Wisconsin governor and newly minted presidential candidate Scott Walker fired the opening shot of his campaign on Monday, with his sights set on the famous last name of the Republican front-runner.
“I don’t think a name from the past beats a name from the past,” Walker told ABC, referring to the prospect of a race between former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “I think you need a name from the future.”
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Walker went on to say that Republicans, Independents and “even some discerning Democrats,” all “want a new, fresh face to lead this country forward.”
Walker’s opening attack was a more explicit version of the one employed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in his announcement speech in April.
“Just yesterday, we heard from a leader from yesterday who wants to take us back to yesterday, but I feel that this country has always been about tomorrow,” Rubio said, referring to Hillary Clinton, but in language that could easily be applied to the former Florida governor, who hasn’t held elected office since 2007.
Walker made his campaign official Monday morning, tweeting, “I’m in. I’m running for President of the United States because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them.”
I'm in. I'm running for president because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them. – SW http://t.co/DZG253QjfP #Walker16
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) July 13, 2015The Wisconsin governor simultaneously released an announcement video that echoed that theme, using the candidate’s history of legislative and electoral successes in a blue state to distinguish himself from Rubio, and the rest of the primary field.
“In Wisconsin, we didn’t nibble around the edges. We enacted big, bold reforms that took power out of the hands of the big government special interests and gave it to the hard-working taxpayers — and people’s lives are better because of it,” Walker said in the video. “We fought and won. In the Republican field, there are some who are good fighters, but they haven’t won those battles. And there are others who’ve won elections, but haven’t consistently taken on the big fights. We showed you can do both.”
A Monmouth University poll released Monday found Walker tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for fourth place among Republican voters nationwide, with Bush two points ahead of real-estate mogul Donald Trump at the top of the heat.
