Exclusive look at Walker's cross-country cultivation of high-level backers
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/blog/exclusive-look-at-walker-s-cross-country-cultivation-of-high/article_56ea8a32-a5e7-11e1-b0f7-001a4bcf887a.html
Tuesday, May, 17, 2011, was a cool, sunny spring day a good day for a drive. On that day, according to Gov. Scott Walkers schedule, the embattled leader of Wisconsin hopped in a car in Milwaukee and 2½ hours later paid a visit to Lake Forest, Ill., residents Liz and Dick Uihlein, owners of Uline shipping company.
It was apparently time well spent, for on Nov. 16, 12 days after state law allowed Walker to begin raising unlimited cash to combat recall efforts, each of the Uihleins wrote him a check for $100,000. More recently, Dick Uihlein kicked in another $25,000.
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To put a finer point on it, Walker did not manage to raise $25 million in three and a half months for the recall fight by waving a magic wand. Hes been greasing the skids since he took office, visiting with conservative national power brokers even before he dropped the bomb on labor unions.
On that list youll see Diane Hendricks, the billionaire from Beloit who forked out over half a million and was seen in the infamous divide and conquer video. Youll see Bob Perry, who helped tank John Kerrys presidential bid through the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 and also gave the Walker campaign a $500,000 infusion. Youll see Dick DeVos of Michigan, heir to the Amway fortune, who donated $250,000.