Walker: Romney Campaign Should Get 'Off Its Heels'

Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker had strong words for the Romney campaign, suggesting that it get “off its heels” and press the case for budgetary reform.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Walker advised Romney to show more “fire in the belly” in his campaign appearances, and said he believed that his state was in play, despite recent polls showing President Obama in the lead.

Walker described  the leaked video of a private campaign event in which Romney suggested that 47 percent of Americans would not support his candidacy because of their reliance on government benefits as a “distraction,” suggesting that the American people want a more positive, Ronald Reagan-like vision from the Republican nominee, including a plan for improving the economy and creating jobs.

While Walker didn't directly address Romney’s remark that suggested those receiving government benefits see themselves as “victims,” he did say that the unemployed people he meets in Wisconsin, “want the American dream.”

The distinction Romney should draw, Walker said, is between those unemployed people who want to stop collecting benefits and get “a job in the private sector” and the Obama administration which, Walker said, “measures success by how many people are dependent on government benefits.”

A Wisconsin judge recently overturned a portion of a law backed by Walker that curtailed the collective bargaining rights of some unionized government workers. Walker called it a “problem for the short term,” because it will affect the budgets of cities and counties, but expected the law to be upheld on appeal.

On the Chicago school strike, Walker said that governors and mayors of both parties will increasingly have to take on unions to close budget gaps. “You have to make decisions that make things work,” he said.

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