Gov. Scott Walker Defeats Recall Challenge in Wisconsin

Scott Walker: Romney Could Win Wisconsin, Needs Plan

Jun 142012

Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — When Gov. Scott Walker won the Wisconsin recall election on June 5, political spectators began to argue that Wisconsin could be a potential pick-up state for Romney in the fall. The Badger state’s Republican governor says he believes it’s possible — but Romney will need more than just a party affiliation.

“He’s got a shot,” Walker told reporters in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning. “He needs a clear plan.”

It’s not enough that both men are Republicans — a simple association with him won’t be enough to win in the state, Walker says. Instead, the man who earned the distinction of becoming the only governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election suggested that Romney needs to convey a simple and concise plan that voters know he can deliver on.

“I think it’s got to be narrowed down to a very simple set of messages,” Walker said. “It’s not just a referendum on President Obama. It’s also got to be ‘yes, I don’t think I’m better off than I was four years ago, I don’t think the economy is coming back…And I think candidate Romney has a plan that I believe in.”

Walker did not offer any specific recommendations for the content of said message set. He did offer his thoughts on who he believes should join Romney on the GOP ticket: Congressman Paul Ryan.

A Republican presidential candidate has not won the state of Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan in 1984, but Walker noted that the margin of victory has been close in recent years.

“Wisconsin 2000, 2004, was the closest blue state in America,” Walker noted.

In 2000, Al Gore won by a margin of less than 1 percentage point, and in 2004 it was the same for John Kerry. Obama swept the state in 2008 with a 14-point margin. Walker described Obama’s margin of victory as “an anomaly.”

When asked about Obama’s lack of presence in Wisconsin in the days and weeks leading up to the recall election, Walker said he has heard a lot of frustration among Democrats in the state, but he wasn’t sure it would have made a difference.

Obama Video Says Romney Misread ‘Message of Wisconsin’

Jun 122012

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Obama campaign is redoubling its attack on Mitt Romney for comments he made last Friday about firefighters, cops and teachers, with a new Web video casting the former governor as “too extreme, even for Tea Party Governor Scott Walker.”

They have seized on comments made on Monday by Romney surrogate and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who in an interview on MSNBC defended Romney’s suggestion that the ranks of those public sector workers could be trimmed.

“If there’s fewer kids in the classroom, the taxpayers really do want to hear that there will be fewer teachers, absolutely,” Sununu said when asked about cuts. “And people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there’s wisdom in the comment.”

Romney critiqued Obama last Friday during a campaign stop in Iowa, saying, “[The president] says he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”

Democrats have been hammering Romney for suggesting that the country does not need more teachers or first responders on the job.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who survived a recall vote last week, told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday that the message of his election was not exactly what Romney seemed to suggest.

“Do you think Governor Romney is talking about getting rid of more teachers and firemen?” asked anchor Bob Schieffer.

“No,” Walker said, adding, “I think, in the end, the big issue is that the private sector still needs more help, and the answer is not more big government. I know, in my state, our reforms allowed us to protect firefighters, police officers and teachers. That’s not what I think of when I think of big government.”

“I think of the bigger sense is more government regulations, more stimulus, more things that take money out of the private sector and put it in the hands of the government,” he said. “That’s not the answer out there.”

Walker’s comment about Wisconsin’s exemption of firefighters, cops and teachers from cuts is featured in the new Obama Web ad.

The Romney campaign says it believes that federal aid to states for public sector hiring, which Obama advocates, is not a prescription for sustainable job creation and that expanding the ranks of government inhibits growth.

Exclusive: Scott Walker Says Romney Still Underdog in Wisconsin

Jun 062012

ABC News(MADISON, Wis.) — Republicans scored a big victory in Wisconsin Tuesday, but Gov. Scott Walker says there is “no doubt” Mitt Romney is still the underdog in his state when it comes to the presidential election.

“I mean the president having grown up just across the way in Chicago gives him a certain advantage, at least geographically,” Walker said in interview with ABC News. “But I still think we are a very competitive state.”

Walker also has some advice for Romney: Lay out specific plans for how he would deal with the federal budget crisis and be honest with the tough choices that need to be made.

“What it boils down to is can Governor Romney talk about a clear strategy to get the country moving forward to take on the tough economic and fiscal crisis this country faces?” Walker said. “If he can lay that plan out clearly, I think voters in Wisconsin will at least give him a shot.”

Even as he celebrates a big victory, Walker acknowledges that he would have handled his budget crisis differently if he had a chance to do it all over again. For starters, he said, he would have explained to the public what he was going to do before doing it.

“My problem was I was so eager to fix it I didn’t talk about it. I just fixed it,” Walker said. “Most politicians talk about it but never fix it in the future. We have learned from this. We are going to both talk about, get people engaged, work on solutions together and then fix it.”

He says Romney should not make the same mistake.

“In Governor Romney’s case, I think the country is hungry,” he said. “You look at the responses to [Rep.] Paul Ryan’s [budget] plan; I think the country is hungry for leaders who are willing to stand up and say it like it is and tell people what they are going to do and then mean it and … I think if the governor can really lay that out crystal clear to voters here in Wisconsin and across the country, I think he can be competitive.”

