MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The first television ad designed to bolster Republican Scott Walker’s sagging presidential campaign highlights his 2011 struggle with public sector unions, the clash that made him known across the country.
The 60-second ad by the super PAC Unintimidated begins broadcasting in Iowa on Tuesday as part of a $7 million buy that runs until the Feb. 1 caucuses. It is part of more than $16 million the group backing Walker plans to spend in the next six months for ads in South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada and other states. The group released the ad online Thursday in advance of its broadcast.
Titled “Fight & Win,” it comes as Walker is taking a more aggressive approach and trying to regain ground lost since early polls placed him in the top tier of GOP rivals.
It begins with dramatic footage of screaming protesters who converged on Wisconsin’s capital in 2011 when Walker proposed effectively ending collective bargaining for most public workers. His proposal also forced teachers, state employees and other public union members to pay more for health insurance and pension benefits, as part of a plan to plug a roughly $3 billion budget shortfall.
Those protests, which went on for weeks, grew to be as large as 100,000 people. Walker’s signing of the law curbing union rights led to the attempt to recall him from office in 2012, which he defeated.