The Wisconsin governor, who does not rule out running for president in 2016 after winning his June recall election, wants to help elect as many GOP candidates as possible in 2012. He’s told Mitt Romney’s campaign that he will travel anywhere the presidential candidate thinks he can help. Walker plans to forcefully fundraise for the Republican Governors Association, which spent around $15 million supporting his last two campaigns. And the governor sketched out plans during a Monday interview to support a batch of candidates this year in the Badger State. …

“I’d like now and into the future to play a bigger role not only in Wisconsin and the Midwest, but nationally,” he said. “I’d like to have an impact.”

Walker knows he’s a hot commodity after winning a recall in which Democrats and labor unions spent millions trying to oust him for taking the fight to public sector unions — that conservative crowds go gaga at the mere mention of his name. His challenge now is to capitalize on the stardom while convincing whiplashed Wisconsinites that he wants to bring the noise level down enough at home to get stuff done. As he gears up to run for reelection to a second full term in 2014, Walker can’t be seen as drifting away from his state.