Walker out of 2016 race
Scott Walker must learn from his mistakes to be prepared for another run
Gov. Scott Walker’s withdrawal from the 2016 Republican presidential race is a rather multi-faceted issue.
Suspension — Poor money management doomed Scott Walker. Google Images
Walker, the governor of Wisconsin and former Republican presidential candidate, announced Sept. 21 that he would be suspending his campaign, causing Republicans and Democrats alike to speculate on what went wrong.
In his speech announcing the suspension of his campaign, Walker expressed his hope that he can “lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive, conservative message can rise to the top of the field.”
Walker was also “running low on campaign cash, sliding sharply in opinion polls, losing potential donors to rivals and unnerving supporters with a stream of gaffes, like saying he would consider building a wall along the Canadian border,” according to a New York Times article.
These issues, culminating in a mediocre performance at the Sept. 16 Republican debate, sealed Walker’s fate. However, none of these likely impacted Walker’s decision more than the low finances for his campaign due to the amount of money he spent on his campaign in Iowa. The Washington Post reported that the Walker campaign had accumulated a debt of approximately $700,000 and that in order for him to maintain his campaign efforts in Iowa, it “would still cost around $1 million a month.”
“He was never a force in the Republican race for money, running far behind rivals like former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Mr. Cruz,” Patrick Healy and Alexander Burns wrote.
If Walker decides to run for the 2020 election, he must strongly rethink his strategy.
Working to gain more supporters who will donate would greatly benefit him, and he could do this by making sure he does not utter statements that will isolate supporters. He could also benefit from rethinking how he spends the money and by redirecting his target audience to reach out to include other early primary states besides Iowa, including states
such as South Carolina and New Hampshire.
But would Walker have had to worry about these issues if he had started off with better momentum? The New York Times reports Walker’s “early glow as a Republican presidential contender was snuffed out with the rise of anti-establishment rivals” such as Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina.
These non-conventional candidates can partially credit their prowess in the polls to the media attention they are gaining, and perhaps one of Walker’s biggest faults on the campaign trail was his inability to gain large media attention.
Media plays a large role in politics today, and this year’s race is no exception, as unconventional candidates have attracted more media attention than the traditional politicians.
This means that career politicians such as Walker must learn to court the media and present themselves well on television and radio, something Walker was not strong with. In both of the debates Walker participated in, he was outshined by louder voices, like Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Trump, as well as more popular individuals, such as former Gov. Jeb Bush.
In order to compete in future elections, Walker must learn how to take advantage of the media exposure given to him and better manage and distribute his funds.
Depiero is an opinion writer.