Romney campaign eyeing Wisconsin if recall flops

Hot Air ^ | 22 May 2012 | Ed Morrissey

[mandaladon]

If Wisconsin turns into the Left’s Waterloo two weeks from today, Mitt Romney’s campaign may take a fresh look at making it Barack Obama’s as well. The Wall Street Journal analyzes the impact that a defeat in the Badger State will have on Democrats and the unions, and the new talk of Wisconsin being the kind of swing state that could decide this election:

From the start, some in the Democratic Party worried that a Wisconsin recall could drain needed resources, fire up the conservative base and ultimately make it more difficult for Mr. Obama to win the state. Mr. Obama carried Wisconsin by 14 percentage points in 2008, and Wisconsin hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential election since 1984. But last week’s Marquette poll showed Messrs. Obama and Romney tied at 46%.

A senior official with the Romney campaign said that if Mr. Walker survives, the campaign would take a fresh look at the state. “If opportunity hits, we will capitalize,” the official said.

“People are suddenly starting to talk about Wisconsin as a potential swing state, which was not the case even two weeks ago,” said William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Even this far before the recall vote takes place, insiders are trying to distance themselves from failure:

Top Democrats now say that when labor groups first raised the specter of a recall, the party’s officials urged their allies in Wisconsin to reconsider. “We told them it was a bad, bad, bad idea,” one Democratic official said.

A union official said both the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign expressed reservations. “I don’t know that anyone was enthusiastic about it over there,” the union official said

[mandaladon]

What seemed a few months ago like an unstoppable crusade to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker now has the look of a marathon runner pulling up limp in the last mile........................I can't wait to see how the union bums and the Rats are going to spin this.

[GeorgeWashingtonsGhost]

Wisconsin will be the union’s ‘voter fraud trial run’ for the November election.

[mandaladon]

A win here for Walker will further damage the credibility of Big Labor, and they have already spent their money on this rather than the general election in November. Wisconsin would be ripe for a Republican win in the state that defined prairie populism for decades.................Yes indeed!!!

[ScottinVA]

Top Democrats now say that when labor groups first raised the specter of a recall, the party’s officials urged their allies in Wisconsin to reconsider. “We told them it was a bad, bad, bad idea,” one Democratic official said.

Oh, I don't believe that sh*t for a minute. Nobody can convince me the national party wasn't in full support of this recall until things started going south. The only time the national dems would've told the union thugs it was a "bad idea" would've been in the past 10 days.

Your albatross, dems! ALLLLLLL YOURS!!!

[wny]

i’ve bet my lib brotherinlaw that Romney takes WI, VA, NC, OH and FLA. Romney takes all 5 - I win, Obama takes any one of em’ I lose.

[11th Commandment]

A win here for Walker will further damage the credibility of Big Labor..

I disagree... this will be another big loss for Public Employee Unions (really, outside public employees, there is no "big labor"). I know many FR are against all Unions, but the real evil is Public Employee Unions. The mess they have made in Wisconsin is an embarrassment to hard working blue collar Union workers who are lumped in with lazy public employees.

Consider trade Unions in right to work states. They have to compete and create a "brand" in order to survive. Nothing wrong with that. If your Union puts out good, reliable and well trained people, I am happy to hire Union over non-union. But with public employees, I have no choice. I am forced to deal with you and why? Technically in a democracy, they report to me the voter. But somehow corrupt politicians a long time ago created sweetheart deals with Unions in order to secure large political donations. If my community wants a charter school... too bad the it is against the UNION contract. The very idea that Union contracts trump democratic rule is antithetical to the rule of law.

In order for the Public Employees to be losing recall after recall they have to be losing support of Blue Collar workers both Union and non-Union. Even they realize that public employees are anti-democratic power hungry organizations that have little interest in the worker.

[so_real]

As a resident and a huge Walker supporter myself, my boots on the ground opinion is that no matter how big the landslide victory for Walker is (and it will be a landslide) in the recall, it will do very little if anything in bolstering Romney's chances here. The chicago liberal types in the south east corner are still highly supportive of Obama. That will not change. There are hard core republicans throughout the state that will vote for anything with an "R" behind its name, but these only amount to 20-30% of the grass roots here. That leaves 20-30% who are God-fearing, child-loving, gun-holding, church-going, small government, get your hand out of my pocket types. Romney needs to successfully deny his own record in front of two-thirds of these to beat Obama. He'll need half of us even to make a race of it. I could be surprised; it's happened before. But I don't see Wisconsin advancing the liberal with an "R" after his name over the top of the liberal with a "D" after his name. He certainly will not be getting my vote.

