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Pretty good article:
9 things I learned about Scott Walker on the campaign trail — and why they mattered.
1) It was unclear exactly why Walker wanted to be president.
Walker has only been the governor of Wisconsin for four and a half years, following more than eight years as the Milwaukee County executive. Yet unlike many young governors, he had a strong national profile — along with the admiration of many wealthy Republican donors — because of the dramatic, highly publicized battle he waged against his state's public-sector unions in 2011, soon after becoming governor. In severely weakening those unions and then winning a recall election, Walker earned the support of fiscal conservatives and the tea party, and angered liberals around the country.
So with a seemingly wide-open presidential primary, it made sense for Walker to run, pitching himself as a Republican loathed by Democrats who has had success in beating them. But Walker often seemed to struggle to explain exactly why he would be a better president than the other Republicans running. He seemed to write much of his domestic and foreign policy as he went along, rather than coming to the race with a clear vision of where he would take the country. For many voters who are often tired of uncompromising career politicians and gridlock in Washington, perhaps Walker's promise to fight Democrats just wasn't enough.
snip----------------
3) For an everyman candidate, his campaign events were often elaborately staged.
In late July, Walker held a town hall at a family-style restaurant in Red Oak, a town with fewer than 6,000 residents in western Iowa. An advance team with a moving van of equipment arrived hours early to hang up flags, set up a sound system and arrange a stage with tiered seating to provide a backdrop of Iowans. Walker arrived with a large entourage: his security detail, campaign manager, personal aide, full-time campaign photographer, two Iowa-based staffers and a horde of low-level employees who handed out brochures. As he spoke for roughly an hour, one man on the stage had to shield his eyes from a bright spotlight.
That's the level of staging that Walker enjoyed during nearly every campaign stop during his first month on the trail — which worried some supporters, who considered the elaborate set-ups a waste of money so early in the campaign. These glitzy events seemed more suited to a candidate who had already locked down the nomination, but they matched Walker's forceful confidence — he truly considered himself a front-runner who could win over most voters in most states.
continued---------
9 things I learned about Scott Walker on the campaign trail — and why they mattered - The Washington Post
9 things I learned about Scott Walker on the campaign trail — and why they mattered.
1) It was unclear exactly why Walker wanted to be president.
Walker has only been the governor of Wisconsin for four and a half years, following more than eight years as the Milwaukee County executive. Yet unlike many young governors, he had a strong national profile — along with the admiration of many wealthy Republican donors — because of the dramatic, highly publicized battle he waged against his state's public-sector unions in 2011, soon after becoming governor. In severely weakening those unions and then winning a recall election, Walker earned the support of fiscal conservatives and the tea party, and angered liberals around the country.
So with a seemingly wide-open presidential primary, it made sense for Walker to run, pitching himself as a Republican loathed by Democrats who has had success in beating them. But Walker often seemed to struggle to explain exactly why he would be a better president than the other Republicans running. He seemed to write much of his domestic and foreign policy as he went along, rather than coming to the race with a clear vision of where he would take the country. For many voters who are often tired of uncompromising career politicians and gridlock in Washington, perhaps Walker's promise to fight Democrats just wasn't enough.
snip----------------
3) For an everyman candidate, his campaign events were often elaborately staged.
In late July, Walker held a town hall at a family-style restaurant in Red Oak, a town with fewer than 6,000 residents in western Iowa. An advance team with a moving van of equipment arrived hours early to hang up flags, set up a sound system and arrange a stage with tiered seating to provide a backdrop of Iowans. Walker arrived with a large entourage: his security detail, campaign manager, personal aide, full-time campaign photographer, two Iowa-based staffers and a horde of low-level employees who handed out brochures. As he spoke for roughly an hour, one man on the stage had to shield his eyes from a bright spotlight.
That's the level of staging that Walker enjoyed during nearly every campaign stop during his first month on the trail — which worried some supporters, who considered the elaborate set-ups a waste of money so early in the campaign. These glitzy events seemed more suited to a candidate who had already locked down the nomination, but they matched Walker's forceful confidence — he truly considered himself a front-runner who could win over most voters in most states.
continued---------
9 things I learned about Scott Walker on the campaign trail — and why they mattered - The Washington Post
