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Political Hay
Lessons From Wisconsin
The ruling class is the last to know that Americans have had it with big government.
I don’t consider myself an expert on elections but there are a few observations worth making about Tuesday’s recall vote in Wisconsin that I don’t see being emphasized too much. So here goes.
1. The issue was not “labor versus management.” Editorial writers steeped in memories of the 1930s inevitably portray the contemporary rebellion against public employees’ unions as a replay of the top-hats-versus-factory-workers of yore. It is no such thing. The issue is the public sector versus private economy. Building trades and other private sector unions have openly supported Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and one-third of union members in Wisconsin voted against the recall. Unionized or not, private sector workers have no interest in seeing public sector workers pile up retirement and health benefits at their expense. The old union-versus-management arm-wrestle has no relevance in the era of runaway government.
2. Exit polls are irrelevant. After seeing exit polls elect John Kerry President in 2004, you’d think liberals would learn. But no, once again there was premature celebration. There’s a simple reason for all this. As John Fund writes, the average Republican is now a hard-working, middle-income person who feels excluded from all the media brouhaha in Washington and New York. Quite simply, except for Fox News, they don’t trust the press. The average exit-poll taker, on the other hand, is a hyper-articulate graduate student who exudes liberalism. Republicans simply aren’t going to reveal their preferences to these people, whereas the average liberal is not only dying to sound off but wants to know where the television cameras are. Thus, the ridiculous figure that the people who failed to recall Governor Walker also favor President Obama by 7 points. Does anyone really believe this? Actually, let’s hope Democrats do. Let them be surprised in November.
3. Democrats are good at organizing, Republicans just vote. In his victory speech, Governor Walker proved a disappointment, rambling on about the Great State of Wisconsin and promising to meet the opposition over brats and beer. It was Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch who grasped the nettle. “This is what democracy looks like!” she told her cheering supporters, who knew the line well enough to recite it along with her. For those who don’t remember, that was the slogan of the motley throngs that stormed the state capital last winter, blocking traffic, threatening public officials, and generally trying to bring democracy to a halt — just as their leaders had done by fleeing the state rather than attend the opening session. Actually, all this had much more in common with 1930s-style putsches and Third World coups than anything from the history of American politics. Democracies work, not because winners win elections, but because the losers are willing to accept the results rather than resorting to extra-electoral means. Wisconsin Democrats proved to be closer to their counterparts in Venezuela or Uganda than to anything in American history. Fortunately, in this country the voters still bat last. Let’s hope it stays that way.
4. Madison represents the new Democratic core. For better or worse, the founding fathers of Wisconsin situated their state capital in the same city with the state university, always a risky proposition. This has made Wisconsin a laboratory of “Progressivism,” meaning the home of a professoriate eager to intervene in the economy and grow the government. Thus it wasn’t at all surprising to see Madison as the biggest Democratic stronghold on election night. What has changed since the 1920s, however, is that Progressivism is no longer a rump faction of scruffy college professors but a sleek propaganda machine manned by overpaid academics and affluent employees of “non-profit NGOs” — which translates “non-taxpaying extensions of the government.” They are a powerful and prosperous constituency. I’m a class agent for my New England college and last winter I ended up talking to a classmate who teaches at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and interacts with NGOs around the world. He spent the first half of the conversation calling Governor Walker a “thug” and a “lunatic” and the second half telling me about his retreat in the Caymans. “There are only 2,000 people on the island,” he exuded. “It’s a great getaway.” Welcome to today’s Democratic Party.
5. The Democrats’ “ground game” is overrated. Transparently, the Obama campaign is hoping to divide the electorate into four targeted segments — women, blacks, Hispanics, college students — and then get them all out to the polls in unprecedented numbers. They’ve already laid the groundwork with same-day registration and no-voter-ID laws in several key states. Heck, with all that you could probably vote at 15 different polling places without anyone ever noticing. But Democrats are going to find that people don’t think of themselves exclusively as “blacks” or “women” or “Hispanic Americans.” Believe it or not, there are women who feel burdened by government taxes and regulation. There are African Americans who aren’t excited about gay marriage but certainly care about school choice for their children. There are even Hispanics whose minds occasionally wander to the subject that Obama wants everyone to forget — the economy. Divide-and-pander is a poor way to win a national election. As Democrats found out last Tuesday, passionate self-interest groups can only carry you so far.
