Bill Clinton was here to campaign for Tom Barrett. Ditto DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. But President Barack Obama hasn’t been in the state since February.
Here’s what The Fix’s Chris Cillizza has to say in The Washington Post:
The Democratic National Committee and the White House have gone out of their way to make clear just how much financial and organizational support they have lent to Barrett’s effort. (DNC officials say more than $1.4 million has been directed to Wisconsin in the 2012 cycle so far.) They touted the fact that DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz traveled to the state last month to aid Barrett and that former president Bill Clinton stumped with the Democratic nominee last week. But some in Wisconsin — and Washington — are unhappy that the president himself decided not to campaign in the Badger State. (One party strategist noted that Obama had time to endorse in a House primary in New Jersey late last week but not to come to Wisconsin.) If Walker wins, not only will Obama get blamed for not doing more — which is always a difficult debate to referee — but there also will be plenty written about how the recall results bode poorly for Obama’s chances in Wisconsin in the fall.
The most recent Marquette Law School Poll shows Obama and Mitt Romney in a dead heat in the state, at 46 percent apiece. Numbers like that may have helped convince the president to stay away.
