TAMPA, Fla. — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker — whose mere appearance on the convention floor Tuesday afternoon during roll call votes for the nomination inspired extended cheers — received similar response from the crowd Tuesday night during his prime-time speech.
To a standing ovation, whistles, and shouts, the governor who withstood a recall election earlier this year focused on the challenges he had overcome and the choices voters had made with his election — he stressed the “hard-working taxpayers won.”
“On June 5, voters in Wisconsin were asked to choose between going backwards to the days of double-digit tax increases, billion dollar budget deficits and record job losses, or moving forward with reforms that lowered the tax burden, balanced the budget and helped small businesses create more jobs,” he continued pointing out the further triumph of the private sector over government dependency and special interests.
Walker highlighted the story of Sandy Breth, who lost her job in the economic downturn is now a recently promoted employee G3 Industries in Mosinee, Wis., pointing out that while the economy had been
“G3 is one of those companies that added jobs during the past year, and now has plans to add even more,” he said. “The owner told me that he’s creating additional jobs in Wisconsin because he likes the way we are moving our state forward – and he’s even more committed since the election.”
“Without our positive changes, he told me he would not have had the confidence to grow his business in Wisconsin,” Walker added.
Walker touted his changes in the state as reason for the story of triumph — noting that from 2008 to 2010 Wisconsin lost over 100,000 jobs and faced an unemployment rate that reached over 9 percent.
“But because of our reforms, Wisconsin has added thousands of new jobs and our unemployment,” he said.
He noted that his reforms have made his state more friendly to business.
“Today, 94 percent of our employers believe Wisconsin is headed in the right direction,” he added. “That compares to just 10 percent who thought the same thing two years ago.”
After touting his own record Walker turned to Romney — claiming the GOP nominee gets it with his record and selection of Paul Ryan.
“But Mitt Romney understands, like I understand, that people — not governments — create jobs,” Walker said, adding that with his pick of Paul Ryan to the ticket, “he showed us that the “R” next to his name doesn’t just stand for Republican, it stands for reformer.”
Taking his speech to larger themes of history, Walker noted that this year is the 225th anniversary of the federal Constitution — this generation’s feat, however will be to elect Romney and Ryan to, in Walker’s opinion, right the course.
“Let this be one of those moments. Let this be our time in history so that someday we can tell our children and grandchildren that we were there, that we changed the course of history for the better,” he said. “Let us tell them that we helped elect Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to save America.”