6. Wisconsin may be a template for next November. The press is already dismissing the recall as an out-of-the-way sideshow in a remote state where Democrats didn’t have their best game. The New York Times editorial page even opined that the good guys lost when “labor failed to nominate its preferred candidate last month” — that would be Stanford-educated NGO attorney Kathleen Falk who lost 58-34 to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the primary! Don’t bother them. They live in a bubble. Actually, Election Night in November could end up looking a lot like Wisconsin in June. Romney and Obama will go into the last week neck-and-neck, with Obama polling slightly ahead. Early exit polls will show him winning handily — then, WHAM! Where did all these people come from? That’s the great American electorate, folks, once again telling the hyper-articulate, hyper-organized pundits and professoriate that they’ve had it with big government.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (81) | Leave a comment
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spike59| 6.8.12 @ 6:27AM
the dirty little secret that the media has been keeping is this: it's NOT the 'curtailing of collective bargaining rights' , or any of the Left's other buzz-phrases, that caused the Unionistas to flip out and wage this disastrous and expensive war, it's the ending of AUTOMATIC union dues collection by the state-in one year, the #2 public sector union in WI lost over half of their members when they were no longer forced to pay union dues. in Indiana, government worker unions have lost over 90% of their members. This is surely putting a crimp in the lavish lifestyles of the top thugs in the union leadership
Von Mises Jr| 6.8.12 @ 7:02AM
Spot on Spike. It is a criminal operation often referred to as "money laundering." And the ObaMob just got the garrote from the guy in the back seat, just like in the Sopranos.
I would only disagree with one of William Tucker's conclusions: "Democrats are good at community organizing, Republicans just vote." Not according to my Inbox and the many meetings I have attended in the last few years. The conservatives out community organized the Community-Organizer-in- Chief and his Chicago machine.
The best Obama, Pelosi and the gang could do is pay OWS astroturfers $600 week to show up. But they are brain dead, just like the TAS trolls. They are morons.
By contrast, the TEA Party didn't have to pay anyone and I must have seen 500 emails asking for donations. That is the power of the internet, Barack.
Not only are many of the TEA partiers CPA's, MBA's, lawyers, management, SMB owners, doctors, etc....but we host speakers such as Frank Gaffney, Dr. Jerome Corsi, Charles Payne, Peter Ferarra from TAS, Robert Moffit from Heritage, Betsy McCoughey, etc.....I don't think the liberals/socialist even have a clue what they are in for in November.
Sam Vaughn| 6.8.12 @ 7:54AM
Why I belong to the Tea Party A free man died recently. He was a good man and now he's gone. He started life in an orphaage. He lived life with joy. He held his faith like a shield. He graduated West Point. He never made excuses. He was there when things were bad. He never borrowed. He loved his wife for 60 years and into the beyond. He called his own shots, to the end. He was a free man and now he's gone. That is why I belong to the Tea Party.
mike 3/505| 6.8.12 @ 9:02AM
Mike 3/505, Class of '80, USMA
Von Mises Jr| 6.8.12 @ 10:03AM
Sam, G0d blesses your friend and G0d blesses you for being a patriot.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 11:14AM
I can only hope that the GOP and Romney begin to hear what voters all across the country are telling them. We must reverse, not simply better manage, this tidal wave of overbearing government called the administrative, social-welfare state. Liberty is more valuable than government pottage and self-government more desireable than government by a professional expert mandarin class. Many state governments, WI included, got the message. Can we be assured the GOP will follow through on a national basis?
wareagle| 6.8.12 @ 11:36AM
"Can we be assured the GOP will follow through on a national basis?"
of course, not, and why would you think otherwise? Consider the govt expansion under Bush that, had it occurred under a Dem, would have the right screaming. But not a peep about No Child, Medicare Part D, DHS/TSA, and so forth.
The GOP's only hope lies with more Tea Party types first being elected and then remembering what got them elected. That means country over party, as in NOT backing phony budget deals like what Boehner cut and calling BS when it appears.
Von Mises Jr| 6.8.12 @ 12:01PM
After 2010 with over 700 seats delivered to the GOP and the TEA Party contributions to Scott Walker retaining Wisconsin, I don't think that they cannot hear us loudly and clearly.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 3:28PM
Exactly so wareagle, which is why the GOP continues to disappoint the Conservative Movement. We have followed these republicans to defeat since Dewey through Ford, Bush 41,Dole, McCain and now these. Is there a point at which the Conservative Movement simply says, "enough" and washes their hands of the GOP? If so what comes after if anything?
