"Nov. 5 [sic: typo for June 5? ]is the day we save Wisconsin," U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said. "Nov. 6? That's the day Wisconsin saves America."

U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner said the recall is the second most important election of the year. A victory would help provide momentum for Mitt Romney to carry Wisconsin in the presidential election five months later, he said. No Republican presidential candidate has won Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, who is one of three GOP lawmakers facing a recall, issued a "call to arms" to party loyalists and urged them to make more phone calls, distribute literature and put up yard signs to keep Walker and the others in office. Walker also pleaded for help.

"This is going to be won on the streets of Wisconsin," Scott Fitzgerald said. "These recalls will be won in the trenches. We have a ton of work to do in the next 25 days. ... We are at the crossroads of Wisconsin's political history."

His brother, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, added with more than a touch of hyperbole: "June 5 is most important day in political history."

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