Tea Party Could Save Gov. Walker in Wisconsin Recall
Tea Party groups are making significant efforts in support of Gov. Scott Walker ahead of Tuesday's recall election.
"I think the underreported story here is what's going on on the ground in Wisconsin as it relates to the Tea Party," CBN News Chief Political Correspondent David Brody said in a panel discussion on "Fox News Sunday."
Democrats and labor unions initiated the recall after Walker passed reforms that would limit the political influence of public sector unions.
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Brody added that there have been many Tea Party groups active there for over a year including Tea Party Express, Tea Party Patriots, Americans for Prosperity, and Freedomworks. If Walker were to win, Brody believes the victory would represent the "crowning jewel" of the Tea Party movement since the 2010 elections.
Liberal Fox News analyst Juan Williams added that a Walker victory would help energize Tea Party voters, a base of the Republican Party, and could help Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney win the state in November.
"The Republican base in Wisconsin is going to feel like, wow, we are Superman, we saved the day," Williams said.
Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, acknowledged the importance of the Tea Party at a Tea Party rally Saturday in Racine, Wis.
"Thank God for the Tea Party," Priebus told the crowd.
In an interview during the event with Breitbart News' Dana Loesch, Priebus spoke about the importance of the Tea Party and the Republican Party working together.
The Republican Party is not "in competition with the conservative movement, we're just part of it," Priebus said, "and, I have to do my little part of running a functional, operational party, raise money, stay on message, watch my mouth, but, be part of the conservative movement, which includes the Tea Party."
Priebus added that the Republican Party and Tea Party learned well how to work together during the 2010 elections.
Conservative Washington Post columnist George Will called Wisconsin's recall election a "microcosm of what the country faces," on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.
"You have this extraordinary conflict there, where unions are defending their privileged position and it does look as though the Wisconsin people are going to try and take that back," Will said.
Liberal New York Times columnist and Princeton economist Paul Krugman agreed, appearing on the same panel as Will, he said that the recall is a microcosm of a national debate, but disagreed on what that debate is about.
"It's not fiscal responsibility versus irresponsibility. It is a vision of what kind of country you want to have and whether we're going to redistribute income upwards," Krugman said.
A RealClearPolitics average of five separate polls shows Walker leading his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, by 6.6 percentage points.
