Tom Barrett gets an Obama campaign assist in Wisconsin recall against Scott Walker

President Barack Obama's campaign is supporting
Democrat Tom Barrett in the recall election against
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (White House) President Obama's campaign is getting involved in the Wisconsin recall, sending an email supporting Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's challenge to Gov. Scott Walker:

The next election here in Wisconsin is coming up on June 5th -- and it's important to make sure your voice is heard.

For the last year and a half, Governor Walker has divided Wisconsin -- siding with big corporations and the super-rich at the expense of working, middle-class families. He's broken our trust in state government: Too many Wisconsin families are out of work, students face crowded classrooms, and working men and women will be hurt by cuts to health care funding.

Amanda Terkel reports that, given changes to Wisconsin's voting rules designed to make it harder to vote:

An Obama campaign official said the presidential campaign's involvement in the state will focus on voter education: making sure people know who is eligible to vote, when to vote and where. [...]

"Something we've been working on, almost since the beginning of the year, is making sure that people understand what is required of them," said the Obama campaign official, who requested anonymity to speak openly.

The recall provides an obvious opportunity to make Wisconsin friendlier territory for Barack Obama, eliminating the chance that the state would in other ways make it more difficult for Democratic-leaning demographic groups to vote and in other ways taking the Scott Walker-led Republican boot off the neck of Wisconsin Democrats and their allies. But it's also an important dry run for the Obama campaign's efforts to turn out voters and make sure they're actually able to vote, uncovering problems with time to address them for the November elections. As such, it's a win-win situation'Tom Barrett gets help on June 5, and every Democrat on the November ballot is in a stronger position.