By Jon Fox, Senior Public Administration Major
Reform conservatism is no stranger to the state of Wisconsin. In 1993, Governor Tommy Thompson led the charge in reforming welfare to restore personal responsibility to its recipients and efficiency to government. The resulting measure was the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). The message was simple and one every working class American could cling to, "if you receive assistance from the government, you should have to work for it."
And now, over 20 years later another Wisconsinite looks poised to take the political stage with his own set of conservative reforms to run for president.
Governor Scott Walker (R-WI), who worked on Governor Thompson's first gubernatorial campaign, made history in 2012 by being the first governor in U.S. history to win a recall election. By winning three elections since 2010, he has demonstrated strong political adversity in the battle of ideas in the historically progressive state. While his opponents have decried his policies, he has won their respect because of his firm stances. Governor Walker's record consists of forcing many public sector workers to contribute to their pension and health benefits, cutting income and property taxes, expanding school choice opportunities, and turning the Badger state's budget deficit into a budget surplus.
Many other Republican Governors can claim this mantle of conservative accomplishments, but have they achieved it in the midst of three elections and in a blue state? No.
In addition to his electability, Governor Scott Walker has support from the party's most notable thought leader Congressman Paul Ryan and Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus (both of whom happen to be from Wisconsin). The fact of the matter is that these influential Republican leaders inside the D.C. beltway both want to be able to sit in the oval office talking to a familiar friend, not a foe. The frustration and urgency is clear from Chairman Priebus. After winning re-election to be head of the RNC he stated, "I don't think people realize how hard it is to run a national party without a president." He goes on to say, "I think that winning a third term means I have a massive responsibility to rebuild our party, to put our nominee in the best position possible and not repeat the same result that happened in 2012."
It appears political pressure is what this man feels right now, and what better way to relieve that pressure than by putting someone he knows and trusts in a position to take the White House, a fellow Wisconsinite like himself. The leverage Congressman Ryan, now Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, offers to Governor Walker is support from members on Capitol Hill. The respect he garners in Congress from fellow party members, establishment and Tea-Party alike, is undeniable (many of whom were recruited to run for office by Ryan in 2010). Moreover, Congressman Ryan wants someone in the White House that can make his conservative reforms law, tax and entitlement reform included, especially if they don't become law in the last two years of the Obama Presidency.
Unlike other potential Republican nominees like former Governor Bush of Florida, Governor Kasich of Ohio, or Governor Christie of New Jersey, Governor Scott Walker has conservative credentials that pass the smell test with the frustrated conservative base that have questioned the policy records, past connections, and moral compass of other potential candidates. Support of policies like the Common Core, Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, or Immigration Reform don't plague his record, as is the case for the others. The very simple, but stark contrast he makes with other potential nominees like Texas Senator Cruz, former Texas Governor Perry, Kentucky Senator Paul, or former Arkansas Governor Huckabee, is his geographic location. In the blue state of Wisconsin, he won the majority of the vote in all three of his election, and perhaps most importantly he won voters earning between $50,000 and $100,000 by 17 points in his 2014 re-election (Romney won by 1 point), which indicates the connection he has with middle-class voters. The Midwestern states, most political strategists will argue, are all too important to ignore in a presidential election. Governor Walker being an elected official in that region, is in a perfect position to put those states in play, including Ohio, which has voted for the president in every single election since 1960 (when Ohio went with Nixon instead of Kennedy).
In the end, Walker serves as the sort of "candidate of compromise" that traditional, business-minded conservatives can latch onto and the candidate the conservative base can fall in love with, who refused to show up at the election polls in the last election for a subpar candidate in Mitt Romney. Although he holds no college degree, he has "a master's degree in taking on the big government special interests," which he believes "is worth more than anything else that anybody can point to." He may not have the charisma like other potential candidates vying for the nomination nor the oratory skills of a President Obama or Senator Rubio, but his humbleness and populist background may ultimately win voters over.
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