By Kirsten Adshead | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — Outlining a pro-business agenda to members of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce was, Gov. Scott Walker admitted, like preaching to the choir.

“But I’m not going to apologize for that, because when I preach to you today, I’m telling you … I need you to help us sing,” the governor said at WMC's "Business Day in Madison" event. “I need you to help us sing loud, louder than you’ve ever sang before.”

Walker didn’t use the “r” word — recall — during his 40-minute speech to the business community.

But the inference was clear, as the governor asked the gathering to spread the message about the benefits of the business-friendly agenda he and the GOP-led Legislature have pushed since last January, such as tort reform.

Walker said the Republicans' work isn't done, noting stalled plans for a venture capital bill and the battle over mining regulations.

Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators may face recall elections in the coming months, in large part due to anger over the collective-bargaining changes passed last year, all but eliminating collective bargaining for most public union workers.

“In the next five or six months, we’re going to have an opportunity to make a choice for this state,” Walker said. “The choice is about as clear as it can be made. We can either go back to the days of double-digit tax increases, billion-dollar deficits and record job loss or we can opt to move our state forward. We can opt to move our state forward and continue the path towards prosperity. I, for one, choose prosperity. I hope you do, too.”

Thursday marked the second consecutive day of a top-tier politician touting the success of economic policies before friendly crowds.

President Barack Obama spoke to union members at the Master Lock plant in Milwaukee on Wednesday, highlighting a resurging manufacturing industry and the policies, such as the auto industry bailout, that he believes have led to sustained economic improvement and job growth.

Philosophically, Obama and Walker are, in many ways, polar opposites.

But, politically, this year, they are on a similar path: Both trying to court voters who, polls consistently say, care about the economy first.

And, in Wisconsin, they’re vying for the favor of voters who are pretty much evenly split on whether they like each man.

Fifty-percent of respondents in a mid-January Marquette University law school poll, said they approved of Obama, with 44 percent disapproving.

Walker’s approval and disapproval numbers were a touch higher: 51 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

The poll of 701 Wisconsin registered voters and eligible voters who said they would register by Election Day, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percent.

The poll is being conducted monthly. February results are scheduled to be released Wednesday and may give more insight as to whether Democrats or Republicans are doing a better job winning the favor of Wisconsin voters.

Accusations are flying from both political parties.

Anticipating Obama’s visit, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI, held a media phone conference, blasting Obama for what they said was campaigning on taxpayers’ time and dime.

In a statement Wednesday, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Mike Tate accused Walker “and his billionaire campaign donors” of attacking unions and middle-income families in favor of outsourcing jobs.

“We’ve seen the economic train-wreck that right-wing Republican(s) and their corporate allies want for America,” Tate said in the statement. “We have to stop them and it starts right now by defeating Scott Walker right here in Wisconsin.”