There are still plenty of signatures to be gathered in the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker. Recall organizers announced this week they’d reached the 300,000 signature mark, and it’s not likely to get easier going forward, according to University of Wisconsin political scientist Barry Burden. “The group’s made tremendous success. In a couple of weeks, to be halfway to their target roughly is pretty impressive,” said Burden. “In a way they’ve already gathered the low hanging fruit, going to places where they know there are a lot of folks who want to sign. It’s going to be harder as the holidays approach to keep up the pace.”
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:60)
The recall effort has until January 17th to collect 540,000 signatures, although it’s expected they’ll try to get more to provide a cushion against challenges. “I think everyone believes that the groups are on track to collect the signatures,” said Burden. “Both Republicans and Democrats are betting on it. The progress they’ve made to this point suggests there’s a lot of enthusiasm for signing. Being halfway there with still six weeks to go, it looks do-able to me.”
Even Walker, in an interview Wednesday with CNBC, conceded recall organizers would likely collect the needed signatures. “My guess is they probably will,” he said.