we'll get a response from craig gilbert.uest: well, you know, this race obviously is getting a lot of attention. i think from the white house's point of view, it really wasn't necessarily a battle of their choosing and that's why you're seeing them hold off because if you come in and you play and you lose, you know, the risk is that you elevate -- you elevate the stakes, you rebelevate the gover by taking him on and losing but the caller is right that there's a lot of other issues in play here besides just collective bargaining and the governor of wisconsin has had a very aggressive agenda and -- and it's an agenda that has, as i mentioned earlier, a lot of political complications as well as public policy implications. they did pass a pretty far reaching voter i.d. law that is held up in court so aspects of it aren't in place for this election but it's one that democrats are fighting very bitterly because they argue that it will depress or suppress the votes of students and people of color, poor people who are part of genera

so craig gilbert, we've talked about this before, now you can tell us the answer. how did scott walker do it? >> well, ironically, as polarized as wisconsin, is i think charles franklin is right. there is a middle, there are ticket-splitters, there are swing voters. those obama/walker supporters we see in the exit polls, which is about 10% of the people that voted tuesday really symbolize that group and scott walker won that battle. so it's... everybody is not in one of these two armed camps. not to down play it at all. but this will come into play in november in the battle for wisconsin in the presidential race. president obama has a narrow lead right now in the polling but, you know, he has to close the deal with these pragmatic voters that are not voting on ideology, they're voting on performance and they're voting on optimism, pessimism and the economy. >> ifill: craig, was the margin of victory a surprise to you? >> you know, not a shock. i mean, one... in fact, charles franklin's poll had it exactly at seven points. i thought it would be a little closer. a lo

host: craig gilbert is joining us from ohio. thank you for being with us. guest: nice to be with you. host: what do we expect on tuesday? in terms of turnout, we have seen the polls show that governor walker is slightly ahead in some polls and democrats say it will attend -- will depend on turnout tuesday. what can we expect? guest: there has been amazingly little public polling so we just don't have a lot to go on especially given the national interest in this race. people are expecting a big turnout. this is a political conflict that has consumed the state for 60 months and everything is building toward tuesday. the same two candidates in 2010 had 50% of voting age adults in the state them out to vote and a presidential race in 2008 was 70%. we have not had -- and a governor's race where the turnout reached 53% in 50 years or 60 years. it can be fascinating to see how much higher than 2010 turnout goes. most people think it will be higher and democrats think the closer it gets to presidential levels, the better off they are. host: let me show you byron yo

steve hayes stan "weekly standa" welcome craig gilbert for "milwaukee sentinel journal." g, the sense of today from exit polls and what we hear anecdotally throughout the state? >> it underscores the intensity and the deep division in the state. what i see in system of the exit polling is people for example aren't just divided over the collective bargaining but they are deeply divided. everybody is either very approving or very disapproving of how governor walker handled the issue. the other striking thing is nobody decided late in this race. if you look at the numbers, everybody decided some time ago. very few voters decided in the last few days. >> bret: steve, we knew turn-out would be big. the state was predicting 60 to 65%. we don't have all the numbers but clearly the state was energized. >> yes. it sounds like that number is going to be accurate. maybe even slightly low depending on what happens in the last couple of hours. you're hearing report all morning. i talked to someone votes in town of wharton, heavily pro-walker town and votes every election at lunchtime.

chris alyssa of the sentinel journal's craig gilbert and haley barber.hine national committee and the democrats. was it politics or policy. the debate over the pay equity bill and the syrian rebels. you may be surprised on "andrea mitchell reports". >>>> tonight we tell wisconsin and people across the globe that voters want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. >> right now on andr"andrea mitl report reports", walker runs away with it. what does wisconsin mean for november? there he goes again. bill clinton sparking headaches for president obama with talks of recession and extending the bush tax cuts. >> i don't have a problem with extending all of it now including the current spending levels. they are still pretty low. the spending levels. i think they look high because there is a recession. >> did senate republicans fall into a gender trap. explaining the vote against pay equity for women. who would have thought this face would have this voice. the young man who took "america's got talent" by storm and went viral overnight.

