Walker in Weston: 'I'm the No. 1 target in America'

WESTON — With New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour standing by his side inside a sprawling Wausau Supply Co. manufacturing facility, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told a group of supporters Friday that he needed their votes to fight the "Washington-based special interests."

"The ads, the tens of millions of dollars the Washington-based special interest groups are funding," Walker said. "You notice the trend. Almost all of the ads are talking about why they're against me. You know what my ads say? ... They're me sitting on the couch, talking like I'm talking to you, talking about what I'm for. My opponent is against something; I am for something."

The fact that Christie, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Barbour, the former chairman of the RGA, traveled to Wisconsin to stump for Walker underscored the national significance of the tight race between Walker and his Democratic opponent, Mary Burke, Walker said.

"All these groups came in and said I'm their No. 1 target in the country," Walker said. "Not the No. 1 governor, but the No. 1 target in America. Do you know why? Because I took their power away."

Christie focused on the candidates, not the issues, in his speech in support of Walker. "We know there will be discussions on taxes, spending, job creation, education," Christie said. "Those are things you can predict. ... There are lots of things that happen when you're governor that you can't predict. ... It's about honesty and integrity."

Walker has those qualities, Christie said. "Does he keep his word? When he says something, does he not only talk the talk but walk the walk? Is he willing to put up with the slings and arrows that come with leadership, when you actually make the decision? I say yes."

Both Christie and Walker have come under heavy scrutiny in their positions. Christie was under fire for bridgegate earlier this year, when lanes of the George Washington Bridge were closed, allegedly as political payback. Walker has been at the center of an investigation into allegations that there was illegal coordination between Walker's recall campaign and conservative groups supporting him.

Walker said his campaign is about building on the state's recovery, and running on his actions of the last four years, which included limiting the bargaining powers of most public employee unions. That's why unions and other special interests "want me out," Walker said.

It's a message the resonated with Forrest Gross, 37, of Rudolph, an elecromechanical technician at the Wausau Supply factory. All the employees of the plant were invited to attend the stump speeches, he said, "and I took them up on it."

He'll vote for Walker, he said. "I kind of feel like things are heading in the right direction," Gross said. "And I want that to continue."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651. Find him on Twitter as @UhligK.