Sunday, July 12, 2015

‘Everyman’ Walker runs for the White House

Financial Times ^ | July 12, 2015 6:22 pm | Megan Murphy in Washington 

He drives a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He brags about wearing a sweater he bought for $1 at Kohl’s department store.

He touts his humble upbringing as a small-town minister’s son, and how he proposed to his wife over ribs at a local barbecue joint. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, has criss-crossed the country for months regaling crowds with his everyman, “regular Joe” shtick.

On Monday, as he becomes the 15th Republican to enter the race for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination, his backers are hoping he can convince voters not only that he is the most authentic candidate, but one who can rise to meet the most complex economic and foreign policy challenges facing the country.

“He’s a Midwesterner, he is a governor, and he is an average Joe,” said Larry Sabato, a politics expert at the University of Virginia. “People can relate to that. And if you pretend to be something you’re not, you’re going to be unmasked.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...

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