When Gov. Scott Walker was campaigning for his very well-paid position, he promised that he would focus his term on one goal: the creation of 250,000 new jobs for Wisconsin workers.

He was assuming that he would have a four-year term in which to accomplish what was actually a rather modest goal. Since he was campaigning in the depths of the recession that began during George Bush’s second term, it was entirely reasonable to believe that, as the recession eased, Wisconsin would experience significant job growth.

After all, under former Gov. Jim Doyle, Wisconsin had an unemployment rate that was significantly below the national average. And in the last year of Doyle’s term — after Doyle and legislative Joint Finance Committee Co-chairs Mark Miller and Mark Pocan balanced the state budget — Wisconsin had begun to show signs of real recovery.

So Walker came into office with every indicator in his favor. The task he had set for himself was entirely doable — even if he did very little. All the governor had to do was avoid screwing things up.