Walker looks to Iowa to regain momentum in presidential race
Published 10:10 am Monday, August 31, 2015
ONAWA, Iowa — With his sleeves rolled up, Scott Walker wowed Iowa Republicans in January at one of the first events of the 2016 campaign — a moment that shot the Wisconsin governor into the top-tier of GOP candidates for president.
In the months since, Walker has slowly fallen back into the pack of more than a dozen seeking the GOP nomination.
While he’s no different from any of the other Republicans struggling for attention amid the spotlight focused on billionaire businessman Donald Trump, Walker has also endured a series of setbacks of his own making since launching his campaign in mid-July.
He’s had to backtrack and clarify his positions on immigration and terrorism, reassure jittery donors after a lackluster performance in the first GOP debate and reshape his campaign to try and rekindle the spark he showed in the middle of the winter in Iowa.
That’s where Walker was last week, retail politicking at diners and dives. Shaking hands with fewer than a dozen people at Miller’s Kitchen in Onawa on Wednesday, he said such stops in all 99 Iowa counties is the key to getting back on top.