Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker spoke to an enthusiastic standing room only crowd on the final morning of CPAC.

The audience leapt to its feet multiple times as Walker repeatedly hammered home the idea that the future of the Conservative movement depends on remaining “optimistic, relevant and courageous.”

His speech focused primarily on economic reform and its success at the state level in in Wisconsin.

“Simply put, we showed in our election that when people realize that the debate was between ‘who do you want in charge the big government special interests - in this case the big government employee unions, or the hard working taxpayer?’ The hard working tax payer won out over and over and over again.”

The audience went wild when Gov. Walker told a story about a constituent in Milwaukee who was named ‘The Outstanding teacher of the Year’, but received a notice that she had been laid off two weeks later.  ”Why?” Walker asked, “because under the old system of collective bargaining…last in was first out.  We changed collective bargaining in our state so there’s no longer seniority or tenure, but a system that honors talent and hard work.”

He went on to address entitlement reform, saying “As I like to call it: ‘moving people from government dependence to true independence’.” Saying that Conservatives are often accused of “thinking with their heads but forgetting to talk with their hearts,” he told the story of Elizabeth - another Milwaukee resident who chose to not accept food stamps, but rather make use of a new state-sponsored job training program which eventually landed her a job as a state-certified nursing assistant - so busy working she was unable to attend a speech Walker had invited her to attend as his guest.

The governor wrapped up his speech to overwhelming applause saying “As conservatives what we stand for isn’t taking things away from people; that’s the other side.  This president and his allies measure success…by how many people are dependent on the government. We measure success by just the opposite - by how many people are no longer dependent on government…not because we pushed them out to the curb, but because we understand that the true American dream is about empowering people to control their own destiny.”

Walker gained national attention back in 2011 when the Wisconsin legislature passed his “Wisconsin budget repair bill” which contained reforms to the collective bargaining process.

After Walker refused to back down to pressure from the unions, his opponents called for a recall election. Walker won with a larger margin than he received originally, and went on to become the first U.S. governor to face a recall election and keep his seat.