A couple of updates on the campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin:
Walker spoke out today in support of a lawsuit filed by the state Republican Party demanding that the state Government Accountability Board be tasked with challenging duplicate petition signatures for disqualification in the recall campaign against him.
At a news conference Monday, Walker mentioned a news report of a person saying he signed a recall petition at least 80 times is a sign that the GAB should take additional steps to review the petitions.
State Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski said Walker's criticisms are an attempt to distract from the recall effort.
Meantime, The Nation's John Nichols reports that of the $5 million Walker has raised for his campaign, nearly half ($2,390,000) has come from out of state.
Nichols writes:
Money is a powerful force in our politics, to be sure. But it will take a lot more than millions of imported dollars to convince Wisconsinites they should vote for more job losses, more slashing of services and more cuts to education.
The effort to recall Walker was triggered by a bill he signed into law that greatly restricts collective bargaining for public employees.
United Wisconsin coalition says it has collected more than 507,000 signatures in just 30 days. They need 540,208 signatures by Jan. 17 to force a recall election.