Over the last three months, the GOP’s Iowa front-runner has become an incredible, shrinking presence on the campaign trail. Sure, he’s still touring the country, introducing himself to voters, telling them how unafraid he was to stand up to the unions and liberal protesters he battled in Wisconsin, but he’s also ducking out of uncontrolled situations, skipping questions from the press, and spending more time on small or private events, usually packed with friendly crowds. Last week, when he traveled to Israel — usually an occasion to invite reporters or hold a press conference — Walker held no press events. The same was true last month when he went to Europe. He skipped the press on a recent tour of the Mexico border, at a campaign stop in South Carolina, and even at a local chamber of commerce event in his home state of Wisconsin.

This is not a side of Walker the reporters who cover him are used to. Back in January, Walker gave an impassioned speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit hosted by Representative Steve King. Pacing the stage, Walker talked about his fight with the public employee unions and the protests that engulfed the capital. He recounted the “thousands of protesters outside our home,” the way his kids were targeted on Facebook and followed at the grocery store, and the graphic death threats he and his family members received, including one sent to Walker promising to “gut my wife like a deer.” Walker told the crowd that the prayers and support that came from Iowans and others around the country inspired him to keep fighting and win, and that if it was possible to win on a conservative reform agenda in Wisconsin, which hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential election since 1984, it was possible in America. The reception among Iowa Republicans catapulted him to the top of the 2016 field.