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 3:38PM
"Why I belong to the Tea Party A free man died recently. He was a good man and now he's gone. He started life in an orphaage. He lived life with joy. He held his faith like a shield. He graduated West Point. He never made excuses. He was there when things were bad. He never borrowed. He loved his wife for 60 years and into the beyond. He called his own shots, to the end. He was a free man and now he's gone. That is why I belong to the Tea Party."
He was born on the Fourth of July, he ate hot dogs and apple pie every day, he marched up and down the square, he had a portrait of Betsy Ross on his wall
And now he is gone (sob, sniff), I shall never be whole again! oh where oh where has my little dog gone, oh where oh where can he be....
Skippy| 6.8.12 @ 4:29PM
Even with secure log-in, assholes will still appear.
Like this guy.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 4:38PM
The old Allen Brooks perhaps?
TLP| 6.8.12 @ 8:25PM
He did mention EATING HOT DOGS.
Von Mises Jr| 6.9.12 @ 7:37AM
Of course it is Brooksie, Al. I wonder if Brooksie takes it all the way down in one gulp, TLP?
TLP| 6.9.12 @ 7:03PM
I'm thinking he does.
And, at both ends.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 4:39PM
check the link Skip, it speaks volumes.
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 5:26PM
If you really want, you can have me deleted:
if a number of you contact AS and say you want to have my account removed, you probably can.
I wont get another account here because it isnt worth it. Only came here in the first place because I see Rightist posters at leftist sites, but now I see you either will electe Romney in November and go nowhere, or you'll oppose Obama in his second term and go nowhere.
So go ahead, right now, send emails to AS's computer guy saying you want the Brooksifier account deleted. You can invoke this clause:
" ...Comments are routinely monitored and will be deleted if profane, bigoted, or grossly impolite..."
You can all say to the computer guy (or gal) my comments are bigoted and grossly impolite.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 5:38PM
I don't want or need you deleted. Why bother? It is simply a matter of understanding the perspective from which you derive. Have a great weekend.
LiveFreeOrDie| 6.8.12 @ 7:52PM
Deleted? Nah, you're the perfect example of the "tolerant" left's hypocrisy! Anyone reading your blather would be more inclined to shift to the right than anything else. We appreciate your help so by all means, keep it up.
Truth to Power| 6.8.12 @ 8:20PM
You're just an idiot. You are good for morale. I say you stay. By the way an idiot in the Obama troll subclass puts you at the head of your prog troll peers. Use your gastrointestinal tract as it was designed and you may moved to the just slow class.
Von Mises Jr| 6.9.12 @ 7:39AM
I vote Yea for Brooksie. Every class must have a clown and every village must have an idiot.
LarryinTexas| 6.9.12 @ 7:34PM
Naw, the real Alan Brooks! Your idiocy is too much fun to poke at! All you deserve is laughter and ridicule.
Tazabe| 6.10.12 @ 9:48AM
Deletion, shout-downs, intimidation, censorship. Those are Progressive Tactics. I occasionally visit the Democratic Underground to measure the pulse of the Lunatic Left. Once, a few years ago, I even created an account to join in the fray. The account was suspended and deleted immediately following my first post by the moderator. I don't even recall the topic of discussion, but be assured, my comment was civil and in the interest of spirited debate. I was summarily deleted simply for not being a Progressive voice - the policy cited was almost literally "This is a gathering place for Liberals and Progressives to converse, share ideas and provide support - we're not interested in hearing the opinion of Right-Wingers, etc.) I'm dead serious - that's exactly what happened. Whatever scintilla of respect I may have had for the Progressive opinion was gone forever. Pathetic, lame, cowardly, myopic, ironic, but ultimately expected in echo chamber of the modern narrow-minded Progressive.
Brooksifier | 6.11.12 @ 2:27PM
Then get revenge by having my account deleted.
But you do not want to go to the trouble
Jack in Wi| 6.8.12 @ 7:26AM
I live in Wisconsin and have been following and been involved in politics my whole life. I believe that Mitt Romney can never win this state as long as he has a warmonger foreign policy. There is too long a history in this state of people who don't like wars and warmongers. I don't think he can win many of the other swing states which he has to get. With that kind of policy either. I think Mitt knows that and so do his key advisors. We will see how far he trangulates those views before the election. If he doesn't have a good program to return this country to peace, he has a rough road ahead. Scott Walker is everything Mitt Romney isn't. He is very conservative, very pro-life, extemely sincere, means what he says, and say what he means.
