Last fall, as the popular history went, Republicans were locked in a civil war pitting Tea Party purists who wanted to stand on principle against pragmatists representing the party’s establishment. But this lazy narrative obscured the reality — there were many Americans who wanted Republicans to stand on principle while still recognizing the realities of governing. On Sept. 22, about a week before the government shut down due to a dispute over the funding of President Obama’s health care law, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wrote on Twitter: “Government is too big. So we should limit the role of government in our lives, but the government that is left should work well.”

Walker, who is facing re-election this year and is seen as a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2016, isn’t quite so easy to pigeonhole as either a squish or a reckless ideologue. Elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, Walker became a conservative rock star shortly taking office for standing firm on his plan to balance the budget — in part — by reforming collective bargaining rules. He stood his ground amid massive protests, a nationwide assault by unions and liberal activist groups, and a maneuver by Democratic senators to flee the state in a failed effort to block his bill.