Gov. Walker, Barrett to go head-to-head in debate

MADISON -- Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett are set to debate Friday night, May 25th.

The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association will moderate the hour-long event, sponsored in part by FOX6 News.

The debate starts at 8:00 p.m., and will be broadcast on TV 6.2 -- Channel 986 on Time Warner Cable and Channel 967 on Charter Cable.

The debate will also stream live at FOX6Now.com.

Amid signs that the effort to oust Walker is losing ground, Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders are preparing a fundraising and get-out-the-vote push to regain momentum in the final weeks before the June recall election.

Opponents of Walker are concerned that the governor, aided by a huge influx of money from conservative supporters nationwide, has opened a lead in a race that had been dead even in the polls.

Walker, who has raised $25 million, has been blanketing Wisconsin with broadcast advertising touting his handling of the economy. His Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett, who did not win his party's primary until May 8, has raised only $1 million and not been able to match the blitz. The most recent public poll on the race released last week showed Walker leading by 6 points.

The effort to recall Walker, which began after he successfully pushed to remove the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, has become a nationally watched battle over worker rights.

Democratic strategists say Barrett can still rebound with a new surge of advertising and volunteer work before the June 5 vote.

Those on both sides agree that getting voters to the polls will be more important that swaying the undecided, who may only amount to a few percent of the electorate.

Turnout should be high. A poll released last week by Marquette University Law School poll found that 91 percent of Republicans said they were "absolutely certain'' to vote, compared with 83 percent of Democrats and independents.

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