Cleveland — Wisconsin.

That’s what you can expect to hear about from Scott Walker in Monday night’s debate, according to a top adviser to the governor.

Walker, who has been preparing for the debate with advisers including Mari Will, the wife of conservative commentator George Will, is looking to stay relentlessly on message, and this is a line you can expect to hear a lot: “It wasn’t too late for Wisconsin, and it isn’t too late for America.” It’s one of the lines that’s garnered positive responses on the stump, it’s a Will favorite, and the governor will look to use it again tonight.

Walker has made his record as governor of the Badger State, where he won a bitter battle to rein in public-sector unions, a centerpiece of his campaign. Those who haven’t followed that battle and the other turmoil surrounding Walker’s tenure in Madison will get his version of events tonight.

#related#”Governor Walker is going to introduce himself to the American people, and he’s not going to spend a lot of time engaging with the other candidates,” says the adviser. The debate, which will be hosted by the Fox News Channel and take place at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, is a particularly important chance for most of the candidates to make a first impression on voters: Even high-profile contenders like Walker are still known only by about 50 percent of the public.

“There are a lot of voters who are going to meet Scott Walker for the first time and what they’re going to find is an optimistic vision for America by somebody who holds traditional, Midwestern American values,” says the adviser. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the governor talk about visiting the American legion post as a kid, little league baseball fields, and Fourth of July parades.”

— Eliana Johnson is Washington editor for National Review.