Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., may be planning to run for president in 2016, but he doesn’t believe those plans will distract voters when it comes to his run for re-election.
Walker said he would lay out his plans for his second term later in the campaign and thinks any talk of a possible presidential run can only help him, reports the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel .
“If there's more buzz, that's all the more attention they'll have for our plans,” he said.
Democrats see Walker’s situation in a completely different light.
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They plan to highlight the potential run to show voters that Walker has his eye on the White House and not the problems of the state.
A big clue that Walker is indeed considering a run for president may be found in his refusal to answer whether he will serve a full four-year term if re-elected as governor in 2014.
“I'll talk about that after I'm seriously a candidate,” Walker said.
I haven't even announced that yet. Obviously, I've got every intention of preparing to run for governor, but I'll address that as part of officially being a candidate.”
Mike Tate, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said the talk about Walker possibly running for president will hurt his re-election chances.
“He's traveling around campaigning for president when he should be at home making sure people can get back to work,” Tate said.
Tate believes the gubernatorial race will be decided on the performance of the state’s economy under Walker, who promised to create 250,000 private-sector jobs during his four-year term, but will most likely fall short of that goal.
“The 2014 election is absolutely going to be a referendum on did Scott Walker deliver on the promises he made?” Tate said.
He ran on a promise to create jobs and he has failed on that promise.”
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