The Obama administration downplayed expectations for the recall election in Wisconsin Tuesday, with White House press secretary Jay Carney saying that the outcome would not necessarily be a preview of November’s election results.
Carney was asked whether President Barack Obama was following the recall election, and whether he felt the results would be predictive of the mood of the electorate.
“I would simply say,” he replied, “not speaking for him because I haven’t had this conversation with him, but noting what others have noted — in your profession and elsewhere — that a race where one side is outspending the other by a ratio of at least eight to one probably won’t tell us much about a future race.”
Carney said the president was “aware of the recall election,” but “not following it minute-by-minute.”
He noted that Obama had tweeted his support for Gov. Scott Walker’s Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, earlier on Tuesday.
Obama has not campaigned for Barrett and has generally stayed out of the race. His re-election campaign, however, released a YouTube video ad Tuesday that is supportive of Barrett’s candidacy. (RELATED: Obama tweets his token support for Wisc. Democrat)
Obama himself does not appear anywhere in the ad.
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