Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential ambitions may take a hit due to the flat revenue projections that were released this week.

News came Wednesday from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau that extra money lawmakers were hoping to use to soften proposed education cuts likely wouldn't materialize.

According to one political analyst and former Republican lawmaker, the findings may not bode well for Walker’s all-but-certain presidential campaign.

“I think it dulls the edge of his message that his economic and tax policies really are a big success story,” said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of the Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, on Thursday.

Ballenger added that there’s “no question” that Democrats will pounce on the news. He also predicted the news media will take note of it and that other Republican presidential candidates may make an issue of it in debates.

Still, Ballenger said Walker isn’t in as tough a position as Kansas' Republican Gov. Sam Brownback was in last year ahead of his reelection bid. In his first term, Brownback signed a tax plan that exempted 191,000 businesses from income taxes and lowered the top income tax rate for individuals from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent. That level will drop to 3.9 percent by 2018 and even more each year if revenue grows.

However, revenues and job growth hasn’t panned out, so a lot of “fancy bookkeeping” — as Ballenger described — had to take place and Brownback was nearly ousted in the November election.

“That’s kind of what Scott Walker and the Republicans are going through in Wisconsin right now,” said Ballenger. “They may do a little bookkeeping that will enable them to dodge the bullet of criticism that their economic and tax game plan isn’t working.”

State Republican leaders said they could fill the proposed public education cuts by delaying a payment to the school levee credit until the 2017-18 budget.