Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker\u2019s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has slumped but that doesn\u2019t mean you can predict his future in a race that is in an uncertain state.<\/p>\n
Three expert political observers agreed on both parts of that statement in an \u201cOn the Issues with Mike Gousha\u201d program at Eckstein Hall on Wednesday. In short, Walker\u2019s down, but don\u2019t count him out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gut check time\u201d for Walker, said Molly Ball, who covers national politics for The Atlantic<\/em>. Walker has gotten away from the campaign messages that were working well for him both in Iowa and nationally, she said, and the surge of support for Donald Trump has deflated Walker\u2019s campaign. She said it\u2019s surprising to see someone known for his composure to be as rattled as Walker has appeared in some recent instances. \u00a0<\/p>\n But, she said, \u201cit\u2019s a really open question of what the field will look like when that reality distortion field (of the Trump campaign) disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n Craig Gilbert, the Washington bureau chief of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said Walker\u00a0\u201cdidn\u2019t rise to the occasion\u201d during the Republican candidates\u2019 debate Aug. 6 in Cleveland. That means he will approach the next debate, Sept. 16 at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, with a sense of urgency, Gilbert said.<\/p>\n Professor Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, summarized results from national polls (not including the Law School Poll) that showed the rise of Walker, following an appearance at a campaign event in Iowa last winter, and his decline starting in late spring. The decline began before the Trump poll numbers shot up, Franklin said.<\/p>\n Franklin said Trump and retired surgeon Ben Carson are polling strongly now, but many don\u2019t believe either will win the nomination. And among other candidates, including Walker, who were considered more likely candidates to be the nominee, none is doing well in the polls and a group of them, again including Walker, are bunched close together.<\/p>\n Ball said Walker was \u201cnot well-grounded\u201d on some of the questions he had gotten as a candidate. \u00a0Immigration issues were an example of this, she said.<\/p>\n Gilbert said Walker\u2019s early success put him in the national media spotlight before he may have been ready for it and there have been misfires all along the presidential campaign path for Walker.<\/p>\n Gousha asked if Walker can recover. \u201cI absolutely believe he can do a reset,\u201d Ball said. She said he still has good poll numbers when Republican are asked if they have a favorable opinion of him, and his fundraising picture is good enough to sustain his campaign. But, she said, he needs to \u201cfind that spark\u201d in the Sept. 16 debate.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody\u2019s in the driver\u2019s seat in this race,\u201d Gilbert said. He said he doubted anyone had a better than 25% chance of winning the nomination as of now.<\/p>\n However, Franklin said, \u201cWhen you\u2019re campaign\u2019s having troubles, those troubles build on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n In June, David Axelrod, long-time political advisor to President Barack Obama, said during an \u201cOn the Issues\u201d appearance at the Law School that Walker needed to resist trying to be the manager for his own campaign.<\/p>\n Gousha asked if Walker, who has pretty much played that role in past campaigns, was doing that now. Ball said that this was largely true and Walker was listening to \u201ca very, very small inner circle\u201d of campaign advisors. She said if Walker does not do well ahead, observers will cite that as one the causes.<\/p>\n