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 But the Wisconsin governor's rapid rise to the top of national
polls of Republicans is coming at a cost. His recent verbal stumbles
have made him look ill-prepared for the national spotlight and
exposed his inexperience on the campaign trail.
Walker's star appeal was on display at the Conservative Political
Action Conference, a four-day gathering of conservative activists
outside Washington that concluded on Saturday.
In a surprising show of strength, he came in second in the CPAC
straw poll with 21.4 percent of the votes from the 3,007 people who
cast ballots. He was behind only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul at 25.7
percent.
When Walker attended a CPAC coffee reception on Friday a day after
addressing the conclave, the crowd spilled out of the conference
room and into the hallway, with people straining to hear what he had
to say.
Walker may be benefiting as the potential alternative for
conservatives to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, whose moderate
record has made him the party establishment candidate but who has
alarmed many grassroots activists on the right.
But his sudden fame is also a result of having governed from the
right and lived to tell about it. The CPAC poll found 39 percent of
respondents felt the most important quality for a Republican
presidential candidate to possess is a solid conservative record, a
requirement that Walker appears to meet.
“I think he’s a man of principle and he has staked out tough
positions and stood by them," CPAC attendee Mike Potaski, 66, of
Uxbridge, Mass., said of Walker.
INCREASED SCRUTINY
Walker, 47, burst on the scene in January at the Iowa Freedom
Summit, a gathering of conservatives in Des Moines, where activists
reveled in his record of having defeated a 2012 recall effort over
his challenge to the collective bargaining process for most public
unions in Wisconsin. He is soon to sign right-to-work legislation
that would ban private sector workers from being required to join a
union or pay dues.
With the sudden fame has come increased scrutiny. He stumbled over a
question about evolution on a visit to London. And when asked by The
Washington Post last week whether he believed President Barack Obama
was a Christian, he hedged in his response, even though Obama has
frequently spoken of his Christian faith.
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Then when he addressed CPAC on Thursday, Walker said his battle with
labor had given him the mettle needed to take on militant groups
like Islamic State.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same in the rest
of the world," he said.
The remark drew criticism from Democrats who felt he was comparing
pro-union protesters to Islamic State militants.
The missteps barely caused a ripple at CPAC, where conservatives
were looking for a savior who can rally the Republican Party against
the expected Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016
White House race.
"Is he going to be 'Reaganesque' in his speeches and perfect in
every one? No. But it’s okay," said Dave Bossie, president of
Citizens United, an influential conservative group. "That's what
makes him a little different from some of these guys who are a
little more polished. People connect to him."
But veteran campaign watchers see the potential for trouble ahead
for Walker.
"If Walker responds to such questions in a way that satisfies or
reassures fair-minded voters, he passes the test and continues to
move up. If he doesn't, doubts will increase, and, if it happens
often enough, he'll fall back into the field," political analyst
Charlie Cook wrote in National Journal.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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