Few November clues found in Wis. recall

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

Five months before Election Day, you’d think there would be no better harbinger about who will win the White House than a contentious statewide vote in a critical battleground state that never moved on from the 2010 campaign.

You’d be wrong.

Yes, there will be tea leaves to read after Wisconsin voters decide Tuesday whether to recall rookie Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a tea party-supported GOP hero who might be the only politician in America to rival President Barack Obama in contentious achievement that inspires loathing among opponents.

A win for Walker and some will say Mitt Romney is sure to be the first GOP candidate to carry Wisconsin since the party’s last winner here: Ronald Reagan in 1984. A loss for Walker will lead others to say the presumptive Republican nominee should give up on the state.

Don’t listen.

On both sides of the fall campaign, there’s a feeling the outcome of Tuesday’s vote — no matter who wins — will highlight reasons both Obama and Romney should compete hard for Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes. There’s an acknowledgement that neither side is likely to wake up Wednesday with a clear edge, given there’s so much time left before November.

And there’s agreement the Wisconsin recall doesn’t say much at all about the presidential race in the other 49 states.

“It’s a Wisconsin-specific moment, not a national referendum,” said Democratic strategist John Lapp, a senior strategist for several election campaigns in Wisconsin.

Should Walker lose, most Republicans agree Obama will have the upper hand in Wisconsin.