MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made a national name for himself with his dramatic move against public sector union power when he first took office in 2011, but he's signaling that his second term will be far less divisive as he builds his resume for a potential presidential run.
"For us, it's not so much looking for a big, bold thing," Walker told The Associated Press days before his re-election victory Tuesday. "It's steady growth in the things that have been successful."
Walker defeated Democrat Mary Burke on Tuesday by nearly 6 points. Walker, in comments moments after the race was called and again in his first cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon, promised to work quickly with the Republican-controlled Legislature to pass a state budget next year.
"We're going to be even more aggressive now because I think we have an even stronger ally in the Legislature," Walker told his cabinet, saying he plans to meet with Republican legislative leaders to discuss strategy in coming days.
He said the emphasis should be on making government more accountable, effective and efficient.
Moving ahead aggressively with that type of standard conservative second-term agenda may be the plan, but that won't get him the same level of national attention that staring down the unions and winning a recall election did. Republicans, however, aren't looking for more dramatic moves from Walker, said GOP strategist Mark Graul.
"I think they're looking for steady, solid, common sense conservative leadership," Graul said.
Given that he took on unions and won, and won a 2012 recall and his re-election, means Walker "does not have to do anything to establish his bona fides as a conservative," said University of Wisconsin political science professor Ken Mayer.
Walker is well-known in conservative circles, thanks largely to the union fight and recall, but Mayer said he's still less known than other prominent U.S. senators who are eyeing a 2016 run — Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky. There are other governors who are also eyeing a White House run, including New Jersey's Chris Christie, who campaigned for Walker as chair of Republican governors.
"It's not entirely clear what he could do to achieve prominence in that field," Mayer said.
Walker didn't receive national attention for other legislative successes in his first term, but they were the cornerstone of his re-election campaign and are consistent with his conservative credentials: $2 billion in tax cuts, the expansion of private school vouchers, the rejection of federal Medicaid expansion, and laws making it more difficult to get an abortion.
Walker, 47, promises more of the same during his second term.
Walker sent mixed messages about his presidential ambitions after his victory Tuesday night, telling the AP that any decision about that "will have to wait (until) long after" he works with the Legislature on passing the next state budget, which typically would be in June.
Wisconsin voters aren't yet convinced about a Walker presidential run.
Only 42 percent of all respondents in an exit poll said they thought Walker would make a good president. That nearly doubled, to 82 percent, among Republicans.
While Walker promised to move quickly to enact his second term agenda, he hasn't promised to serve a full four-year term, fueling speculation that he will get into the presidential race sooner rather than later.
Brandon Scholz, a Wisconsin Republican strategist, said he wouldn't expect Walker to make any sudden moves to position himself for a presidential run.
"My sense is that postelection he gets down to the business of taking care of Wisconsin," Scholz said. "If there are others out there who think he is presidential timber, they will go about the business of taking care of whatever they need to do as the sweepstakes warm up."