[LouD]

Bush lost Wisconsin in 2000 by a little over 4000 votes, or less than what those of us on the ground here believe to be the margin of fraud. Obama must win Wisconsin in November; If he loses this state, he loses the White House - and can be beaten here in November.

[no dems]

A win here for Walker will further damage the credibility of Big Labor, and they have already spent their money on this rather than the general election in November. Wisconsin would be ripe for a Republican win

CAN'T WAIT FOR JUNE 5TH TO GET HERE. I'M LOVIN' THIS!!!

[no dems]

Obama takes any one of em’ I lose.
____________________________________________________________

No you don’t. If he only takes one of those 5 States, he’s toast. You may have to pay the wager, but America wins, AND YOU win.

[no dems]

Obama takes any one of em’ I lose.
____________________________________________________________

No you don’t. If he only takes one of those 5 States, he’s toast. You may have to pay the wager, but America wins, AND YOU win.

[no dems]

But I don't see Wisconsin advancing the liberal with an "R" after his name over the top of the liberal with a "D" after his name. He certainly will not be getting my vote.

When I read a comment like yours, I just have ask this question:

You have two neighbors that you don't like; one across the street and one next door. The one across the street is a convicted felon who has committed mass murders and rapes. The neighbor next door has a rap sheet of Misdemeanors (A DUI, outstanding speeding tickets, two petty thefts and possession of Marijuana.) You don't like either of these "criminals". But, the guy next door has seen the error of his ways and has changed his life. The felon across the street is threatening to rape the women in your family and murder you. The repentant "misdemeanor" guy next door hears about it and offers to protect you and your family from rape and murder, and put the felon out of your life for good, if you'll let him. But, you have a history of hating both these guys so you refuse his offer of protection for you and your family and put your family at great risk.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE??? If so, then you deserve what you get and your family suffers the consequences. If this is a squeaker close election and Obama has 4 more years to finish destroying this nation, people with the same mind-set you have will deserve everything you get. Have a nice day.

[bill1952]

> He certainly will not be getting my vote.

Obama thanks you, Joe Biden thanks you, Nancy Pelosi thanks you

Go ahead, say “I don’t care, I’m going to....”

Bill Ayers thanks you, Holder thanks you, Jesse Jackson thanks you, Al Sharpton thanks you, Harry Reid thanks you.

Still suck on not voting for the R?

Big Labor will thank you, Illegals will thank you, The New Black Panthers will thank you

I could go on but no point to it

[CMailBag]

[TruthBeforeAll]

Agreed. Public Employee Unions by their very nature are adversarial to the people they are supposed to serve. How can they both unionize against, yet serve the public? They are the very definition of a house against itself.

[jimsin]

A Marquette Law School poll last week showed Walker leading Barrett 50 to 44 percent among likely voters, a small but important lead because there are an extraordinarily low number of undecided voters.....

POLL POLL POLL YOUR VOTE
GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM...
MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY
RECALL’S JUST A DREAM.....

[USS Alaska]

He certainly will not be getting my vote.

Tell me why you'd prefer obama gets another 4 year term instead of romney?

A true blue communist vs a rino squish; an America hater vs a man that truly loves America; a thug with thugs in his cabinet vs a milquetoast that would have business people in his cabinet; a third world dictator that will appoint communist judges vs a rino that might appoint some semi-conservative judges.

I don't get it.

[Tunehead54]

Romney shouldn’t wait for the outcome - he should go in the last week prior to the election, back Walker, point out the improvements made, the miniscule “sacrifices” of the public unions, the cushy levels of public employee wages and benefits over the average joes, etc.

In short, lead rather than follow ... if he can’t fire up the voters under these conditions then we need another candidate.

[so_real]

In your analogy ... the unrepentant rapist and murder would describe both Obama and Romney. Neither has learned the error of his ways. Neither can be counted upon to defend my family. It takes more than an "R" behind someone's name to make them one of the "good" guys. I made a decision not to support abortionists, homosexualists, socialists, anti-constitutionalists, and crony capitalists running for office long before the 2012 Romney campaign. Seems like most folks here were on board with that not too long ago. I suspect most still are. The rest ... well ... spineless ... just like the RINO's in Congress they whine about.

[so_real]

You forgot Virgil Goode. Chances are he will thank me too as the most likely recipient of my vote. You feel free to vote for the gun grabbing, baby killing, tax raising, healthcare ransoming, homosexual advocating, bailout delivering republican foisted upon you as your "representative". If that represents you, fine. It's a match and he's earned your vote. It's no where near me. Not even close. You think I have to choose between Sodom or Gomorrah. You are wrong. I have a better destination in mind.