original race in 2010 and his victory speech put a national spin on the local win. tonight, tonight we tell wisconsin, we tell our country, and we tell people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. cnn s ted rowlands for us this morning is in madison. good morning to you, ted. reporter: good morning, soledad. you see the video of that woman slapping tom barrett, and a lot of talk about that, obviously, this morning. we don t know who that woman is and we ve been trying to find out who she is, and whether or not she was questioned by police or anything, if this was something that did raise the eyebrows of people at the event. barrett did comment to a local reporter about it saying he was shocked about it, claims the woman asked him just before she slapped him, may i slap you in the face for conceding too early, and he said well i d rather get a hug from you so he says he leaned in and she slapped him anyway, so
i want to bring in mark preston to talk about with what all of this means. i guess in a way mark, we knew that things were partisan. that s not surprising. but if you look at how pew researchers measure this, 48 different ways of measuring how we feel about politics over the years, and they find that we re more divided than ever. almost double over the past 25 years. why? you know suzanne, talk about a comprehensive study that pew has done now, you know, there s a lot of reasons. and what s interesting is that it shows that not only are we more divided politically but also seeing a growing middle. you know, a grow withing number of folks not aligning themselves entirely with the democratic party or the republican party. i think what you see is frustration out there right now on how to lead forward. i think you might be able to tie in the fact that social media has become so prevalent in helping organize people, you know, ten years ago we didn t have facebook or twitter or t
not necessarily legitimately because both leading democrats and leading republicans say wisconsin is its own microcosm, but the reason it is so relevant is because debt and spending have been major issues there. those are major national issues. and many of the big picture issues we seen play out across the nation are playing out in wisconsin right now, namely money and the influence of super pacs. an independent nonpartisan group estimates dlfr 70 million to $80 million will be spent in the state of wisconsin. that s mind blowing in to a state where air time is so inexpensive. governor walker has outspent his democrat 7 to 1. governor walker today has raised $30.5 million to the democrat barrett s $4 million. that s not even taking into account how much labor unions and super pacs are pouring in. then there s the ore big question that both sides, democrats and republicans are using this as an opportunity to organize the state for november. kate? absolutely. the numbers, th
breaking all of the rules. comes to a state that wrote the book on election cliffhangers. here in florida. that s how important florida is. only one thing is certain in this contest. expect the unexpected. three candidates who have won three primaries. you re going to have to make a decision. which of the three should become the nominee. i think you know the answer. tonight, the candidates together in jacksonville, florida. newt gingrich, the south carolina winner. hoping to capitalize on his recent victory and his strong record in debates. not that i am a good debater. it s that i articulate the deepest held values of the american people. mitt romney, the new hampshire winner. trying to broaden his appeal and reclaim the title of front-runner. we re not choosing a talk show host. we re choosing the person who should be the leader of the free world. rick santorum, the iowa winner. looking for a new burst of momentum after his upset in the heartland. there
the book on election cliff hangers. here in florida. that s how important florida is. only one thing is certain in this contest. expect the unexpected. you have three candidates who have won three primaries. you re going to have to make a decision. which of the three should become our nominee. i think you know. tonight, the candidates, together, in jacksonville, florida. newt gingrich, the south carolina winner. hoping to capitalize on his recent victory and his strong record in debates. not that i am a good debater. it is that articulate the deepest values of the american people. mitt romney. the new hampshire winner. trying to broaden his appeal and reclaim the title of front-runner. we re not choosing a talk show host. we re choosing the person who should be the leader of the free world. rick santorum. the iowa winner. looking for a new burst of momentum, after his upset in the heartland. there was one race that was in nobody s backyard. and we won th