GREAT SCOTT, HE'S IN – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president.  From the Washington Times:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Monday he is running for president in 2016, touting a combination of policy pursuits and electoral successes in his home state as a way to differentiate himself from a crowded Republican field.

“I’m running for president to fight and win for the American people,” he said in a video posted online Monday. “Without sacrificing our principles, we won three elections in four years in a blue state. We did it by leading. Now, we need to do the same thing for America.”

First elected in 2010, Mr. Walker, 47, survived a recall election in 2012 before winning again in 2014.

Mr. Walker, who has taken on public employee unions in Wisconsin, among other battles, also said that “we didn’t nibble around the edges,” but rather, “enacted big bold reforms” and “took power out of the hands of the big government special interests” and gave it to hardworking taxpayers.

In the Republican field, he said, “there are some who are good fighters. But they haven’t won those battles.”

“There are others who have won elections, but haven’t consistently taken on the big fights,” he said. “[We] showed you could do both.”

Mr. Walker is running at or near the top of early national public polling on the race for the 2016 GOP nomination, and has staked out early leads in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa.

COMMENT:   I'm glad he finally announced.  Walker is a good man, but he's lost momentum amidst the huge Republican group of candidates.  He now must re-establish himself. 

He will face the usual onslaught from the press, which despises him.  After all, he's an effective Republican governor.  It's already begun, in a unique manner.  We've learned that Walker's two sons, and his wife, don't agree with him on some issues.  So, the mainstreamers have been seeking out, not the candidate, but his wife and sons.  Obviously, they want to make the family split the story, especially in regard to gay marriage.  I saw the sons interviewed this morning, and they handled the divisions deftly, showing respect for their father.  I don't think the liberal press will get very far with the "family split" game.

July 13,  2015