Is there more to Obama's state visit? Dear Leader in People's republic of Madistan today

jsonline ^ | 11/4/2009 | erin richards

[milwguy]

On the anniversary of his election, President Barack Obama will visit Madison on Wednesday to talk about the progress states are making on education reforms he's championed since taking office and the imminent competition that will have many of those states vying for extra federal stimulus funds for schools.

Is there more to the president's visit than just a pat on the back for Wisconsin?

Many suspect the latter for a number of reasons:

• The governor's race. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has not announced whether he will run for governor, and some say Obama, who has intervened in local politics in other states, might be coming to offer behind-the-scenes support for Barrett, a Democrat, to replace Gov. Jim Doyle

[milwguy]

Obama is coming to try to talk Mayor Barrett of Milwaukee into running for Governor next year.

His timing could not be worse, and his political instincts about as astute as his trip over to Copenhagen to sang the Olympics for Chicago.

After watching Corzine and Deeds get destroyed in their elections yesterday, Barrett would be a fool to get into the Governor race. He is not that dumb.

Our current Gov Doyle decided not to run for re-election next year because he knows after destroying our state with taxes and mandates, he could not be elected chief dogcatcher here.

The leading Republican candidate is the Milwaukee County executive who has won twice in a Democrat County, and done it on a low tax, fiscal disicpline message.

The only was Dems win Wisconsin is to win big in Milwaukee County and Madistan. The rest of the state trends red. If Barrett gets into the race, the best he can hope for is to split Milwaukee County with Walker, which will leave him no chance to win the state.

Barrett has not committed to running yet, and the Dems do not even have a credible candidate 12 months from election day because they know the tide is running against them, Walker is a charismatic and strong candidate, and the legacy of Doyle is going to drag down whoever runs on the Dem ticket.

Obama coming to Madison to try to sweet talk Barrett into getting into the Gov race is about as likley to result in success as his fiasco in Copenhagen. Barrett has a wife and young kids and a safe spot in Milwaukee. No way he will risk it in an off year election, especially after what happened last night. If solid blue NJ dumped Corzine, purple Wisconsin ain't gonna put a liberal Milwaukee Mayor in the Governor's mansion, especially after the current Dem Gov and his liberal policies have been driving business and jobs out of the state.

[Obadiah]

Nice summary. Curious how after years of careful planning to run for governor, Lawton suddenly abandons her life-long dream. Watch for her to get a squishy job in the Obama administration (doesn't have to be a Washington gig).

Then, days after Lawton drops out of the race Obama suddenly announces he's coming to Madison. Gee, what a coincidence. As it looks now, the timing is hilarious!

Good luck with those Obama coattails, Tom! Go ahead take the dive!

[madinmadtown]

As I said a couple of days ago, I think that they are sending Obama here to lick his wounds from yesterday's election. It wasn't announced that he was coming until the WH could see that yesterday's elections weren't going to go as they had hoped. They needed a friendly venue. What could be more friendly than Madistan? Losing in NJ is big; it would normally be a very friendly venue for Obama,Inc. The fact that they are coming to Madistan and going to a junior high, the most gullible of all venues, in many ways speaks volumes.
I don't think it has much at all to do with the local politics of Wisconsin. It has everything to do with protecting the king and making him feel that he is still loved.
Obama, Inc could give a rat's behind about Wisconsin. They only care about themselves. Nice delusion on the part of libs in this state to think that Obama, Inc has come to rescue them.

[irish guard]

The People's Republic of Madison is a perfect place for a socialist to come after they sh*t the bed in last night's gubernatorial elections.

The real purpose of the visit is to try to lure Tom Barrett into the governor's race against Scott Walker (R). In this year's budget, Jim Doyle took a page from the "John Corzine Book of Leftyville" and adopted all kinds of tax hikes and spending increases in an attempt to stimulate the Wisconsin economy. However, all those bed wetting tactics do nothing more than scare of businesses to other states and make Wisconsin less business friendly and competitive. Obama knows Wisconsin is in play and with a REpublican governor could cause 2012 re-election problems. Barrett is the only Democrat with a prayer to beat Walker.

I also think the looniest left wing Senator of alllllll time, Russ Feingold would like a big name headliner on the ticket or he might be at risk this time around.