RUSH: One of the most qualified Republicans made it official, Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin — who, as you know, if you listen regularly to this program — we have touted Walker’s qualifications time and time and time again. Here is a man who is conservative. You know what he said, by the way, in his speech? Name for me any other candidate — and there may be some — I just can’t recall top of my head. Name for me any other candidate who’s made this point.

Scott Walker said one of the first things he’s going to do is build on and shore up the Republican conservative base. That’s somewhat unique, folks, because most of the Republicans are talking about the need to go beyond the conservative base, and, at the very least, making themselves sound like they’re taking it for granted and the conservative base isn’t the key to their plans. But Walker says the conservative base — reaching out to it, energizing it — is key.

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RUSH: Now back to Scott Walker. Scott Walker very flat-out says that his first order of business is going to be shoring up the conservative base, reaching out to the conservative base. Scott Walker believes that there are a lot of Americans who live their lives as conservatives but they don’t vote that way for the usual reasons. He thinks they are what we used to call the Reagan Democrats, and he thinks that he can go get them, because he has met them. As governor of Wisconsin, he’s traveled around, and he’s campaigned.

He’s told stories in speeches of meeting people who say to him, for example… In fact, he told me once, “I ran into a guy who told me that he didn’t know he was a conservative. He didn’t know he was a Republican ’til talk radio came along. He didn’t know what he was.” Walker thinks there are a lot of people out there that live conservatively and want to raise their kids that way. And by that I mean the values that we associate with conservatism. He thinks there are a lot of people out there, but they’re either independents or they’re reluctant Democrats.

Because of whatever branding or other issues, they just don’t vote Republican. He thinks they can be persuaded to vote Republican. He thinks they can be told that he is their candidate and that Republican Party is their home. So that’s one of the outreach efforts that he’s gonna make. In addition to all of that, Scott Walker has a track record. Scott Walker doesn’t have to tell you what he will do if he’s elected because all he has to do is point to what he has done.

He just signed into law another budget in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a blue state. He just signed a budget which eliminates tenure! He just signed a budget which gets closer to balancing the budget in the state of Wisconsin. He’s done remarkable work. He has implemented a conservative agenda against everything the Democrat Party has to throw at him, and he’s beat them three different times — which we’ve heralded here quite often and talked about quite often.

So he’s the one guy in the race with a conservative track record, the one guy in the race that has shown how to defeat the media and Democrat coordinated attacks on conservatives. He’s shown how to hang in and be tough, and so he’s the one guy that has something other than promises to make.

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RUSH: Scott Walker. I just want to give you some details. As I mentioned the top of the program, “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is poised to win a huge victory on education as the state legislature passed [his] budget that repeals state tenure guarantees while also slashing the budget of the University of Wisconsin. The victory was enunciated by the acquiescence of the university, which recognized its defeat by passing a spending plan that implements Walker’s cuts.

“All that remains is for Walker to consummate his victory by affixing his signature to the budget. The two-year, $73 billion budget approved Thursday makes a host of changes Walker has sought in the realm of education. Wisconsin’s school voucher program is expanded,” a great, graet conservative program, “and $250 million in funding is taken from the University of Wisconsin. ThatÂ’s down from the $300 million cut Walker originally sought, but still a substantial haircut.”

So not only has Scott Walker given choice to union workers — he’s given them choice to join the union or not, he’s given ’em a choice to pay dues or not — he’s eliminated compulsory dues in Wisconsin. He has ended ironclad, lifetime appointments for indoctrinators and propagandists (i.e., teachers). I would dare say Scott Walker is doing what a lot of people consider impossible: Plucking parasites off the state treasury one by one, and making public sector unions accountable.