By The Wall Street Journal
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, fresh off defeating a recall attempt, urged Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to follow his lead and go “big” and “bold.”
The outspoken Republican governor survived a recall election last week, a recall effort prompted by his move to greatly curtail the power of public-sector unions in his state.
Walker said he thwarted the attempt to oust him because voters saw that “finally someone was willing to take on the tough issues.”
Romney “can do that as well,” Walker said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“If Gov. Romney has clear plan to make American great again, I think that can win in Wisconsin,” he said.
He said he hopes the candidate “goes big and he goes bold.”
President Barack Obama handily won the state in 2008, but it is now seen as being in play based on Walker’s success in two elections since.
Last week, Romney sought to build upon the Walker victory, saying it will “echo beyond state border” and showed Americans want to cut the size of government.
Meanwhile, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, said Tuesday’s election exemplified the divide between the rich and the working class.
Walker overcame his record with “billionaire help,” O’Malley said on CBS, pointing to the sitting governor’s fundraising advantage.
He dismissed the victory, saying many voters didn’t want to unseat a governor for “political decisions.”