Behind

Walker: Ronald Reagan was behind in the polls, too

By Nick Gass

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday invoked his favorite former president in downplaying his recent slumping presidential poll numbers, while criticizing the lack of questions and air time he received during Wednesday's GOP debate.

"Well I think this is just about shaking things up. I remember about four years ago, Rick Perry was ahead, eight years ago, Rudy Giuliani was ahead," Walker said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe. "I even thought about the other night at the Reagan Library, Ronald Reagan was behind, I think something like 8 points six days before the presidential election. So for us, polls are going to go up, they're gonna go down."

Walker has long displayed admiration for the 40th president, remarking at an appearance earlier this year at Reagan's alma mater Eureka College in Illinois that watching the former president had the biggest political impact on him growing up in the 1980s.

On the debate itself, Walker said "the American people were short-changed" by an emphasis on process rather than policy.

Walker then went on to emphasize his campaign strategy, noting that he has organizers in all 99 Iowa counties, where the first caucus will be held on Feb. 1.

"We're going to get right down to the grassroots, right down to the precinct level," Walker pledged, speaking from Detroit. "We're going to be there again this weekend, and I believe we spend the time and the effort to talk about the economy, to talk about what it means, you know, for that family in Dubuque where dad works at the factory, mom might work at the local community hospital, they've got two kids in school, fighting hard to make ends meet. When we talk about how our plan will help grow the economy by getting the federal government out of the way"

Asked to elaborate on his 15-point drop among likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers, Walker mentioned the strong field of candidates, again noting his organized campaign in Wisconsin's southwestern neighbor.

"You go talk to people in Iowa like I did, go out on the road with me, and you'll find people saying, 'You know what, you're one of my top one or two or three candidates. I think they're interested in me, I think they're interested in Ben Carson and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. A lot of folks in Iowa right now are telling me after these first couple rounds of debates what they like is there's a lot of good candidates out there. What we have to do is make the case between now and Feb. 1 that we've got the organization to get enough voters out to win that caucus," Walker added. "And I believe we will win the caucuses on Feb. 1 in Iowa."