With the 9 point margin of victory for Scott Walker in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race, the message from the Dairy State voters was clear:

Whatever the opposite of Jim Doyle is, we’ll try that now.

With a credibility rating among Wisconsin residents that could turn rain into snow – as if we need more of that – Doyle sabotaged any Democrat’s chance from the very beginning. It didn’t matter that Tom Barrett promised to cut costs and remove the fat and force dietary measures upon everyone and buzzword buzzword, Barrett was fighting an uphill battle from the beginning against Doyle’s spending and mismanagement of the budget in his 8-year reign, specifically his shameless dipping into the transportation fund to put off problems for future officials. American voters are nothing if not predictable. Bad things happen when one party is in control? Run the other way.

But is Wisconsin actually ready for what Walker is going to bring?

The former Milwaukee County executive has a stringent record of doing exactly what he says he will do – both for good and bad. As Milwaukee County executive, Walker said he wasn’t going to accept federal stimulus money; he refused to submit a wish list to Doyle. Walker said he would not raise property taxes; well, he technically didn’t. With the county board overriding his constant vetoes, property taxes still rose in his eight years as executive. Interpret that how you will.

Several of the promises Walker made will be at first written off by the uninitiated as mere campaign speak. They aren’t.

When Walker says he is going to halt the high-speed rail from Milwaukee to Madison, you can bet he will fight tooth and nail for that cause, even if Doyle and President Barack Obama tried to make the fight nearly impossible and potentially illegal by officially signing a deal to ensure all $810 million will be spent on the above-average speed rail. No matter your opinion on the new Badger Bus, the Democrats have played a savvy political move setting Walker up for public abuse. So when you start to scream about how Walker is wasting his time as an obstructionist, don’t be surprised.

Walker has also guaranteed he will make significant cuts in state government programs. He has played a coy political game by speaking of the cuts in vague terms, however, rarely pinpointing exactly what will be on the end of his fiscal axe. It will be interesting to see if 54 percent still support Walker once he starts chopping up their favored programs.

Finally, we have the governor’s extreme partial-veto power. While a more mild-mannered leader such as Barrett may have sparingly used the partial-veto, letting the state Legislature dictate the terms of government, Walker will be sure to cut bills in a way that would make Mad Libs proud. Walker is a true fiscal conservative. Taxes and spending will drop. He will get his way.

Walker has not hidden what he values. He is much more than merely an anti-Doyle candidate.

We hope the 54 percent that voted for him are ready for that.