On Thursday, Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker claimed the mantle of Ronald Reagan in a speech that leaned on his gubernatorial record and outlined policies intended to “wreak havoc” in the nation’s capitol.
Walker gave the speech at Eureka College, from which the 40th president graduated in 1932. “Ronald Reagan shaped much of my view of the world,” Walker said. “In his first inaugural address, he said we should all remember that the federal government did not create the states; the states created the federal government. That’s why I talk about sending power and money from Washington back to the hard-working people in the states. That is real reform.”
The speech is the leading edge of a campaign reset that Walker and his allies are expected to execute in the coming weeks. The Wisconsin governor struggled after surging to the front of the GOP field in February, especially as Donald Trump captured much of the electorate’s boiling anti-Washington sentiment over the summer. His rhetoric Thursday seems designed to echo the frustration with GOP leadership that inclined voters to Trump, while at the same time implying that the real-estate mogul is a political empty suit.
“Political rhetoric is not enough — we need a plan of action,” Walker said. “Actions speak louder than words. I have a plan to move this country forward.”
#share#With that in mind, he pledged to force Congress “to live under the same rules as the rest of America when it comes to Obamacare,” in an effort to make lawmakers support his plan to repeal and replace the health care law. He also promised to void President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran and reverse the executive orders Obama issued last year conferring the benefits of legal immigration status on millions of people in the country illegally.
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Walker rose to national prominence by reforming Wisconsin’s collective-bargaining laws and then winning a recall challenge prompted by the changes. In his speech, he promised to bring the same union-busting ways to the federal government. “On Day One, I will stop the government from taking money out of the paychecks of federal employees for political union dues,” he said. “That protects workers from being forced to give money to candidates they don’t support.”
#related#As he tried to harness the outsider energy in the Republican electorate, Walker countered the suggestion, promoted by Jeb Bush’s team, that he is “not ready” to be president. “To wreak havoc on Washington, America also needs a leader who has been tested,” he said. “I have been tested like no one else in this race. We passed those tests and now, I am ready to lead this exceptional country.”
— Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.