Back when he was running for reelection, Walker didn't advertise his "bold and aggressive" right-wing ideology in quite the same way. Concealed carry, castle doctrine and defunding Planned Parenthood––some of Walker's biggest applause lines in Iowa––barely registered a mention during the campaign. And then there was his shout-out to the network of out-of-state, right-wing funders, whom he thanked for making his political career possible.

Sticking it to Wisconsin in order to build a winning national campaign turns out to be a very successful strategy, judging from the rave reviews Walker has been getting from his fellow Republicans. Hence Walker's budget proposal to cut $300 million out of the University of Wisconsin system. Apparently, not being afraid to "go big and bold" means being willing to take a meat cleaver to one of your home state's greatest assets. We saw it with the scheme to liquidate our top-tier K–12 public school system and hand it over to private interests. Now it's Bucky Badger's turn.

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In Iowa, Walker acknowledged that "the Occupy movement started in Madison, so I have to apologize for that." It's true. The massive protests around what Walker called "my Capitol" in 2011 inspired similar occupations, including Occupy Wall Street. The realization that a political class financed by billionaires is actively hostile to the interests of 99 percent of Americans ignited citizen activism all over the United States. It animated the protests in Madison, and it ultimately cost Mitt Romney the 2012 presidential election, when he exposed himself as the unabashed champion of the very wealthy, contemptuous of a huge portion of the public.

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Walker is, of course, a favorite of the Koch brothers. He showed up at their swanky retreat in Palm Springs after his star turn in Iowa, just as the Kochs announced they will spend $889 million in the 2016 election cycle––as much as each party's presidential nominee. Walker is a great frontman for the Kochs' ideology: union busting; deregulation, especially of their own fossil fuel industry (the governor in Iowa said Wisconsin was planning to sue the federal government over new EPA limits on power plant carbon emissions); tax cuts for the rich; repeal of the Affordable Care Act (another Walker applause line); and the privatization of everything.