craig gilbert, thanks for joining us. does the victory many that they have a shot at becoming the first republican to win since 1984. "the washington post" chief correspondent and author of the take. hey, dan. what do you think the larger message is. for the republicans and the labor movement. >> the republicans are going to take a boost out of what happened yesterday. fairly or unfairly. i think they will look to a couple of different things they were able to do in wisconsin and see if they can translate that or replicate it in the fall. romney will have a chance of being competitive. the role of money. if there is one thing that worries the obama campaign beyond the economy, it's the amount of outside spending that republican groups will be doing in the fall against president obama. we saw the power of that in wisconsin and if that happens again, that will be a boost. on the flip side of that, there is another element to this. scott walkner wisconsin is a real hero. i was in a republican event just before the presidenti

first up craig gilbert of the sentinel joins us. >> thank you. >> take us back to how it all started. this is the first time they have had a recall. >> only the third time in american history it happened. he was swept into office with the republican legislature in 2010 and surprised a lot of people by announcing he was going to curb collective bargaining. it create add fur or on the left and among laborers set off protests and now recalls. >> did he ever say it in the race he intended it? when he was rudging for office -- running for office as governor did he talk about this? >> he talked about concessions and unions but didn't talk about going after kolt elective bargaining rights and union certification the way he did. it is shocking to people in his own party. >> in the midst of all of this to add more drama to it a number of democratic senators hit the road whether there would be a collective bargaining session. >> they went to illinois. in retrospect i think both parties thought it was a smart tactic. it could have been a two-or three-day battle and then forgotten. it resulted in

chris alyssa of the sentinel journal's craig gilbert and haley barber.hine national committee and the democrats. was it politics or policy. the debate over the pay equity bill and the syrian rebels. you may be surprised on "andrea mitchell reports". >>>> tonight we tell wisconsin and people across tlo

. >> greta: craig gilbert joins us of the "milwaukee sentinel journal." >> good to be here. >> greta:e american people what is the message if mayor tom barrett wins and what if the message is governor scott walker is re-elected? >> it does have broader implication. there is a clash between business and labor that played out in other states as well, so it has implications for that. implications for november. as we know, the obama campaign designated wisconsin as one of seven true tossups. wisconsin is the only one of the states that has been a consistent blue state over the last umpteen presidential elections. democrats have their hands full defending wisconsin. if walker wins, the romney campaign, you know will go full bore after wisconsin. >> greta: interesting you say that about president obama. president obama didn't campaign here. he was in minneapolis for three fundraisers last friday. did the flyover, didn't refuel in wisconsin. went tipples. never bothered to stop here. president clinton came here. is that a message, you sate it's a tossup state. that doesn't send a good messag

first up, craig gilbert of the "milwaukee journal sentinel" joins us. thanks for joining us. this is the first time that wisconsin had a recall for governor. >> only the third time in american history this happened. it happened when governor walker was swept into office along with the republican legislature in the wave election of 2010 and then surprised a lot of people by announceing that he was going to curb collective bar gaining for public employees. it created a furor on the left and among labor and set off protests and now recalls. >> greta: did he say in the race that he intended to do that or did it catch everybody by surprise? when was running for governor did he say this is what he was going to do? >> he talked about concessions by unions and public employees but didn't talk about going after collective bar gaining rights and union certification the way he did. it really was a shock including to some people in his own party. >> greta: in the midst of all this to add more drama to it, a number of democratic senators decided to hit the road when there was going to be

first up, craig gilbert of the "milwaukee journal sentinel" joins us. thanks for joining us. this is the first time that wisconsin had a recall for governor. >> only the third time in american history this happened. it happened when governor walker was swept into office along with the republican legislature in the wave election of 2010 and then surprised a lot of people by announceing that he was going to curb collective bar gaining for public employees. it created a furor on the left and among labor and set off protests and now recalls. >> greta: did he say in the race that he intended to do that or did it catch everybody by surprise? when was running for governor did he say this is what he was going to do? >> he talked about concessions by unions and public employees but didn't talk about going after collective bar gaining rights and union certification the way he did. it really was a shock including to some people in his own party. >> greta: in the midst of all this to add more drama to it, a number of democratic senators decided to hit the road when there was going to be

we are joined by craig gilbert of the milwaukee journal.he recall election takes place in tuesday at 745 -- takes place next tuesday. this starts at 7:45 a.m. we will talk about yesterday program in europe -- the austerity program in europe. at ninth about 3:00 p.m., we will talk about what is going on in syria, particularly as the u.s. considers a role. that'll take place tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. do not forget, "newsmakers" starts at 10:00 a.m. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> our guest this week as enforcement chief for the securities and exchange