so even if the polling heading into today's voting put the republican governor scott walker ahead and consistently ahead, well, maybe there's big turnout means that democrats were evening it up. evening it up on election day with these big turnout numbers. when we saw the exit polls today, the answers to the surveys of voters after they were done voting in wisconsin today, we saw those and it, again, seemed like it was going to be a long night and those exit polls showing an incredibly close race. they showed that union households in particular, were out in force. union households voting in a higher proportion of the electorate may have been voting in 2010. and they're voting just as heavily as they did in that previous election for democrat tom barrett over scott walker. exit polls also showed that women were voting in favor of tom barrett by a significant margin. two indicators that made it seem like we would be in for a really long night and we had always planned to be on live tonight at midnight eastern but, frankly, the way we were talking about this nerng e thing in terms of

attack, scott walker will face the people. this is "the ed show." this is history. let's get to work. >> if you win, what do you think it means? >> i think it's a victory for courage not only here in wisconsin but across the country. >> the polls are tightening. there are boots on the ground. and the milwaukee mayor says he will defeat scott walker. >> i am going to win it. we are very, very positive. >> tonight tom barrett brings the fight for the middle class "the ed show." >>> scott walker is denying new allegations about state's john doe investigation. >>> republican state senator thinks scott walker reforms are working. he will defend his position here tonight. >>> despite getting out spent by outside money, democrats like the reverend jesse jackson say they will turn out the vote in wisconsin. >> if they can march in selma and montgomery, i can march right down the street. >> the civil rights leader joins me live in madison. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. the long road to the recall elections here in wisconsin is now over. tomorrow voters will decide the fat

well there. but tom barrett the democrat getting 60% and scott walker getting 40% right there. tom barrett needs to be at about 70%. he needs to be up around 70% in this key county right there. let's come back to the map here a little bit. come over here to the mill kauky suburbs. this is waukesha county. the key county for republicans in this state. 75%, scott walker got just over 70% last time. he's overperforming. what we are seeing as we go from county to county in all of the key counties, come up here, brown county where green bay st, walker getti inting 60% with 70 the vote in. that's an improvement from two years ago. you can pick your key county across the state. everything we see so far. the republican incumbent, scott walker overperforming and barrett is underperforming. we'll break it down what it means for the state tonight, what it means for the election come november. dana bash is at governor walker's headquarters. the former white house press secretary for george w. bush, ari fleischer and also, paul begala, also an adviser for the pro obama super pac priorities usa.

about two-thirds of governor scott walker's donations are from out of state compared to about one-fourth for tom barrett. this is not going to be an easy night for many broadcasters who are liberal. this is not going to be an easy night for this broadcaster, to say that i'm shocked and stunned is pretty much an understatement. but i also think that as a real warning to americans, that money is now infiltrated into our political system like we have never seen before. and the ruling by citizens united is now a real message to every american. it is going to take an insurmountable amount of effort on the ground for the progressive move. and the democrats to do what they need to do in 2012. and this is also a real message to local politics that this money will filter down and citizen united will affect federal and state elections over time. this is not a good night for labor unions. this is not a good night for wage earners or the democratic party. it's a tough one to take but it's about being in the fight. it's about believing what you believe in. and sticking to your guns and not giv

at least the exit polls showed for scott walker. cnn can now project that the republican governor will retain his job as the governor of wisconsin. a close race. the republicans obviously spent a lot more money, but scott walker will remain as governor of wisconsin. i'm wolf blitzer in for piers morgan. our coverage continues right now on "ac 360." >>> i'm john king in for anderson cooper. let's go with the breaking news tonight. cnn now projecting scott walker the republican governor of wisconsin will withstand a recall challenge from tom barrett. the republican winning in a hotly contested nationally watched recall election. the big issue at the beginning, governor walker's efforts to curtain the rights of public employees union. in the middle of a gig budget crisis. tens of millions of dollars spent on the recall election. about 27% of the vote in, governor walker leading by 60% to 40%. our exit poll shows the race to be closer than that. let's take a break to the magic wall to show why we're predicting why walker will keep his job as governor of wisconsin. number one, it's obv

having just closed, in the recall of governor scott walker, the results that we've got in right now are these. nbc news is declaring the race too close to call. we've got a grand total of 0% in. we're obviously going to be watching this. the important thing is the too close to call declaration from nbc as the precincts come in we'll be on it. also is the state's lieutenant governor. scott walker is only the third governor in american history to face a recall as governor. three in american history. rebecca kleefisch is the first lieutenant governor to ever face a recall, period. she faces mahlon mitchell. he's a madison wisconsin firefighter. also in this race in the lieutenant governor's recall race in wisconsin, nbc news is calling this too close to call. democrats have put four republican state senate seats up for recall. the highest profile one is the seat of this senate president. it's considered to be the most republican district in the state of wisconsin. very, very conservative district. republican scott fitzgerald is the senate majority leader. he's facts a long shot but spu

