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 There is little unity, however, among his supporters on who to
back now, reflecting the dilemma many Republicans face in choosing
among 15 candidates. Walker on Monday called on some of his fellow
contenders to follow his lead to make it easier for voters to settle
on an electable Republican nominee.
Interviews on Tuesday with two dozen people who told Reuters/Ipsos
pollsters they had backed the Wisconsin governor in the past showed
they are far from settling on another candidate.
Of the group, seven said they were leaning toward retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson, four liked real estate mogul Donald Trump,
four leaned toward former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, two
liked Florida Senator Marco Rubio and the rest were undecided. Many
of their choices appeared to be driven by the candidates'
personalities rather than their positions.
The support for Trump was somewhat ironic given that Walker had
singled him out for failing to bring a "positive, conservative"
message to the race.
"Myself, I'm leaning toward Trump and my wife says she is leaning
toward Rubio," said Jim Clark, 79, a Walker supporter from New
Berlin, Illinois. "Trump tells it like it is. He reminds me of
(former Democratic President) Harry Truman."
Beverly Fenton, 80, of Sumter, South Carolina, said she liked Walker
at first but eventually found him wanting. She was not alone. The
latest polls showed that Walker had less than 1 percent support, a
dramatic slide from when he announced his campaign in July.
"I like Dr. Ben Carson because he's sincere and he's not full of
bombast," said Alan Rowley, 73, of West Wendover, Nevada. "And I
like Carly Fiorina because I think she's really, really smart and I
think she could take the challenge to (Democrat) Hillary Clinton."
Walker appealed to a mix of Christian conservatives and center-right
establishment Republicans who admired his record of taking on public
unions in Wisconsin and winning elections three times. He attempted
to establish himself as a true-blue conservative with Midwestern
blue-collar appeal.
But he wilted on the national stage, struggling to demonstrate he
had firm grasp of major policy issues, doing poorly in two televised
debates and giving shifting answers to questions about illegal
immigration.
DONORS UP FOR GRABS
Walker's exit left his network of donors up for grabs. Former
Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator
Rubio and other candidates were making direct calls to some Walker
donors asking for their support.
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Chart Westcott, a Texas biotech investor who donated $200,000 to
Walker’s fund-raising Super PAC, Unintimidated, said he was already
fielding calls from other campaigns.
Several candidates have already caught Westcott's attention.
He said Cruz has a reformer's instinct and has shown leadership,
while Fiorina showed “she is definitely a leader” in the last
Republican debate. He called Rubio, who promotes himself as a
Cuban-American raised in a humble family, inspiring.
Jonathan Burkan, a Walker fundraiser who is a financial services
executive in New York, said he had not yet made up his mind who to
support now.
"We have great people in the field and I’m going to take time to see
who I’m going to support and I think a lot of Walker people feel the
same way," he said.
Many Walker supporters had begun to cool toward Walker before his
announcement on Monday.
"I was interested in his candidacy at the very beginning, but I kind
of drifted away over the past two months," said John Lancaster, 50,
of Fort Gratiot, Michigan. "His performance at the debate was
somewhat poor."
Most of the Walker supporters interviewed suggested they would look
outside the party's establishment for their next candidate.
Mark Schleicher, 57, of St. Louis, Missouri, said he is taking a
hard look at Fiorina but is far from decided.
“I like her approach. She has solutions that are not necessarily
political. She has ideas that transcend the political rhetoric,” he
said.
(Reporting By Steve Holland, editing by Ross Colvin)
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