Walker To Focus On Iowa Following Quiet Debate
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Scott Walker is focusing his dimming presidential campaign on the first-to-vote Iowa caucuses, a downshift in strategy for a candidate once seen as an early front-runner.
After a second GOP debate Wednesday where the Wisconsin governor fought for attention but had little screen time, Walker told MSNBC that "We're putting all our eggs in the basket of Iowa."
He jumped out to a quick start after a breakthrough speech in Iowa in February before he was a declared candidate. He quickly built up his campaign operation based in Madison, hiring staff in Wisconsin as well as in early voting states including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Some staff currently based at the campaign headquarters in Wisconsin may be shifted to Iowa in the coming weeks, but cuts are not planned, Walker's campaign manager Rick Wiley said in an interview prior to the debate. He said refocusing staff in Iowa was always part of the plan.
Walker returns to Iowa this weekend, with a speech in Des Moines at an Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition dinner Saturday night followed by a full day of campaigning Sunday.
"The biggest thing for us is getting back to the basics, getting in to Iowa and the early states, 99 county chairs, we're gonna be organized by the precinct," Walker told MSNBC after the debate.
Walker is about a third of the way through visiting all of Iowa's 99 counties, a strategy he argues will position him well for the Feb. 1 caucuses.
He planned to spend Thursday seeking money from donors in California and he has a series of fundraisers planned across the country in coming days, including several stops in his home state pf Wisconsin at the end of the month.
The super PAC and the nonprofit political group Walker formed before he officially launched his candidacy in July raised $26 million in the first half of the year. Walker's presidential campaign committee has yet to report its fundraising totals for the quarter running through the end of September.
Walker had repeatedly said he was hoping for a strong debate performance to help increase momentum for his campaign that has tumbled in recent weeks amid the rise of Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson.
Walker asserted himself early on in the debate, taking on Trump by saying, "We don't need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now." Trump hosted NBC's reality show "The Apprentice." But he quickly faded after that, and was asked only two direct questions. Walker had the least amount of speaking time out of the 11 candidates, according to a tally by National Public Radio.
Wiley, Walker's campaign manager, said in a message on Twitter after the debate that it was "ridiculous" Walker was asked only two questions during the nearly 3-hour contest.
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