cooper. let's go with the breaking news tonight. cnn now projecting scott walker the republican governor of wisconsin will withstand a recall challenge from tom barrett. the republican winning in a hotly contested nationally watched recall election. the big issue at the beginning, governor walker's efforts to curtain the rights of public employees union. in the middle of a gig budget crisis. tens of millions of dollars spent on the recall election. about 27% of the vote in, governor walker leading by 60% to 40%. our exit poll shows the race to be closer than that. let's take a break to the magic wall to show why we're predicting why walker will keep his job as governor of wisconsin. number one, it's obvious. red is republican. you see a lot of red. dane county here, this is the key county for democrat, 8% of the population. democrats say their turnout operation worked well there. but tom barrett the democrat getting 60% and scott walker getting 40% right there. barrett needs to be up around 70% in this key county right there. let's come back to the map here a little bit. this is

>> tonight tom barrett brings the fight for the middle class "the ed show." >>> scott walker is denying new allegations about state's john doe investigation. >>> republican state senator thinks scott walker reforms are working. he will defend his position here tonight. >>> despite getting out spent by outside money, democrats like the reverend jesse jackson say they will turn out the vote in wisconsin. >> if they can march in selma and montgomery, i can march right down the street. >> the civil rights leader joins me live in madison. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. the long road to the recall elections are now over. tomorrow voters will decide the fate of governor scott walker for only the third time in recall election history in this country. a recent university poll has scott walker with a seven-point lead over tom barrett. many democrats are questioning that. the newest poll from public policy polling shows walker only had a three-point lead. i have been in wisconsin this past weekend stopping by in racine and burlington and north milwaukee. there was unbel

, republican scott walker of wisconsin became the first governor to survive a recall in american history. he will be my special guest later in the program. but i am also joined in studio by an audience of business expert, political commentators and others. over the course of the next hour, we will examine the influence that unions have over our elected representatives, the dirty tricks they have used to support left-wing politicians, the impact on our public schools and much, much more. here to help kick things off, we bring in our studio audience. bright, smart, the best and brightest in business and politics. all right. let's start, jennifer stephano, tea party member, on the ground, five days in wisconsin. >> yes. >> sean: all right. scott walker ended up with a much bigger margin of victory than in 2010. what was going on on the ground? >> it had nothing to do with scott walker or the election and with who we are as americans. people are tired of working to feed a union boss and a bureaucrat and that corrupting relationship between the both of them. this is about our children's future. i

. good evening, everyone. i'm larry kudlow. this is "the kudlow report," the top story, scott walker landslide. historic election was a grassroots, taxpayer tea party revolt to curb public union benefits and monopoly bargaining power, governors will heed the pull to hold down entitlements, and as rails, the dow had its best day of the year, up 287 points, and tmarkets love the s walker win. investors see balanced budgets without income tax hikes, see it going national. san diego and san jose, pass their own pension cutbacks. you heard art hog an last night. predict a scott walker rally. he has been prevent right. now what happens? he will tell us. also this evening, my interview with florida governor jeb bush. what does he think of the walker win? what does it mean for mitt romney's campaign? tax cuts and president obama's attack on his brother's legacy and how he will do one thing that president obama has not. lead. plus, team obama has been in damage control most of the past 27 hours from an interview bill clinton did on cnbc, calling for a bush tax cut extension. the white house press corps

. republicans are claiming victory after scott walker keeps his seat in wisconsin. tonight, with i have a message to democrats and the middle classers of america. you don't want to miss it. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> you're comfortable with all that outside money that came in and frankly overwhelmed tv stations? >> citizens united saved the day for scott walker in wisconsin. >> we've got to change the recall process. >> we'll go inside the numbers from last night with john nichols of "the nation" magazine. and i'll tell you why democrats and labor need a major wake-up call. >>> responsible austerity measures of reining in government growth really will help our nation. >> wisconsin's the tip of the iceberg. >> and conservatives say scott walker with's win should mean austerity everywhere. >> austerity, who'd have thought it. >> tonight, thomas frank and e.j. dionne will tell you why the righties are dead wrong. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. governor scott walker and his allies took a victory lap of sorts today after winning the recall

