Mismatch of Support in Wisconsin - Republican Stars Stump for Gov. Walker in Recall Election, While Most Democrats Steer Clear

From The Wall Street Journal:

When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker found himself fighting for his political life, many of the Republican Party's rising stars had one thing to say: How can we help?

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana hopped on a plane to urge Wisconsin voters to support Mr. Walker in a recall election, coming up on Tuesday. New Jersey's Chris Christie, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, also visited. A planned trip by Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia was thwarted by storms; he went on TV to praise Mr. Walker.

And the Democrats? Their eagerness to enter the contest has been noticeably more muted. Though former president Bill Clinton visited Friday to energize the party base, few other Democratic luminaries have shown up, and the White House has been restrained in its show of support.

The stakes are high in Tuesday's expensive and bitter recall vote, triggered by a union-led backlash to Mr. Walker's law limiting collective bargaining by public-sector unions. But the paucity of top Democratic figures standing by Mr. Walker's opponent suggests what independent polls have indicated—that the tide may have turned the GOP's way.

Conservatives say a win by Mr. Walker would show that a political leader can take on organized labor, traditionally an opponent of the Republican Party in policy debates and elections, and survive. Democrats and their labor-union allies fear a Walker victory would hasten the decline of organized labor. They are backing Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democrat who appears on the recall ballot as a replacement for Mr. Walker.