a recall election in 2012. The fact that he as been elected as a conservative Republican in a blue state 3 times in 4 years is a fact not lost on those GOP primary voters whose main goal is vote for a winner in 2016.
Walker, who comes across in his campaigns with a regular-Joe kind of persona, has veered sharply right in recent months, reversing his previously-held position on a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. In response to the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, he has also favored a Constitutional Amendment to allow states to decide about marriage themselves, a position that both his wife and his sons have publicly opposed.
The move to the right is seen by many as a shrewd (if short-term) tactical move to woo evangelical voters in the first primary state, Iowa. Yet he is still viewed by many pundits as part of the “establishment” wing of the GOP. If Walker is able to straddle both camps, he may be the one candidate to have a shot at winning in both Iowa and New Hampshire, which would instant propel him to frontrunner status.
 announced today that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. Walker becomes the 15th GOP candidate for President and, including…){kind=link}