iceberg. >> and conservatives say scott walker with's win should mean austerity everywhere. >> austerity, who'd have thought it. >> tonight, thomas frank and e.j. dionne will tell you why the righties are dead wrong. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. governor scott walker and his allies took a victory lap of sorts today after winning the recall election in wisconsin. walker's divide and conquer strategy worked, but so did his lie and buy strategy. walker misrepresented his own record and used at least $30 million in spending to his advantage. walker is so confident today, he's telling mitt romney how to campaign in the badger state. >> i think it will be a competitive wisconsin. the key for governor romney to be competitive enough to win is i think he's got to lay out a clear platform, something similar to what our friend paul ryan has done just down the way, and i think if he does something like that and he makes a compelling case to the people of wisconsin that he's willing to take those kind of risks that would get america back on track fo

governor walker, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. >>> wisconsin's scott walker becomes the first to survive a this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to s

things is how many people were fed up with recalls. and that plays to scott walker's benefit. >> when you look at the exit polls thing that stands out is that if you thought you should have a recall for any reason, there is 27% of the people fought back. and 69% either thought there should not be a recall, ever, or that it's the only thing for misconduct. the people, 69% should be for misconduct or never. walker won 67% to 90% of the votes. he won big margins there. ask the only group that barrett won is people that thought we should have recounts. there was real fatigue of the 5% thought we shouldn't have them. they just weren't buying into it. those people gave him this remarkable what looked like a bigger victory than many were expecting. they thought he could win with recent polling he pulled away, here. >> and we don't know yet the final number. the raw totals still coming in. we can be talking from eight to 10 points at the end of the day. karl what are the national implications here? what is your sense of the national implications of the vote tonight? >> this is a blow to organ

? >> it had nothing to do with scott walker or the election and with who we are as americans. people are tired of working to feed a union boss and a bureaucrat and that corrupting relationship between the both of them. this is about our children's future. i was on the ground in wisconsin. that's what we talked about. i think that's what won the day, far beyond the election. >> sean: mike, you talked on the radio every single day. i have often discussed what i call an unholy alliance between the unions and the democratic party. how do you describe the quid pro quo. they take rank-and-file money and give it to the politicians. what do the unions get? >> the exciting thing is that it was reported that 38% of union households in wisconsin supported scott walker, so the tide is turning. while i love that everything that jennifer stands for in the tea party movement, i think it begins and ends with scott walker. he is the ronald reagan of our time against pacco. this is an epic victory that he had the courage to achieve. he emerges as a huge player in the national scene for the g.o.p. and

you have for us? >>> i think investors want scott walker to win tonight, opening the door for market friendly mitt romney in november. good evening, everyone. i'm larry kudlow. this is "the kudlow report." our top story tonight, we will know in about two hours whether grassroots voters in a state as midamerican as you can get, wisconsin, rise up against profligate government unions and out of control tax payer funded entitlements. for only the third time in american history, a sitting governor, courageous scott walker, faces recall. we're there live. also this evening, is bill clinton doing everything possible to sabotage president obama? first he called romney's record sterling. last night, a direct jab, clinton couldn't help himself by boasting his four budget surpluses. moments ago, in an exclusive interview with maria bartiromo, the former president advocated the extension of the bush tax cuts to curb a recession, another jab at obama. take a listen. >> i don't have any problem with extending all of it now, including the current spending levels. they're still pretty low, the gove

, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to save america began tonight. in wisconsin. >>

things is how many people were fed up with recalls. and that plays to scott walker's benefit. >> when you look at the exit polls thing that stands out is that if you thought you should have a recall for any reason, there is 27% of the people fought back. and 69% either thought there should not be a recall, ever, or that it's the only thing for misconduct. the people, 69% should be for misconduct or never. walker won 67% to 90% of the votes. he won big margins there. ask the only group that barrett won is people that thought we should have recounts. there was real fatigue of the 5% thought we shouldn't have them. they just weren't buying into it. those people gave him this remarkable what looked like a bigger victory than many were expecting. they thought he could win with recent polling he pulled away, here. >> and we don't know yet the final number. the raw totals still coming in. we can be talking from eight to 10 points at the end of the day. karl what are the national implications here? what is your sense of the national implications of the vote tonight? >> this is a blow to organ

election between scott walker and tom barrett may rival the 2008 presidential election turnout. participation has been off the charts for early voting, for same day registration and of course, this massive get out to vote effort unlike anything we've seen in this part of the country. voters will be in line when the polls close in one hour. remember, you can still vote. you don't have to go home. you get in that line before the polls close, and you will be allowed to vote. election officials say that the turnout is somewhere between 60 and 65%. they expect around 2.8 million votes to be cast in this state today. turnout has been so heavy milwaukee county has had to call in for reenforcements at the poll. the turnout is so important because most voters already made up their minds according to the exit polls. 88% of voters decided which way they were going to vote before the month of may. only 6% decided within the last few days. voters are about evenly split on limits to collective bargaining. 50% approve and 48% disapprove. more voters view public unions favorably they unfavorab

