Wisconsin Ground Zero for 2012 Election

Jan. 25, 2011 -- If President Obama's first trip after tonight's State of the Union address signals anything to the America voters, it's that jobs and the economy will remain his No. 1 focus and also that No. 44 might have some tough work ahead of him over the next two years if he wants to keep Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes in the blue column in 2012.

Wednesday, President Obama will use his first opportunity to follow up on his State of the Union to travel to Manitowoc, Wis., about 40 miles south of Green Bay, to deliver an economic speech to employees at a power technology company.

Although Al Gore, John Kerry and President Obama all carried the Badger state in the past three presidential elections, Wisconsin is a state where the Democratic Party held power and arguably suffered a defeat there worse than its losses in any other state during the Republican's landslide victories in the 2010 elections.

Both chambers of the state legislature flipped to Republican rule. Republican Scott Walker handily won the governor's seat that was previously held by two-term Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, an Obama supporter who decided not to seek reelection in 2010. The Wisconsin GOP also picked up two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and voters unseated Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who served in the U.S. Senate for 18 years before Republican businessman and now Sen. Ron Johnson defeated him last fall.

"I think it's the Democrats' nightmare, a state that Obama won quite handily has suddenly switched at all levels," said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "This really puts the fear of God in Democrats that Wisconsin might stay in Republican mode, in which case for the 2012 Obama reelection campaign is particularly frightening."

For the state's political U-turn last fall, Republicans across the nation are certainly taking notice.