Romney needs ot move to peace to get the independents and the young. He needs a staunch conservative like Scott Walker or Rand Paul as VP to get out his base vote. Without doing that he will probably lose. Even if he wins in such a case conservatives would not get much.
MelvinNC| 6.8.12 @ 8:16AM
Good morning Jack. Let me ask you this. I am not one to advocate war, but it appears that we have constantly been in some type of conflict since the Industrial Revolution. Maybe war is a byproduct of this. Anyway would an isolationist foreign policy be in this Country's best interest?
There have been arguments of this since time immortal, but war always seems to creep to our doorstep.
Then again we are a Country born our of armed conflict. A person might say it is something that we are quite good at, when allowed to do it correctly.
My personal opinion is that we need to stay the hell away from Syria. I put my comments in another part of the Spectator today.
Quartermaster| 6.8.12 @ 6:17PM
A non-interventionist foreign policy is not an isolationist foreign policy. Isolation is what you are doing when you roll up the docks and close your ports to the world. Non-interventionism keeps you out of wars where you have interest at stake.
The war mongers have been Lincoln, McKinley, Wilson, FDR, Bush I and II, and Now Obama.
Doctor Right| 6.8.12 @ 8:28AM
When Jack says "warmonger," what he REALLY means to say is "supports Israel."
Jack just doesn't have the guts to come out and say how much he despises Israel and Jews, so he uses code words.
Romney will win Wisconsin. Bank on it.
Jack in Wi| 6.8.12 @ 10:47AM
It will be a very tough road with his present warmonger foreign policy. Most Americans are fed up with the wars of both Bush and Obama. This state loves peacemakers not warmongers. I expect Romney to triangulate his foreign policy views to something with some hope of peace. ScottWalker is also decisive and doesn't flip flop, unlike Romney. This time I hope Romney flips and doesn't flop.
Today, June 8th is the 45th aniversary of the dastardly, sneak attack on the USS. Liberty. Remember.
Jack in Wi| 6.8.12 @ 10:56AM
Wisconsin is also the only state in this country where a building or any other thing is named for the USS Liberty. It is in the Village of Grafton Wi. The name of the building is the USS Liberty Memorial Library. There was a huge outcry from the usual suspects, when this was done. The conservative Republican villagers told them to go straight to hell.
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 3:41PM
"Jack just doesn't have the guts to come out and say how much he despises Israel and Jews, so he uses code words."
Doc,
you despise Islamics, and think the Mideast is an oil spigot. Take the mote out of your own eye.
Skippy| 6.8.12 @ 4:35PM
I despise Islamists, and the ME is an oil spigot.
It should be ours; we paid for it.
If you know of anything else they make in those Arab sh!tholes, let us know.
Besides open sewers in the streets, that is.
C. Vernon Crisler | 6.8.12 @ 10:04AM
Here's Jack again, repasting his usual Paulista-McGovernite foreign policy squibs.
Jack in Wi| 6.8.12 @ 10:38AM
I am an experienced political observer and some time activist in this state. Romney will never win this state with his present foreign policy views. They just won't sell to a majority of the people here. This state has elected pro peace people on numerous occasions. That goes back to the LaFolletts. We don't like wars and warmongers, period. Either Romney changes to at least a more hopeful peaceful message or he won't carry this state. No Republican has carried this state since 1984. It has however always been very close, except 2008. In fact it was so close in 2000 and 2004 that I think the election was stolen in the university wards in Madison and the Ghetto in Milwaukee.
I am glad you brought up the subject. Today June 8th is the 45th aniversary of the dastardly and cowardly attack on the USS Liberty. Let us hope that there is finally justice for the men killed and honor for those who survived.
wareagle| 6.8.12 @ 10:56AM
jack,
nice attempt at misdirection, but foreign policy has almost as much bearing on the election as does either candidate's preference of NFL teams. It's about the economy. Period. Exclamation point.
As to wars, both parties love them, or have missed the total absence of the peacniks since Obama took over and:
--reneged on the Gitmo shutdown
--escalated use of drones
--legalized assassination of American citizens
--thought bombing Libya was a great idea (let's see who replaces Mo)
--uses media surrogates to thump his chest about hit lists
So please stop. The peace folks have no credibility.