"fox and friends first. >> scott walker remains wisconsin's governor. walker winning the recall with 63 percent of the vote. >> rebecca kleefisch also keeping her post by a wide margin. we will have more on the recall in just a moment. fist t-- first the top 5@5:00. someone has mitt romney's private e-mail. anonymous hacker signed into his hotmail account by guessing the answer to his security question about his favorite pet. the hacker then changed the pass word. he is continuing his primary sweep last night. he scored wins in south dakota, new mexico and montana. he already has the number of delegates needed for the republican nomination. >> he is the former eastbounding pa regional administrator who compares the fill loss see of the oil and gas to this. (inaudible) >> he is bailing out before the house energy and power subcommittee. he is cancelling 24-hours before that hearing. he resigned from the epa after that tr video surfaced. >>> they are drawing national attention as the bell weathers of anti union sentiment. san diego and san jose has heavy democratic registration overwhe

wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to save america began tonight. in wisconsin. >> implications went nati

alzheimer's disease. those are your 5 at 5 cloak. >> wisconsin governor scott walker mauking histo-- making h night. he was the first to survive a recall election. more on this historic outcome. good morning, steve. >> good morning. you stated it correctly. scott walker the first to survive a recall election. in addition he also managed to win yesterday's recall election by a larger percentage margin than he won his original election in 2010. he greeted supporters who were both relieved and elated and told them he thought the victory in wisconsin reached beyond the state's borders. >> tonight we tell wisconsin, our country and people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stanned up and make the tough decisions. (cheers) >>> his democratic challenger tom barrett it had to be especially bitter pill to swallow giving the enthusiasm he got from folks arounded wisconsin and the country. last night he thanked supporters for making their voices heard loudly. >> what we have seen over the last 16 months is we have seen this democracy come alive. for those of you who f

come here for scott walker's event. unclear if it's going to be a victory party or something different. >> you heard her talk about the county. that's the senate race. i'm sorry. let's go to the race for governor here. scott walker won by 70%. we're going to watch it all play out in the hours ahead nap does it for this edition of "360." we'll be pack here 10:00 p.m. with the latest from wisconsin. for now "piers morgan tonight" starts now. >>> good evening i'm wolf blitzer in for piers morgamorga. we begin with breaking news out of wisconsin right now where polls have just closed. the recall vote that could preview november's election. look at this. our exit polls show it's a 50/50 race as of this minute. these are exit polls, the polls we conducted throughout the day, throughout the state of wisconsin. these are preliminary exit poll results. 50% for scott walker. he's on the left of your screen. 50% for tom barrett, the democrat, the mayor of milwaukee. he's on the right. scott walker is the incumbent republican governor. this is a race to recall him, to remove him from off

how scott walker's austerity measures have led to the worst job creation in the united states over the past year. wisconsin is dead last. but elections have consequences and karl rove claims the consequences will echo all the way to november. >> it is a blow for the -- for organized labor, particularly, organized labor represented in public employee unions. it's going to embolden similar efforts in other states by other governors. it's clearly going to put wisconsin into play in november. >> all of these republicans are overlooking a very key fact here. a majority of wisconsinites, 70%, in fact, said that they disagreed with the recall principle on its terms. nbc polls showed that only 27% of the voters thought recalls were appropriate for anything. 60% said recalls are appropriate only for official misconduct. 10% of wisconsin voters said recalls are never appropriate. not enough wisconsinites, this is the bottom line. not enough wisconsinites were convinced the recall was justified. even if they don't approve of scott walker, most wisconsinites were not convinced he did enough to be

