wisconsin gov. scott walker, a once rising star of the gop presidential pack, has dropped out of the race. now the field is scrambling to re-align.









just this summer, walker led the republican field in iowa. but on monday, he called it quits and suggested that someone could emerge from a smaller pool of candidates with a clear conservative alternative to the current frontrunner, donald trump.









"today, i believe that i am being called to lead by helping to clear the race so that a positive conservative message can rise to the top of the field. with that in mind, i will suspend my campaign immediately," he said.









but will others drop out so that support can build around an alternative to trump? none are expected to do so anytime soon. in fact, they're all vying for the walker campaign assets.









some believe that sen. marco rubio, r-fla., will benefit the most from walker's departure. they're both considered "fresh faces" with next generation appeal.









late monday, rubio was already welcoming walker staff to his team, as was sen. ted cruz, r-texas.









the latest cnn poll shows political outsiders trump, former hewlett packard ceo carly fiorina, and retired neurosurgeon ben carson leading the presidential pack, with rubio and former florida gov. jeb bush in fourth and fifth place respectively.









meanwhile, on the democratic side, hillary clinton is battling off an unexpectedly strong challenge from sen. bernie sanders, i-vt. she's also waiting to see if vice president joe biden decides to enter the race.









in her latest campaign move, the former secretary of state is promising not only to protect obamacare from gop plans to repeal it <u+0096> but to improve it.









"as the latest census numbers show, the number of uninsured continues to fall and americans are now seeing, hearing, and feeling the full benefits of the affordable care act," a clinton campaign official said saturday.









it's already a presidential campaign year that no one could have predicted, and voters have never had so many candidates to consider.









but whether any of them will follow walker's advice to lead by falling back is unlikely for now.
what walker's departure means for gop field
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