Huckabee, McDonnell back Walker

Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia signaled on “Fox and Friends” that he sympathized with Walker, noting that Wisconsin allowed workers more ability to organize than his state. McDonnell also castigated Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate who left the state, calling them “flat wrong.”

“I think he’s making the tough calls,” McDonnell said about Walker. “That’s what governors are having to do right now. Most states have tremendous budget problems that they’ve got to address. We did it last year and cut $4.2 billion out of our budget, ended up with a budget surplus.”

On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, rejected the idea that Walker is overreaching and, like other prominent Republicans, criticized President Obama’s response to the Wisconsin standoff. 

The Wisconsin governor “has, in essence, drawn a line in the sand,” the 2008 presidential candidate said. “But part of the reason he’s had to take this stand is because the Democrats have fled the state.”

As for Obama, Huckabee appeared to compare the president’s actions on Wisconsin to his comments in the aftermath of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, the Harvard professor, in his Massachusetts home. 

“I think it’s a classic example of Barack Obama overreaching into a local event like he did in Boston with the police issue,” he said.