VP Beat: GOP Govs Bask in Walker’s Wisconsin Win

Jun 062012

Melina Mara/The Washington Post(WASHINGTON) — WALKER WIN BOOSTS RGA AND McDONNELL: As head of the Republican Governors Association, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell led the RGA’s efforts to support Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Tuesday’s recall election, dispatching governors, whose names have also been floated as potential VP contenders, to campaign with him in Wisconsin and pouring millions of dollars into the race. As the Washington Examiner notes, Walker’s win in Wisconsin gave McDonnell “bragging rights” over his DGA counterpart, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and served as a “a dress rehearsal for nearly a dozen gubernatorial contests this fall.”

JINDAL SAYS WALKER WIN IS BAD SIGN FOR DEMS: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who stumped for Walker last month, said Tuesday night that Walker’s win in a Democratic stronghold is a bad signal for President Obama’s chances in the fall and argued that Ohio and Michigan will now be tighter contests, the Washington Times reported. “A lot of the experts were predicting a late night in Milwaukee. Instead it looks like it’s going to be a late night in Chicago,” Jindal said on Fox News’ On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.

WILL ROMNEY PICK A COMBATIVE VP? Mitt Romney’s campaign has unleashed aggressive attacks on President Obama since the start of the general election, and as The Hill’s Christian Heinze noted, this combative style might push Romney to select a running mate with attack dog qualities. “Romney’s combative first month could hint that he’s looking to another archetype for vice president – the pugilistic warrior who can go one on one with Joe Biden in a shouting match” Heinze wrote. “The theory goes like this: A vice president is traditionally called upon to deliver the toughest attacks, while the nominee takes the relative high road. But if Romney himself is batting the president around like a piñata, why would he pick someone more discreet, safe and mellow for vice president? In short, a more aggressive campaign might warrant a more aggressive pick that complements, rather than contradicts, Romney’s confrontational style.”

N.J. SHORTFALL INCREASES UNDER CHRISTIE: NJ.com reported revenues in New Jersey were down $50 million to $100 million after last month’s tax collections, according to the budget chief of the Office of Legal Services in New Jersey. Gov. Chris Christie’s office claimed the shortfall was closer to $28.9 million. But as NJ.com described, “the latest revenue numbers are pushing hard against Gov. Chris Christie’s claims of a ‘Jersey Comeback.’”

OHIO DEMS LAY OUT ATTACKS ON PORTMAN: ABC News’ Gregory Simmons reports the Ohio Democratic Party Tuesday “unleashed a series of ‘fact checks’ that might otherwise pass as potential attack lines against Portman should he become Romney’s #2.” These attack lines include his involvement in the run-up to the financial crisis, his reliance on outsourcing, his inconsistency on the auto rescue, his “radical, ideological views towards women,” and the fact that Portman is not well known among Ohio voters. More here from the Ohio Dems.

McDONNELL APPROVAL RATING: A Quinnipiac poll released this morning found Gov. Bob McDonnell’s approval rating in Virginia at 53 percent, a figure that matched his lowest approval rating in March.

Gov. Scott Walker Defeats Recall Challenge in Wisconsin

Jun 062012

Scott Olson/Getty Images(MILWAUKEE) — Wisconsin voters rejected a year-long effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker and replace him with Democratic challenger Tom Barrett. ABC News projected Walker would win the race and hang onto his job one hour after polls closed.

The recall started last year as a state fight over Walker’s efforts to curb public unions in his state. But with its fierce debate over how to resolve the country’s budget woes and tens of millions in outside political money pouring into Wisconsin, the recall morphed into what many viewed as a preview of what to expect this fall when President Obama battles GOP nominee Mitt Romney for the Oval Office.

“Voters really do want the leaders who make the tough decisions,” Walker told a gathering of supporters in Waukesha, clearly viewing his victory as a validation of his stance toward public employee unions.

But he sought to strike a conciliatory tone, inviting Democrats to work with him. He halted supporters from booing Barrett and told them, “Tonight the election is over.”

Walker promised to invite Democrats and Republicans over for “brats” next week.

The victory is a boon to Walker and Republicans in this key battleground state that opted for Obama by nearly 15 percent four years ago. It may also be interpreted as a validation of Walker’s confrontational efforts to curb public employee unions. Walker’s lieutenant governor, Rebecca Leefisch, withstood a twin recall effort.

“Gov. Walker has demonstrated over the past year what sound fiscal policies can do to turn an economy around, and I believe that in November voters across the country will demonstrate that they want the same in Washington, D.C. Tonight’s results will echo beyond the borders of Wisconsin,” said Romney in a statement.

But voters in exit polls Tuesday said they favored Obama over Romney in November by an 11 point margin (53-42 percent).

“Wisconsin is a preview of what the November election is going to look like in many of these swing states,” ABC News’ political director Amy Walter said, “and that is millions and millions of dollars spent just to try to influence a dwindling percentage of swing voters and the two sides working very hard to make sure that their voters come and turn out.”

While they said they preferred Obama, 52 percent of those who responded to exit polls approved of Walker’s work on job creation, a key factor in the race Tuesday.

The Wisconsin recall election was only the third time in the nation’s history that a sitting governor had faced a midterm recall, and that struck a sour note with voters. Six in 10 said recalls are only appropriate for reasons of official misconduct.

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