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De Pere - U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) campaigned Sunday with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, calling him a unifier who knows how to work with both sides of the political aisle.

Kohl who is stepping down as senator this year, said he had known Barrett for years and believed he will be an excellent governor.

"Tom, by his very DNA, is a healer, a unifier, a person who brings people together and moves the ball forward in the process," Kohl said. "There is nothing about Tom that would tend to divide the state."

Kohl agreed that the state had become polarized but declined to criticize Gov. Scott Walker specifically.

"Wisconsin has become a polarized state. It's unfortunate. It's not where good public policy is made," Kohl said. "Good public policy is made when people of different backgrounds come together and talk and reason and compromise. We are not doing very much of that in Wisconsin nowadays. But we are not doing that much on a national level, either."

Kohl, who appeared with Barrett at a dairy farm here, was scheduled to travel with Barrett to meet with voters in Oshkosh.