Walker says he “obsesses” on fiscal issues because that’s what voters elected him to do. He’s principled and conservative on abortion and marriage, but hey says social issues simply aren’t the centerpiece of his agenda. And he blames the media and Democrats for trying to make them the centerpiece of every Republican’s agenda.

“The reason the left wants to talk about those other issues and obsess about those issues is because they can’t cut it when it comes to the economy and fiscal issues. They want any sort of distraction to get off-topic, off-message to go on some tangent out there to have people be distracted from what the real issues are.”

His advice to fellow conservatives is to talk less about social issues and, if forced to, “it’s just a simple answer and move on.”

“What I try to tell Republicans is, don’t take the bait. Don’t change your positions — nobody in the center wants people to flip-flop just based on whatever they think conventional wisdom is at the time. They respect people who have deeply held convictions. But what they don’t want is people going off on tangents on things that don’t relate to what concerns them.”