Romney optimistic about winning Wisconsin

JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Mitt Romney sought yesterday to capitalize on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's victory in a contentious recall election and predicted that momentum from that race will help him win the state come November and, with it, the White House.

Wisconsin hasn't voted for a Republican for president since 1984, and President Barack Obama won big here in 2008. But Republicans sense an opportunity after Walker survived a Democratic push to oust him after he took on public sector unions. So does Romney, who had Walker at his side yesterday.

"I think President Obama had just put this in his column," Romney told cheering supporters inside a textile company as his six-state bus tour brought him to Janesville, about 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee. "He just assumed from the very beginning that Wisconsin was going to be his. But you know what? We're going to win Wisconsin and we're going to get in the White House."

Romney also was joined by Rep. Paul Ryan, the architect of the House Republican budget that would restructure federal entitlement programs. Ryan's hometown of Janesville was hit hard by the recession; a General Motors plant that once employed thousands closed in 2009.

The stop opened the fourth day of a five-day bus tour that has taken Romney from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Yesterday's itinerary included stops in Iowa, for a boat tour in Dubuque and a rally in Davenport. He planned to campaign Tuesday in Michigan, the final day of this swing.

Ryan is one of several potential vice presidential picks to campaign with Romney during the tour. Romney has also appeared with New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.

Ryan's district in southern Wisconsin, heavy with both factories and farms, is typically carried by Democrats running for president. Obama carried the state by 14 points in 2008 -- an unusual margin, given that John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000 each won Wisconsin by less than a single percentage point.

Much of the state has shifted decidedly to the right since Obama delivered a speech in Janesville in 2008.