50% for tom barrett, the democrat, the mayor of milwaukee. he's on the right. scott walker is the incumbent republican governor. this is a race to recall him, to remove him from office. based on the exit polls that we've been conducting throughout the day. right now the exit polls show it's 50% for walker, 50% for barrett. doesn't get much closer than this. obviously we are in no prediction to make a projection of the winner in this race. also by the way for the lieutenant governor race, the lieutenant governor rebecca clayfish. she is also being -- there's a recall election for her. and mitchell, the democratic challenger. 50/50 in that race as well. based on the polls we're getting. john king is at the magic wall. john, it's suggested we're going to be working a long night tonight if it's as close as the exit polls suggest. >> let's take a deeper look at more exit poll questions. let's look deeper see if we can learn anything about the electorate in wisconsin tonight. number one, you have city voters, urban voters, and rural voters. let's see how they're voting tonight. you see

things is how many people were fed up with recalls. and that plays to scott walker's benefit. >> when you look at the exit polls thing that stands out is that if you thought you should have a recall for any reason, there is 27% of the people fought back. and 69% either thought there should not be a recall, ever, or that it's the only thing for misconduct. the people, 69% should be for misconduct or never. walker won 67% to 90% of the votes. he won big margins there. ask the only group that barrett won is people that thought we should have recounts. there was real fatigue of the 5% thought we shouldn't have them. they just weren't buying into it. those people gave him this remarkable what looked like a bigger victory than many were expecting. they thought he could win with recent polling he pulled away, here. >> and we don't know yet the final number. the raw totals still coming in. we can be talking from eight to 10 points at the end of the day. karl what are the national implications here? what is your sense of the national implications of the vote tonight? >> this is a blow to organ

walker, good night from wisconsin. >> bret: scott walker becomes the first governor to survive a recall vote. the numbers and what they mean, next. this is a special election night edition of "special report". >> good evening, i'm bret baier, two times in american politics prior to tonight sitting governors have faced the wrath of voters in recall elections. until this evening, no governor had ever survived. but wisconsin's scott walker made history tonight. soundly defeating democratic mayor tom barrett in an election that drew millions of dollars from all over the country. good evening, mike. >> and that is very exciting here on the inside, bret. reaction we got from governor walker so far came in the form of an e-mailed statement. he said bringing the state back together will take time, but he's ready to start the work. we did get reaction from the lieutenant governor who took the stage here with her husband, scott and daughters in the background. >> now, this is what democracy looks like! friends, years from now, they will say the campaign to save america began tonight. in wi

things is how many people were fed up with recalls. and that plays to scott walker's benefit. >> when you look at the exit polls thing that stands out is that if you thought you should have a recall for any reason, there is 27% of the people fought back. and 69% either thought there should not be a recall, ever, or that it's the only thing for misconduct. the people, 69% should be for misconduct or never. walker won 67% to 90% of the votes. he won big margins there. ask the only group that barrett won is people that thought we should have recounts. there was real fatigue of the 5% thought we shouldn't have them. they just weren't buying into it. those people gave him this remarkable what looked like a bigger victory than many were expecting. they thought he could win with recent polling he pulled away, here. >> and we don't know yet the final number. the raw totals still coming in. we can be talking from eight to 10 points at the end of the day. karl what are the national implications here? what is your sense of the national implications of the vote tonight? >> this is a blow to organ

wisconsin. because scott walker [ censor bleep ] with the wrong honor badger. >> at least you are not wearing pink. >> oh! >> getting some guy from "glee." >> i'm going to get dancy on her ass. >> that's not an even trade. whatever you trade you should get three-fourths of it back. >> we have jacki -- >> can i see that you are blue over pink. >> you know what, you with the jokes, don't jacki schechner. >> i never claimed they were good. >> here she is jacki schechner in the current news center. >> good morning. polls have been open for about an hour in wisconsin now. virtually no undecideds left at this point. if you want to help you can do that, go to current.com/wisconsin, and we have tips online on how you can help out online on the phone or even in wisconsin if you are close enough. a california appeals court will look at whether it will take up proposition 8 again. it was ruled in february that prop 8 was legal. and today the court will make an announcement at 10:00 pacific as to whether or not it will do that. if it doesn't it clears the way much sooner to go to the supreme cour

wisconsin's govern scott walker has failed. walker with 57% of the vote compared to 42% for milwaukee mayor tom barrett. let's go to madison wisconsin and current tv correspondent david schuster. what happened? everybody thought this would be neck and neck into late in the night. >> the thing that democrats were not counting on, and the democrats met their own turnout models, but the red parts of wisconsin are even more conservative and more energically red than they were. and let me give you an example. the greenbay packers. many of them supported the recall. they were mad about what scott walker did. and the packers are treated like gods in that state. president obama won brown county by nine points. nine points for president obama. two years ago scott walk center the scott walker-barrett match up in 2010 he won brown county by 14 points. tonight, he won it by 20 points. hears what should have been a district that should trend closer for democrats, but it got more republican. county after county after incident, yes, the democrats got their numbers in madison and dane county, but the