Walker Greeted by Protesters in Michigan, Illinois

Political protests that have become the norm in Wisconsin followed Gov. Scott Walker to Michigan and Illinois on Tuesday.

He started the day in Springfield, IL, where he addressed the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Outside the event, hundreds of people protested the governor's appearance. 

They held up 20-foot-tall inflatable rats, according to The Associated Press, and the State Journal-Register said the protesters had a giant cutout of Walker with a sign saying "Don't Badger Me." 

Shelley Brown, an unemployed Decatur, IL, woman told the State Journal-Register:

“Scott Walker is a union buster, and he signs laws that are against women’s rights. He’s trouble. We don’t need him in Illinois. He did enough in Wisconsin.”

Inside, he was met with standing ovations.

After the event, Walker told reporters he considered the Springfield event a stop on the campaign trail leading up to his June recall election. From the SJ-R:

Walker told reporters later his stop in Springfield was “absolutely” a campaign event aimed at showing Wisconsin voters what they could look forward to if they oust him from office in a recall election set for June 5.

“If voters in our state want to know the difference forward or backwards, they need only to use the mess that you have in state government here in Springfield to know what it would be like if the recall were to prevail,” Walker told reporters.

And from NBC: Walker predicted he would win the recall, then invoked Lincoln, another controversial politician who had “the courage to move the state forward.”

Walker moved on from Springfield to Troy, MI, where he was met with a similar scene.

Protesters in Springfield and Troy were upset about the Walker administration's elimination of collective bargaining. In Troy, many were particularly upset at what they saw as an assault on education.

Patch reported:

"I'm concerned about the erosion of my profession," said Novi teacher Chandra Madafferi in Troy. "When you strip away collective bargaining rights, you're taking away things like class size, calendar, working conditions – other things besides wages and benefits.

"My concern is that people won't go into teaching because they can't support their families. When the quality of teachers go down, the kids suffer."

Walker is due to speak in Deerfield, IL, on Friday.