Wisconsin Gov. Walker in line for speaking spot at Republican convention

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TheHill:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s triumph in a Tuesday recall election has cemented his status among the GOP’s “bright, shining stars” and put him in line for a prime-time speaking slot at the national convention in August, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said Wednesday.

“He’s got a pretty good advocate here at the RNC,” Priebus told The Hill.

Priebus, who was born in Wisconsin and formerly ran the state GOP there, called Walker a close friend and suggested he would be exactly the kind of person the party seeks to highlight at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

“I’m going to do what’s best for winning the presidency, and having a convention with bold leaders and great ideas is something that I intend to do,” Priebus said. “Scott Walker is in the category of bright, shining stars with big ideas in this country.”

Republicans across the country are crowing over Walker’s victory and vowing to replicate his success nationwide, calling it a referendum on GOP efforts to rein in public spending. The massive blow to unions could also deprive Democrats of one of their most effective and best-funded organizing forces.

Democrats insist that special-interest dollars from out of state fueled Walker’s win and that little should be surmised about its implications for the presidential race in the fall.

But Republicans are calling it a powerful omen that the momentum they had in 2010 has not dissipated.

“Democrats should be shaking in their boots,” said Charlie Black, an informal adviser to Mitt Romney and a GOP strategist. “They did a good job turning out their vote and they still lost big, so where do they go from there?”

Black added that the more than $10 million unions spent on their failed efforts to oust Walker would leave them with less in their coffers to disburse for President Obama in the fall.

For unions and the Democrats who rely on them, the losses on Tuesday were suffered on two fronts. The failure of their massive and costly campaign to recall Walker — which leading national Democrats called a dry run for November — dealt an undeniable blow to the party’s morale and self-confidence, which could have reverberating effects on fundraising and grassroots efforts.

Over the long term, the vote of confidence in GOP-led efforts to curb the power of unions could wreak havoc for Democrats if it leads to an emasculation of unions as potent political organizations.

Although the recall effort against Walker quickly devolved into a national proxy battle between the two parties, it was anti-union legislation championed by Walker that had incensed Democrats in the first place. Walker emphatically cut spending and stripped state workers of most of their rights to bargain collectively through their unions.