In Wisconsin, Recall Politics Overshadow Primary : NPR
Wisconsin holds its primary next Tuesday, but the Republican presidential candidates are having to work just to get voters’ attention.
Wisconsin is a place that has, for more than a year, been consumed by its own brutal political battles: Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s push to severely weaken public employee unions triggered massive protests last year and a series of recall votes, including one for Walker himself expected in June.
So what’s a presidential candidate to do?
Mitt Romney is leading the rest of the GOP field in state polls and wants a win to reinforce growing sentiment that he can’t be stopped on his way to the party’s nomination.
Meanwhile, his main opponent, Rick Santorum, has been working the state hard, visiting bowling alleys, Elks clubs and neighborhood hangouts hoping to score a win in an important Midwestern state and give his campaign some new life.
As for the voters, their focus appears to be elsewhere.
“There really is an attention deficit here. People are paying more attention to the recall and somewhat less to the … primary,” says Charles Franklin, a professor who does polling at Marquette University.