First Draft: Scott Walker Using Harley-Davidson to Burnish ‘Fighter’ Image

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was in a selfie with supporters during a visit to a motorcycle dealer in Las Vegas on Tuesday.Credit David Becker/Reuters

LAS VEGAS — He could have been any one of the roughly 400 people gathered here. Clad in a black Harley-Davidson shirt, slim jeans with a slight fray and bike-ready boots, the only aspect distinguishing Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin from the rest of the crowd was he was holding the microphone, and running for president.

“I ride a 2003 100th anniversary Road King, so I’m kinda thrilled to be here,” he told the crowd gathered at Red Rocks Harley-Davidson, a local dealership, minutes after taking the stage where he also introduced his wife and children.

Indeed, in his initial swing through the first four nominating states, one thing is constant for Mr. Walker and his campaign: the Harley-Davidson.

From holding his first campaign event as an announced candidate at a dealership in a nondescript mall miles from the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip, to the events planned at dealerships in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr. Walker is placing the revered Harley-Davidson motorcycle alongside Kohl’s department store shirts as key brands in his efforts to further burnish his Everyman persona.

Holding events at Harley-Davidson dealers helps to “show his personality,” said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the campaign. She said they’re part of a larger effort to reintroduce Mr. Walker to the country, a sharp contrast to the more button-down attire of some of his rivals.

To that end, Mr. Walker, speaking under a giant plastic American flag and surrounded by shiny, five-figure Harleys – most of them Road Kings, as Mr. Walker noted in his remarks — repeatedly referred to himself as a “fighter,” a characteristic he wants voters to see as evident from his battles with unions during his first term as governor and his subsequent recall election. He said the word “fight” or “fighter” nearly a dozen times in his speech and news conference afterward.

The line is not exclusively directed at bikers, but for some in this audience, it reverberated with common themes in the motorcycle-riding community, hinting at a proud individualism and even a little rebellious spirit.

“I like what he’s done in his home state,” said Darwin Rockantansky of Las Vegas, a motorcyclist – although not a Harley rider — who was proudly sporting a Sons of Liberty jacket. “In the local environment, there is a Spanish word ‘cojones.’ It has two meanings. One some people smile at, but the other means ‘courage.’ This particular candidate shows courage, and fortitude, and all those wonderful things.”

Timothy Cashman, one of the co-owners of dealership hosting the event, said he thought Mr. Walker’s use of the brand further burnished his persona as an Everyman.

“Harley-Davidson is pure American,” he said, having to speak a little louder as the rumble of a revving motorcycle spun in the background. “And that’s what a presidential campaign is about, speaking to the American people.”

Mr. Walker will eventually step out of the dealers and hit the open road on a bike to do just as Mr. Cashman said. He had already promised to ride around New Hampshire and South Carolina and Wednesday, he promised to tour Nevada on a bike as well.

But Mr. Walker, a veteran rider who says he has put over 20,000 miles on his personal motorcycle, knew that might have to wait a bit.

“I’m gonna come back to Nevada, but I’m going to be wise, I’m going to wait till October or November before I ride,” he told the crowd, to a few knowing nods.

And he is indeed eager to ride as much as possible before the election, because, as he put it: “They tell me, if I’m successful, I don’t get to ride a Harley anymore.”