Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker talks about recent Republican party gains and the road ahead for their party as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (left) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry listen during a news conference at the Republican governors’ conference in Boca Raton, Fla., on Wednesday. Credit: Associated Press

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Madison — During the re-election race that he won on Nov. 4, Gov. Scott Walker told voters he intended to spend the next four years in the statehouse.

"My plan — if the voters approve — is to serve as governor for the next four years," Walker said in early October.

It hasn't taken Walker long to consider changing this plan — and to confront the inherent challenge of stoking national interest in a potential presidential campaign and still mollifying the mood of voters back home.

The GOP governor is acknowledging to out-of-state media what he has mostly downplayed in Wisconsin over the past two weeks and, in some sense, the past two years: He's actively exploring whether to run for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.

A Politico report Thursday laid out the contours of a potential White House bid, with a campaign headquartered in Madison and the governor asking his re-election team to stay on, including top advisers Keith Gilkes and R.J. Johnson and campaign manager Stephan Thompson.

"I think there's going to be a hunger for a leader who can actually get things done," Walker told Politico, even as he cautioned that he hasn't firmly decided to run. "The closer I've gotten to this position, the more I've realized that anyone who really wants to be president has to be a little crazy. ... The only way you should run is if you feel called to."

Walker also told U.S. News & World Report that his wife, Tonette, and sons, Matt and Alex, are on board for the grueling prospect of a presidential run.

"I think, right now, my wife would be on board (for) just about anything," Walker said. "I couldn't do it without the support of my wife."

Those comments echoed ones Walker made Tuesday to The Associated Press, when he first openly acknowledged he was exploring a run for the presidency.

Democrats didn't hesitate to criticize the news.

"His second term hasn't even started yet and Scott Walker is already talking about leaving behind the mess he's made in Wisconsin to run for president," state Democratic Party spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said.

Walker's campaign did not respond to a question about when or if he would create a formal committee to help explore his prospects.

But when addressing Wisconsin audiences, the governor and his team have been largely trying to keep the focus off the steps he has taken since 2012 to make a presidential run possible: meeting with prominent donors, publishing a book, and speaking around the country and in early caucus and primary states like Iowa.

In another sign Walker is staying active politically after his re-election, his campaign has recently conducted a poll. That survey focused on state issues and did not test voters' views on national figures considering a run for the presidency, campaign spokeswoman Alleigh Marré said.

Talking to reporters in Madison on Nov. 6, two days after his re-election win, Walker waved aside questions about when he would decide on a presidential run, insisting he needed to focus on the state budget, changes to his cabinet and other issues at home.

"I'm pretty busy right now," he said at that time.

Aides echoed that, at least when speaking to Wisconsin audiences.

"I think the governor has very much said that it is his intention to focus on Wisconsin and put together a bold, decisive plan," Johnson told the Journal Sentinel last week. "That's what he told the Legislature. He intends to govern."

Gilkes said last week that "it's natural for people to want to elevate" Walker's national profile. He said others can play the presidential prognostication game, but "that doesn't mean Scott Walker or this team is going to play that game. We're going to play the game that we've always done, which is govern day to day for the next generation, not the next election."

Politico reported Thursday of Walker that "it's clear he and his aides are already discussing details of when a campaign would get underway and what it would look like."

The news site reported that the governor also is expected to keep his pollster, the Tarrance Group; his digital team head from his re-election run, Matt Oczkowski; finance director Colleen Coyle; and communications director Tom Evenson. State GOP executive director Joe Fadness, a longtime Walker aide, also is likely to stick close to the governor.

The website scottwalker2016.com has already been reserved by an unknown buyer. It was first purchased in May 2010 and renewed in May 2012, according to who.is.com.

Walker has further fed talk of a presidential run by calling on GOP lawmakers to pass the state budget more quickly than they have in a generation. The shift in his tone began the night he was re-elected, when he talked in his victory speech about the promise of America that immigrants seek.

At a forum Wednesday at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., Walker participated in what became a sort of trial run for the coming presidential debates with four other GOP governors who also are potential 2016 candidates.

NBC's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd moderated the panel with Walker, Mike Pence of Indiana, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and John Kasich of Ohio. The talk touched on immigration reform, the academic standards known as Common Core, and Medicaid health care programs for the poor.

Walker did less of the talking than some of the other governors who like him are potential 2016 presidential candidates. But he did disagree, civilly but firmly, with Kasich on the wisdom of taking federal money to expand Medicaid health care for the needy as allowed by the federal Affordable Care Act.

Walker and GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin rejected the extra money while Kasich used it to expand coverage of the uninsured. Walker said that "true freedom and prosperity doesn't come from the mighty hand of the government."

Kasich countered that "Ronald Reagan expanded Medicaid" and repeated the point for emphasis.

But though the governors sparred repeatedly with Todd, the moderator, they largely supported one another.

"I think there are plenty of us up here that would be a great alternative to anything you'd see from the left," Walker said.

Kasich paid Walker and the other men on stage a compliment in turn.

"Then you've got Walker. He runs for election every week. And he wins them all. Incredible," Kasich said, joking about the fact Walker ran for governor in 2010, then the 2012 recall election, then again in 2014.