MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Milwaukee mayor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett said today that he doesn't think President Obama's recent show of support — a tweet, a fundraising email, and a web video — was too little, too late, as some observers have alleged.
"We're very pleased with the support we've received," Barrett said in response to BuzzFeed's question at a press availability after a meet-and-greet at an Obama campaign office in North Milwaukee.
Barrett said his campaign "started as a grassroots movement, and it will end as a grassroots movement. And I think that that's fitting."
"Of course, if anybody wants to come here and help me campaign, I'd love to have it. But I never felt for one second that that's what I wanted to do, and quite honestly that's one of the differences between me and Scott Walker in this campaign," Barrett said. "I never wanted to make this a national race."
"I thought this should be about Wisconsin values."
Barrett struck a slightly fatalistic note when asked what his election would mean for the labor movement, and predicted tomorrow's "post-mortems" in the news.
"I'm sure that there are going to be postscripts and post-mortems about the labor movement, and about the White House, about Scott Walker, about me," Barrett said.