Winning the recall election "It will send a powerful, powerful message that you can stick your neck out..."

"... you can make the tough choices and there will be voters helping you along the way," said Gov. Scott Walker yesterday.

"I think when we win, it will not only reaffirm what we did. It will send a powerful message to every politician…in our state and even in our city governments who are trying to take on the tough issues and do the right thing."

That "when we win" language caused the Chicago Tribune to headline its article "Wisconsin Gov. Walker says he'll prevail in recall," but Walker also said:

"[I'm] running to win, but I’m not afraid to lose.” He said the actions he has taken to stabilize Wisconsin finances will last for the long term, “even if people don’t see it the next election.”

Presumably, if he loses he'll be the GOP candidate in the next election, claiming credit for whatever goes well in the next couple of years and blaming Tom Barrett (or whomever) for whatever goes badly.