PALM BEACH, Fla. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) was wrapping up 45 minutes of talking to the Club for Growth here about economic growth and fiscal reform Saturday morning when a humbling question came hard and fast.
Frayda Levin, a board member of the Club for Growth who moderated a question-and-answer session with Walker, said that after the governor met with top donors in New York last week, “the feedback was you were not prepared to speak about foreign policy.” What, Levin asked, was he doing to prepare to be president?
Walker, who has struggled to find his footing on foreign affairs, contended that “the most significant foreign policy decision of my lifetime” was then-President Ronald Reagan’s move to bust a 1981 strike of air traffic controllers, firing some 11,000 of them.
“It sent a message not only across America, it sent a message around the world,” Walker said. America’s allies and foes alike became convinced that Reagan was serious enough to take action and that “we weren’t to be messed with,” he said.
The Club for Growth, which hosted Walker and five other potential Republican presidential candidates for a three-day summit at a lavish Palm Beach resort, focuses its advocacy on cutting taxes and slashing government spending. But foreign policy bubbled to the surface in the candidates’ remarks, making clear that international affairs has become a key focus for the GOP in the 2016 race for the White House.
Walker responded to the commander-in-chief question from Levin, who said she was a supporter of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), by ticking through his recent itinerary of face time with foreign policy luminaries: a breakfast with Henry Kissinger, a huddle with George P. Shultz and tutorials at the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution.
But then Walker suggested that didn’t much matter.
“I think foreign policy is something that’s not just about having a PhD or talking to PhDs,” he said. “It’s about leadership.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) agrees. He said he, too, has been counseled by some of the party’s leading thinkers on foreign affairs but that it is more important for candidates to articulate a detailed worldview. He challenged reporters to quiz him about any global hot spot.
A couple of hours after Walker’s remark about the air traffic controllers strike raised eyebrows among some donors in the room, reporters asked Jindal whether he agreed.
“I’m not going to comment on what other governors or potential candidates have said,” Jindal responded. But, in a subtle swipe at Walker, he added: “When it comes to foreign policy, I think it’s important to have a policy vision. I think it’s important to offer specifics and details and answer questions, and I’m happy to do that.”
Roughly 200 wealthy Club for Growth members gathered this weekend at the Breakers, an iconic luxury resort where Bentleys fill the parking lots, to mingle personally with the presidential contenders and hear them field questions from the stage.
Although the group has been a thorn in the side of many Republican leaders, establishment favorite Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor, as well as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) joined Walker and Jindal at the summit.
“It shows that as an institution we’re I think the premier economic advocate for free markets and certainly an organization that has to be factored into a run for president,” said David McIntosh, the Club for Growth’s president.
McIntosh said the group was unlikely to endorse a presidential candidate but that many of its members are ready to be major donors to the candidates of their choice.
“There’s a sense that 2016 already is going to be a critical year for conservatives, especially economic conservatives, and the appetite for engaging is really quite strong,” McIntosh said.
Economic and fiscal policies were the predominant focus here, and the likely candidates called for sweeping changes to the tax code, regulatory system and other federal programs.
“The tax code we have today retards economic growth,” Bush said Thursday night. He suggested he would be open to a flat tax, promising that his eventual plan would provide “bigger and broader tax relief.”
Cruz went so far as to say, “We should abolish the IRS,” which drew hearty applause from the donors.
The fate of the Export-Import Bank was a hot topic, with five White House hopefuls breaking with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) in calling for the elimination of the bank, a federal entity that provides loans to U.S. companies doing business overseas.
Walker said Republicans should focus not only on austerity, but also on economic growth and fiscal reform. “Who gets excited about austerity?” he said, adding, “I don’t think there’s enough talk about growth.”
Jindal challenged Republican leaders in Congress to get over what he dismissively diagnosed as “post-election stress syndrome” and immediately pass an alternative to the health-care law. Jindal said he had grown impatient with the slow pace of progress since Republicans won the Senate majority and expanded their House majority in November’s elections.
“When we say, ‘We want to repeal Obamacare,’ we mean every single word,” Jindal said. He added, “What was the point of getting these majorities if we weren’t even going to try to fight for these principles?”
Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005.
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