Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, days after meeting with conservative leaders in New York, will huddle with a large group of prominent activists Saturday afternoon in Washington to pitch himself as the movement’s best-positioned contender for the Republican presidential nomination.
Walker’s private meeting will be held at the offices of Americans for Tax Reform, which is hosting the session. Grover Norquist, the group’s longtime president, will introduce Walker to his circle of political associates.
According to people familiar with the gathering, Walker is intent on signaling to conservative Republicans that he shares their enthusiasm for sweeping tax cuts. More than two dozen leading figures in the conservative movement are scheduled to attend.
Walker’s visit with Norquist’s organization and its allies comes shortly after a Wednesday dinner in New York where he also bolstered his relationships with the GOP’s anti-tax wing.
That gathering has become a distraction for Walker. At the dinner, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani asserted that President Obama did not love America. Once those comments became public, a firestorm ensued.
In an interview Thursday with CNBC, Walker did not criticize Giuliani’s remarks -- which led to a flurry of questions, and more news coverage, on the Wisconsin governor's response.
Nevertheless, in this early stage of the race, Walker’s camp believes it has an opportunity to impress conservatives who are skeptical of former Florida governor Jeb Bush -- particularly on the issue of taxes, where Walker's backers have said they sense a chance for him to separate himself from Bush and flex some ideological muscle.
In the past, Bush has refused to sign the anti-tax pledge promoted by Norquist -- a stand that has irked some conservatives for seemingly leaving the door open to tax hikes, or to a bipartisan tax deal akin to the one ushered to passage by his father, President George H.W. Bush, in 1990 -- a compromise that still angers older right-wing hands.
“So I ran for office three times. The pledge was presented to me three times. I never signed the pledge,” Jeb Bush said in 2012 during congressional testimony. “I cut taxes every year I was governor. I don’t believe you outsource your principles and convictions to people.”
Walker, who had a breakout speech at a conservative summit last month in Iowa, is officially in the capital to attend the National Governors Association’s winter meeting. Next week, he will address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland -- yet another moment to woo the right.
Robert Costa is a national political reporter at The Washington Post.
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