“I’m literally dizzy trying to keep track of where he’s at, and in Iowa, he’s the incredible shrinking candidate right now,” says Doug Gross, a Republican strategist in the Hawkeye State not affiliated with any of the campaigns. “He is trying to occupy every lane, and in this environment, where authenticity is so important, he’s coming off as an opportunistic candidate who doesn’t know who he is.”

The authenticity factor has come to play a major role in this campaign as voters signal in polls that they prefer non-politicians to career officeholders. In addition to Trump, outsiders Carson and Carly Fiorina have also seen their numbers climb. Together, the three make up roughly 40 percent of voter support right now. 

Walker has recently responded to this by going after his own party, particularly Republicans in Congress, in the rollout of his health care plan this month. The two-term governor has positioned himself as a Washington outsider from the beginning, but he has also been in politics in Wisconsin for almost all of his adult life…

“Like almost everybody else running, these guys are all trying to get some traction in a Trump world. Walker is especially boring in this Trump world,” Feehery says. “I think he thinks the only way he can get traction is to move further to the right. Not sure if that works, but that is his strategy.”