Barrett wins recall primary

Milwaukee mayor will once again take on Walker in the general election

The people have spoken, and Tom Barrett is their choice.

The Milwaukee mayor has been selected among a highly qualified pool of candidates to take on Gov. Scott Walker in the historic recall election next month. The match-up will pit two candidates who have faced off before, in 2010 when Walker won office amid the conservative wave of electoral victories that swept the nation.

Notably absent during that year were 824,443 potential voters, who took part in 2008's presidential election but sat out of 2010's gubernatorial race. Since that time, Walker has polarized the state to the point where a majority now disapproves of his job performance. And recent polling also shows that Barrett and Walker are in a statistical tie in a head-to-head general election at this point (thought it may be that Barrett could already be ahead by a significant margin).

The momentum heading towards the recall is Barrett's to claim. He'll need to fight hard to defeat Walker come June, sustaining this momentum over the next month. But it's clear that recall supporters chose the right person for the task at hand.

The time for unity, for the common goal of removing Walker from office, is now.