Governor Scott Walker will deliver his second State of the State address tonight at the Capitol. UW-Milwaukee political scientist Mordecai Lee says the speech will focus largely on why Walker’s agenda is moving the state in the right direction.
While the shadow of a recall is looming over his office, Lee does not expect Walker to directly address it in his speech. He says the State of the State is formal governmental event and Walker will need to be careful not to have an overt “don’t recall me” kind of theme that could only inflame critics.
AUDIO: Mordecai Lee (:23)
Democrats are also looking forward to how Walker approaches his speech. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) says it will be interesting to see if the governor addresses the polarized political climate in the state and what he plans to do about it.
While he’s not expecting many details or specifics about proposals, Barca says he would like to see some indication of plan to reverse the thousands of jobs the state has lost over the last six months.
Walker’s State of the State last year came less than two weeks before he announced his proposed changes to collective bargaining, which he made no mention of in the speech. Barca hopes the governor will be more up front this time about what’s to come, saying it was a disservice last time around not to give some indication that “bombshell” was coming.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:13)
Walker will deliver his address at seven this evening before a joint session of the Legislature. You can listen to it live at WRN.com
Security for the speech is expected to be quite heavy, in anticipation of possible protests against the governor. State troopers are being called in to bolster the Capitol police presence.
WIBA’s John Colbert contributed to this report.