With the primaries out of the way, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is launching an “absolute, total blitz,” on his newly-crowned Democratic opponent, state superintendent Tony Evers. Described by a Walker insider as a “shock and awe” campaign and “burning down the village,” Walker’s strategy is to waste no time in bombarding Evers.
That was immediately evident on primary night, when the state GOP launched a TV and digital ad statewide shortly after Evers won the nomination accusing him of “refus[ing] to revoke” the license of a teacher found to have viewed and shared pornography on district computers. A state party spokesman said on Tuesday the ad’s initial TV buy was worth $500,000.
The Walker campaign also launched its first ad of the general election right away on Wednesday morning. “Wisconsin’s on a roll,” Walker begins in the ad. “Lower taxes. More money in education. Record-low unemployment. And we’re just getting started.”
Walker and Evers both embarked on tours of the state the morning after their primary wins, but the incumbent got out ahead of his opponent by immediately challenging him to “step up” and agree to participate in two debates.
And with Election Day less than three months away, Walker is still committed to his strategy of using the “blue wave” threat to mobilize the state’s loyal GOP base. “We know that Democrats are angry and that they’re motivated by the thought of a Blue Wave wiping out our reforms,” the governor said in a campaign fundraising email on Wednesday. The email also warned supporters of “two recent polls showing us trailing Evers” and that the “race has been rated as a ‘toss-up.'”
“I’ve been saying that this will be our most difficult challenge yet,” Walker added.
One of the polls referenced in the email was an NBC-News Marist survey released in late July that found Evers leading Walker by a shocking 54-41 percent margin. Other polls suggest the race is tighter, but the intensity of the threat actually suits Walker’s strategy. “The only thing that poll was good for was fundraising,” a Wisconsin operative told me on Tuesday.
As Walker has been eager to emphasize, the Badger State has seen two electoral harbingers of a blue wave since January, once in a state senate race and then again in a state supreme court race. Both sent the governor on tweet storms. “We need to wake up,” he told activists at the state convention in May. I reported at the time that Walker and his team had made a decision to transform those warnings into a “major strategic initiative.” That approach will persist into the fall, according to a Walker insider.
With other Republicans taking their cues from President Trump’s “RED WAVE!” messaging, downplaying the potential threat posed by heightened Democratic enthusiasm, Walker’s strategy stands out. Having survived a bitter recall battle, then another tough re-election fight, the two-term incumbent knows how to win in the Dairy State. Whether Walker’s “total blitz” will be enough to best Evers and the blue wave will be determined in November.
When it comes to blitzes, most Wisconsinites are probably more focused on the start of Packers season anyway.
