Obama: Tom Barrett for Governor

Obama acts as if he's chairman of the Democratic National Committee rather than the president of the United States.

Last month, the Obama White House was meddling in New York's gubernatorial election, urging incumbent David Paterson to withdraw from the race.

Now, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice, Obama is meddling in Wisconsin's politics.

As Mayor Tom Barrett dilly-dallies over whether he should run for governor next year, he now must take this into consideration:

The White House badly wants him to enter the race for Wisconsin's top job.

"They want to keep Wisconsin in Democratic hands," said one top adviser to Barrett. "They see Tom as the best way to do that."

...But the president's team isn't leaning on Barrett to run just because of some personal fondness for the guy, say those close to the mayor.

Instead, White House officials have been privy to some private poll numbers that show Barrett beating either of the two main Republican contenders, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker or former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann.

Having a Democrat in the governor's mansion would make it much easier for Obama to win Wisconsin, traditionally a swing state, in 2012. Obama easily won the Wisconsin primary and general elections last year.

"I can't say if Barrett has talked directly to the president," said one top Democrat. "But I know the White House is behind Barrett."

In truth, Obama and the mayor haven't spoken to one another since their chat after the August attack, and as you'd expect, the gubernatorial race wasn't a topic in that conversation, say aides to Barrett. Just a day before the attack, it leaked out that Gov. Jim Doyle would not seek a third term.

Since then, however, a half-dozen key Barrett backers confirmed, White House officials have repeatedly made it very clear that the Obama administration is on board with the mayor. Barrett officials all declined to be named for fear of angering members of Obama's team.

"These people don't (expletive) around," said one Wisconsin Dem.

That's right. Obama and his thugs don't (expletive) around.

Key Barrett backers wouldn't want to anger any of the thugs on Obama's team. They're ruthless, and they've adopted a bunker mentality.

Obama thinks Barrett can win in Wisconsin.

I think Obama is out of touch with Americans. A lot has changed since the 2008 election.

People don't like what Obama has done and the way he's done it.

The promise of change that swept Obama into the Oval Office has been exposed as crap. People aren't buying Obama's pretty little platitudes anymore. He's an extremist surrounded by Leftist radicals, really out of the mainstream.

Will Barrett succumb to the pressure from Obama's thugs?

Who knows?

Maybe Barrett hasn't declared himself as a candidate because he's playing hard to get. Maybe he wants solid backing from Obama.

Maybe he's just not sure. He may lack confidence that he can beat a strong candidate like Scott Walker. That's completely understandable.

Obviously, Obama's team must think that Walker is capable of winning Wisconsin or it wouldn't be digging around for someone to run against him. The Obama thugs must realize that Walker can't be easily defeated.

But why Barrett? If they want a formidable Dem candidate, they need to find an "anti-Jim Doyle." Someone who's a social moderate and fiscal conservative would be a better choice, someone unlike Obama.

Barrett and Obama are too similar.

They both can't make up their minds.

As Bice puts it, Barrett is "dawdling" over whether to run for governor. Obama is also a dawdler.

We've seen that in his failure to decide what to do about his war in Afghanistan. He's a commander in chief who won't issue commands. The Obama White House can't even decide on a successful strategy for its war on FOX News.

The Dems are in disarray.

What would Mao do?