Democrats failed 3 times to punish Gov. Scott Walker for taking on public unions and balancing the state budget. They previously failed to unseat Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, and to unseat republicans in the senate. Walker in his recall election won with a bigger majority than he won the office with in 2010. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch won big, too. Republicans in the state senate were recalled, as well, and all won, though one seat is still in doubt. In that race, as of 6 hours ago, Republican Van Wanggaard had 60 percent of the vote to Democratic challenger John Lehman's 40%. Only 28% of precincts are reporting results in that race, though. Reports are that the race is too close to call. Walker is the first governor in US history to survive a recall effort. It seems the voters' sentiment was that you don't throw out an elected official because of policy differences. Elections matter. President Obama was conspicuous for his absence, though he tweeted his support for Walker's challenger, Tom Barrett, the day before the election. However, Democrats and the Unions spent tens of $millions in their efforts. Obama leads Romney, currently, in the recent polls in Wisconsin. I think the last time Wisconsin went for a republican in the presidential election was in 1984, for Reagan.
What astounds me is just how much money the unions poured into all this. And got their asses handed to them. I'll be honest, I have serious doubts about what Walker did but to recall him over it was pretty childish and I'm glad they lost.
Well. I guess the republicans win the country. I won't bother voting anymore. Republicans will easily take the white house. ;]
[video=youtube;pchwcD4IPzs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pchwcD4IPzs[/video]
Walker won by the skin of his teeth because Republicans outspent Democrats 7 to 1, not including secret stuff now allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court. I'd like to know exactly who is on the committee who decides national spending priorities for the Democratic Party. And then hang them.
He got himself elected by keeping secret his radical agenda to end unions. What is childish about unions fighting that? What was childish was not campaigning on the issue (because it would have made him lose) and then shocking everyone in his first month by trying to move the state back a hundred years.
Well, as long as you wanna keep repeating the big lie that Walker "end(ed) unions in Wisconsin", we will take you as seriously as that kind of comment deserves. Public sector unions still exist in Wisconsin. They are still powerful in Wisconsin. Folks got so use to the monoply power and chronic abuse of power by those public sector unions that it became "normal" despite its inherent unfairness, they equate a rollback or trimming that power to "destruction". It is nothing of the sort. You give a shout out when the Public Sector unions have been outlawed - like for real. Cry wolf now and what will you have left if it really happens. Call Walker an "extemist" when all he does is trim union compensation from aburdly high, to nearly absurdly high, and uses the savings to create a balanced budget and save thousands of public sector jobs from the ax. Cry wolf now and what name calling will you have left if a true radical were to appear.
I think the moral of this recall is that it's stupid to recall someone just because you're the minority and don't like a decision they made. I mean, hell, if that were the case Obama should have been recalled over Obamacare. In that case the majority was against the decision and not just a vocal minority. People can talk about the money aspect all they want, but I don't think it played that big a part (losers ALWAYS think it's the money). It's a matter of a wrong reason to recall a politician. That's the true lesson here.
The "death of democracy" thing is pretty funny. Unmentioned in this thread is that if the current results hold, Democrats have taken control of the Wisconsin senate, by recalling 3 Republican senators (two last summer, and one yesterday). So it isn't all bad for democracy. barfo
The moral is that if your agenda is so extremist that you can't disclose it during your campaign, expect a recall election, and gridlock your entire tenure. Now that Walker has polarized his state he won't get anything done. The next governor who tries this stunt cannot depend upon the national Democratic Party being cheap again, and withholding contributions as they did this time. The moral is, openly debate your agenda during the campaign instead of hiding it like a dictator. If he were in the majority, he wouldn't have hidden his dark plan like a rat.
The problem is that a lot of Dems are up for re-election this fall, and Walker already has had his reform legislation passed. Control of the Senate didn't matter, and could change again in just a matter of months. This was an unmitigated disaster for Democrats. $50 million in union money poured into the state, and Walker won by more this time around.
I'll also point out that the WI Senate doesn't convene again until mid-November. Why they wasted efforts on a recall is baffles.
I heard November. January is even more funny. Why in the world spend money on those recall races. Very poor planning.
