Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is responding to the so-called gotcha questions he faced during a recent trip to Washington, DC.
“I was in Green Bay, Wisconsin this afternoon. I was at two of the leading job creators talking about career opportunities for people with disabilities and somebody in the press at the end asked me a question about (Obama’s religion) and I said, I challenge you to go out with me and walk down the streets here in Green Bay, Wisconsin and ask people, 100 people on the street what do they really care about, and I’m certain that not a one of them would talk about the issues we heard about in Washington from the media,” Walker tells Greta Van Susteren.
He adds leaders will earn public support when they put the interests of taxpayers first.
“I think you look across the country, governors are doing it one state after another. They are leading. It’s one thing to fight but it’s another thing to win. What we have done in Wisconsin is fight and win, for the hard working taxpayers. We have done that by putting the power back in their hand,” Walker says.
“That’s part of the reason we had the fight with the big union bosses, the union bosses four years ago. If you show in the end that you are fighting for the hard working taxpayers and winning, they are going to stand with you.”
And according to the governor, his policies are reviving Wisconsin.
“We effectively did freedom to work for all public employees. More than 300,000 state and local employees four years ago. People claimed public education was going to fall apart instead by getting rid of seniority and tenure, we empowered school districts to put the best and brightest in classrooms by hiring based on merit and paying based performance,” he says.
“Today our schools are better. Our graduation rates are up. Our third grade reading scores are up. Our ACT scores are second best in the country here Wisconsin.”
Walker denied that by talking about his roots – and saying he “didn’t inherit fame or fortune from my family” – that he’s somehow denigrating Gov. Jeb Bush.
“What I got from my parents and grandparents was the belief that if you work hard and play by the rules you can do it be anything you want,” he says.
“I have talked about that for years. I pointed out that my dad was a small town minister. My mom was a part-time secretary. Her parents, my grandparents grew up on a farm where they didn’t have indoor plumbing until my mother went to high school. My grandfather, my dad’s side was a machinist at Barbara Coleman in Rockford, Illinois for most of his life. I had to flip hamburgers to pay for college and started out my first job washing dishes at the countryside restaurant. My point was, what I inherited wasn’t about wealth, wasn’t about fortune or it wasn’t about fame.”
He adds, “Sadly in America today I think there’s, because of what we see coming out of Washington, there is too many of our fellow Americans who believed that dream is somehow out of reach. Part of the reason why I’m even interested in exploring the possibility of running for President, because I think they need a fighter. They need someone who is going to fight and win for them. The hard working taxpayers and the people who desperately want to live their piece of the American dream not through more government but getting the government out of way particularly in Washington.”
Newly released polling shows Iowa voters are responding to Walker’s message.
The Washington Times reports the governor has surged to a double-digit lead.
Walker is garnering the support of 25% of likely Iowa caucus-goers. Sen. Rand Paul comes at a distant second with 13%.
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