Wisconsin Dems are kicking off their efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker, starting at midnight — but even before that, Walker is set to run a TV ad defending his record, and urging against a recall.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Walker campaign has purchased more than $300,000 of air time between Monday and Sunday, according to sources, in the Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison and Wausau media markets.
Tonight’s ad will run during tonight’s football game, between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.
The ad features a woman who is identified as a school board member, and by her first name of Karin. (A Google search finds that she is Karin Rajnicek, a member of the conservative Waukesha School Board, who was elected this past April.)
“We were worried when the state budget was gonna mean less money for our school district. And we have 25 schools,” says Rajnicek. “But Governor Walker — he gave us options that reduced our biggest costs, so that we could put more money back into our classrooms.”
Then the ad cuts to Walker, speaking to the camera: “I’m committed to working together, to create more jobs, to improve our schools, and to protect our seniors. You know, Wisconsin’s best days are yet to come. It won’t happen overnight, but we are on our way.”
The onscreen text then declares: “Progress: Yes”; “Recall: No.”
When asked for comment, state Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski told TPM: “The DPI report [the state Department of Public Instruction] shows definitively that Scott Walker is destroying public education. To get a partisan Waukesha Republican to distort the record shows how desperate he has become.”
