POST Local

Two weeks before the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall, Virginia’s Republican leaders are coming to the aid of Gov. Scott Walker.
Gov. Bob McDonnell (Cliff Owen/AP)

Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, will appear with Walker at an event Tuesday, according to his office, though details have not been released.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli asked supporters to donate to Walker’s campaign in what he called the “second most important election in America in 2012.’’

“June 5th will be a clash of political forces of titanic proportions that will affect how (and whether) others in politics will meaningfully take on our biggest challenges, all of which entail taming and reining in government,’’ Cuccinelli wrote.

Recent polls show Walker pulling ahead of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D).

U.S. Senate hopeful Jamie Radtke has hit the airwaves.

Radtke, who is in an uphill battle for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, has begin airing ads attacking rival George Allen.

The tea party activist has been by far the most outspoken against Allen, trying to label him a big spender who did not challenge the status quo during a previous term in the U.S. Senate.

“George Allen is a risky choice and an election disaster waiting to happen,’’ the narrator says. “And this is one election we can’t afford to lose.’’

If life is falling apart for Mom or Dad, and Grandma steps up and takes in little Johnny and Jane, she can’t send them to her neighborhood school without a court order.

Sen. George Barker (D-Fairfax), right, and Sen. Dave Marsden ( D-Fairfax) on the opening day of the Virginia General Assembly in January 2010. (TRACY A WOODWARD - WASHINGTON POST) That’s either as it should be or a terrible shame, depending on who’s doing the talking in Richmond, where an issue affecting more than 70,000 Virginia children has not broken neatly along partisan lines.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) recently vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for those providing so-called “kinship care” to enroll children in nearby public schools. He did so at the urging of both the Republican House speaker and a liberal Northern Virginia Democrat who does not usually have much sway with the governor.

Two more political ads are coming to a TV near you.

President Obama will begin airing a pair of positive TV ads in swing states, including Virginia, this week.

The first ad, “Sacred Trust,” touts Obama’s commitment to helping veterans as he continues his effort to win over military families in a handful of important swing states. And yes, this ad mentions Osama bin Laden.

Last week, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, oldest son of Vice President Biden and a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, came to Virginia to kick off the national launch of veterans and military families for Obama.

The second ad, “Personal,” touts Obama’s desire to preserve Medicare for current seniors and future generations.

Curt Cashour, Romney campaign spokesperson, responded, “President Obama and his campaign can’t distract voters from three years of broken promises on Medicare and our commitments to our veterans. In a week when his own supporters called his campaign attacks on free enterprise ‘nauseating’ and ‘very disappointing,’ President Obama is now trying to rewrite his record in an attempt to change the narrative on his campaign’s terrible week.”

This story has been updated.

Among those closely watching this week’s unfolding drama at the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board are families who have loved ones live in the embattled Northern Virginia Training Center, one of five large state institutions for people with severe disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Justice has targeted four of the state institutions for closure under the theory that people with disabilities should be integrated as fully into society as possible. A proposed legal agreement reached by the state and the federal government in January is awaiting final approval before U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney in Richmond.

But many families whose children receive care in the state institutions are battling to keep them open. They believe the large institutions, with special facilities and round-the-clock intensive care, are the best places for people whose disabilities can make them a danger to themselves or others. Given Virginia’s spotty record of funding services for disabled people, these families say the Justice Department has overstepped its bounds in a fight that hinges on ideology as much as dollars and cents.