Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Monday he wasn’t about to be intimidated by anyone — including those protesting his address at the Iowa State Fair — in his bid for the White House.
Mr. Walker, speaking at the Des Moines Register’s political soapbox, said he stood apart from the rest of the 2016 GOP field in that he’s managed to both fight and win on policy battles and in elections. Owing to a 2012 recall election led in part by union groups in Wisconsin, he’s won three statewide elections in the Midwestern state in four years.
“I am not intimidated by you, sir, or anyone else out there,” Mr. Walker said at one point to applause and cheers. “You want someone who’s tested? I’m right here. … This is what happened in Wisconsin. We will not back down.”
“If you give me the chance, I will not be intimidated — just like I wasn’t intimidated here or anywhere else,” he said. “This is why I love coming to Iowa — ’cause you lay it right out there. There’s no filter; there’s no hiding behind the national media. It’s happening right here and right now, and if that’s what you want out of your next president, someone who will not back down, then I ask” for your vote.
He recalled taking on 100,000 protesters back in his home state — some of whom had come there to Des Moines, Mr. Walker said.
“But you know what? They didn’t intimidate us at the Capitol. They didn’t intimidate us at the Capitol [because] in America, they have every right to speak,” he said.
“But they can’t drown out the voices of the millions of people who elected me in Wisconsin,” Mr. Walker said to loud cheers and applause. “The truth is things are better in Wisconsin because of our reforms, and if we can fix … a state like Wisconsin, we can fix America!”
Mr. Walker is trying to parlay his record in neighboring Wisconsin into a strong performance in Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, though he has recently been overtaken in public polling in the Hawkeye State by billionaire businessman Donald Trump.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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