Walker: Governors make better presidents

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is staying tight-lipped about his plans for 2016, but said on Sunday that a governor like himself would have a better chance of beating Hillary Clinton than a member of Congress.

“Overall, I believe governors make much better candidates than members of Congress,” Walker said in an interview with “Meet the Press.”

He said the “only exception to that rule” might be a former vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

“I love Paul Ryan, I’ve said many times before I’d be the president of the Paul Ryan fan club,” he said.

But to beat Clinton, Walker said the GOP will have to campaign on an outside-the-Beltway approach.

He pointed to the 31 Republican governors nationwide who could offer “a much better alternative from the old, tired, top-down approach in Washington.”

“We need something fresh, organic, from the bottom-up, and that’s what you get in the states.”

Walker cruised to victory last week in his third election in four years. The governor entered the national spotlight in 2012, when he faced a recall election for controversial positions on collective bargaining.

In his appearance Sunday, Walker also defended his job running the state of Wisconsin, which had a $1.8 billion budget deficit this year.

When NBC’s Chuck Todd suggested that the state’s economic plan “just isn’t working,” Walker fired back.

“No, that’s just the opposite,” Walker said.

He added that he has no second thoughts about turning down federal dollars for his state’s Medicaid insurance program, which he called “a fool’s bet”

“States that have taken the Medicaid expansion are betting on the fact that the Congress and the president who can’t deal with a $17 trillion deficit can magically come up with the money,” Walker said.