Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” called the recall election of Wisconsin’s governor a “test run” for the presidential race.

“It’s given the 'Obama for America' operation an opportunity to do the dry run we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign,” Wasserman Schultz said last Sunday before heading off to campaign with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

But later, as polls indicated that Barrett may not be able to unseat Gov. Scott Walker on June 5, Wasserman Schultz appeared to downplay the race during an appearance on C-SPAN’s "Newsmakers."

“I think, honestly, there aren’t going to be any repercussions,” Wasserman Schultz said.

“It’s an election that’s based in Wisconsin.”

The perception that this is a state-only matter doesn’t appear to be the prevailing view, as both national parties flood America’s Dairyland with political operatives, star players and money.

Polls heading into the final weekend before Wisconsin’s recall election indicate its Republican governor has a good chance to withstand the Democratic and union verbal and fiscal firestorm that has filled the media for two years.

A Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday indicated that 52 percent of likely voters would vote to retain Walker.  

Turnout has been projected between 60 percent and 65 percent, which could be expected in the presidential contest in November.

Walker won the office by defeating Barrett two years ago by a 50-45 margin.

University of Florida political science professor Daniel Smith said poll results may be an indication that the unions and other opponents of Walker may be seeing backlash for seeking the recall primarily on a single issue.

“There is some boomerang effect in Wisconsin,” Smith said. Voters may be saying, “’OK, we don’t like what Governor Walker did, but can’t we just wait until 2014 to unseat him?’”

The recall fight was spawned by a move to curtail collective bargaining rights for most Wisconsin state employees, while raising health care and pension co-pays.

A recent Democrat-leaning Public Policy Polling survey had Walker receiving 39 percent approval from union (mostly private-sector) households.

“There is a substantial amount of energy on (Walker’s) side of the ticket that he can really count on,” Arnold Shober, an assistant professor of government at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., told the Fiscal Times.

“His tenure has been divisive, but he hasn’t lost support among those people who find that he did the right thing.”

Walker and Republicans in Wisconsin argued the bill was needed to reduce a budget shortfall. Democrats have argued the move was designed to break the unions, a core constituent of the party.

The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have been among the most active participants in the recall effort.

Groups from Florida, such as the United Faculty of Florida, have sent people to Wisconsin to monitor and assist their counterparts in the Badger State.

Tom Auxter, a University of Florida philosophy professor and the president of the United Faculty of Florida, said the lesson for Florida is that officials should respect the right to collective bargain and expect active resistance when rights are threatened or whittled away.

“There are always dangers in entering political struggles but worse dangers to be faced by sitting on the sidelines,” Auxter responded in an email.

Most other union leaders in Florida are watching but not as engaged, saying they prefer to let others do the saber rattling.

Floridians opposed to Gov. Rick Scott have had similar visions since shortly after he was inaugurated, setting up websites and Facebook pages asking people to sign a petition to "Recall Rick" -- something the state Constitution doesn’t allow.

Democrats have tried to introduce bills that would allow the recall of state officials.

The Florida Constitution does allow the governor, as well as lieutenant governor, members of the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of district courts of appeal, judges of circuit courts and judges of county courts to face impeachment for a misdemeanor in office.

With Republican majorities firmly in place in the state Legislature, don’t hold your breath waiting for the House to advance charges and the Senate to try the case.

Smith said an irony in Florida is that Rick Scott’s approval numbers are lower than Walker’s. But Smith added that part of that may be that residents feel some frustration that they don’t have a recall avenue.

But will there be any spillover from Wisconsin into Florida and the national election?  

Smith said it’s difficult to speculate how recall results will play out in the fall.

He noted that in October 2003, California voters replaced Democratic Gov. Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the West Coast state remained firmly in the Democratic camp, providing a 10 percent margin for John Kerry as President George W. Bush was returned to a second term.

“The national pundits are looking at this as some sort of national referendum, but I think this is some very unusual circumstance,” Smith said. “The recalling of a Democratic governor in California did not have any effect on the presidential election of 2004."

Financially, the race is now showing shortage of money for the political world as the economy is trying to rebound.

Walker has raised about $31 million, with broad national support. In March he took a day-trip to Palm Beach where he netted at least $200,000.

Barrett has pulled in $4.2 million, of which $3.4 million came in during the past five weeks.

The Fiscal Times reports that for all the union bluster, the Wisconsin Republican Party and the Republican National Committee have out-hustled the Wisconsin Democratic Party, the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic National Committee.

“An array of high-profile Republican governors, including Chris Christie of New Jersey, Niki Haley of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Bob McDonnell of Virginia, have traveled to Wisconsin to campaign for Walker,” the Fiscal Times reported. “In contrast, many national Democrats, including some of President Obama’s advisers, have been wary of the recall effort from the start and have largely been keeping their distance.”



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.