"Every day he's a little more of a candidate:" Gov. Walker touts Wisconsin accomplishments in DC

WASHINGTON (WITI) -- As the field of republican candidates gets smaller, Governor Scott Walker spoke in Washington on Friday, January 30th. He is portraying himself as an outsider whose ideas worked in Wisconsin, and are sorely needed in our nation's capital.

Governor Scott Walker hasn't formally declared that he's running for president. But with a recent trip to Iowa, home of the nation's first primary, and today's visit Washington, experts say Walker's candidacy is all but official.

Walker was the center of attention at a panel hosted by The American Action Forum. The conservative think tank invited Walker, who hasn't formally declared whether he's running for president but has launched an exploratory committee called Our American Revival.

UWM Professor Mordecai Lee, says that's become a normal approach for presidential candidates.

"As opposed to kind of slam-bang, 'today I'm announcing that I declare I'm running for president,' he's just doing kind of a political striptease where every day, he's a little more of a candidate for president," said Lee.

At the forum in Washington, Walker touts his accomplishments in Wisconsin, specifically Act 10.

"I knew if we were free of the big government union contracts, not only could we get more in pension and healthcare contributions, we could get out of health insurance which school districts across the state did and saved tens of millions of dollars," said Walker.

If and when Walker formally announces his candidacy for president, his path to the republican nomination got easier on Friday when the 2012 GOP candidate, Mitt Romney, announced he will not run again in 2016.

"Every time the field narrows, it's in the interests of the survivors because that means there are fewer people on the podium fewer people competing for attention and it's easier to get people to focus on you," said Lee.

While Walker didn't address Romney's decision during Friday's panel, he later sent out a tweet saying he had a great conversation with Romney, adding he thanked him for his interest in opening the door for fresh leadership in America.

Governor Walker was in Iowa last week where he spoke at the Iowa Freedom Summit. He's already committed to going back to the Hawkeye state in June, tweeting that he will attend Republican Senator Joni Ernst's 'Roast and Ride' event.