Brooksifier | 6.8.12 @ 3:43PM
"--reneged on the Gitmo shutdown
--escalated use of drones"
But you approve. of the above. Be glad for small favors.
Skippy| 6.8.12 @ 4:36PM
I can't wait to start using my drone here at home.
Target: Brooksie!
Truth to Power| 6.8.12 @ 8:38PM
What a waste of a drone. This guy is good for morale. He is like the court jester if you think about it.
Mimi Mayes | 6.9.12 @ 5:35PM
Jack, Jack, we get it! You said exactly the same thing three times! Booooring!
Crassus| 6.8.12 @ 11:22AM
You forgot to mention the chickenhawk neocons, Jack. For shame.
Drunken Sailor| 6.8.12 @ 2:06PM
Give Jack a break, he is in mourning. One of his idols Rand Paul is now endorsing Romney. His daddy finally admitted he doesn't stand a chance.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/.....25624.html
Jack in Wi| 6.10.12 @ 4:37AM
If Rand is endorsing Willard it is more proof that Romney is moving toward a more peaceful foreign policy. He and his managers know he has to move toward peace or he can't win. He will never get the votes of young people, or independents with his present policies. He will move to a more realistic and peaceful policy, because the people are sick to death of nonsense wars, and the waste in blood and money.
MelvinNC| 6.8.12 @ 8:06AM
My little group of swimming buddies, the guys that solve all the world's problems in an hour's worth of going back and forth in the pool.
We were talking and when I mentioned the real impact of not having union dues automatically deducted from the paychecks they're mouths dropped.
People are starting to digest the significance of this. When the numbers came out of all the union members that stopped paying union dues was absolutely astounding.
As a bonus to this people are also starting to wakeup to the fact that when the union dues are money laundering for the Democrat party.
Correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't union dues or a significant part of them supposed to go towards retirement for the members?
Reason being every time we turn around public sector unions are constantly screaming at the top of their lungs of poverty and retirements plans being underfunded in many states like California.
CJW| 6.8.12 @ 8:41AM
Melvin
Union dues are to be used for the union representing its members in collective bargaining and contract issues, not for retirement. For example, if the employer fires an employee the union will represent the employee in an arbitration. The union pays for the lawyer and one half of the arbitrator's fee.
The dues pay for the salaries and expenses of the union reps.
But the reps engage in political activity supporting Dem candidates while on the union dime. There is a Supreme Court case, BECK, that states a union must, upon request from a member, break down the amounts spent for political activity. Also, if a public employee union member does not want to join the union he has to pay only the amount, called fair share, of the dues for union activity and not for polilical activity.
AZBill| 6.11.12 @ 10:13PM
Mr Spike59,
Right on sir, your observation is truly heart warming. May their stress levels go through the roof.
DTOM| 6.8.12 @ 6:55AM
Mr Tucker,
You missed a couple of points. Yes, Rebecca was pithier in her victory speech. But Scott Walker is just that man. His message was, "OK, it's over. Now let's get back to work, TOGETHER with the defeated Democrats, for our employers the citizens of Wisconsin. See you at the office tomorrow at 9:00 sharp!" Which is what he did, and what he does.
And every major city in Wisconsin has a branch of UW, not just Madison. There are 22 campuses, each one a UW with the location appended to its name.
Madison has long been a political hotbed. Remember they tried to blow up the UW-Madison chemistry building in the early '70's.
In Wisconsin, when asked where Madison is, a true Wisconsinite tells you,
"60 miles from reality."
And spike59 does have it right - but we should keep that secret to ourselves...
Don't Tread On Me!!!
DTOM| 6.8.12 @ 6:59AM
Oh, yeah, and another thing. The Republican GOTV efforts were phenomenal. Reince Priebus and the Republicans did an excellent ground game and greatly exceeded the Democrats who came in from all over the country.
And hopefully we can pry our voter photo id requirement out of the courts in time for November. If it had been in force Scott and Rebecca would have won by 8 points. See ya later, Barry, see ya later!!!
lost| 6.8.12 @ 10:58AM
I do not think Walkers speech was so bad either. He did had at least one good line: "I will work for all of Wisconsin, even the ones who voted against me."
Sam Vaughn| 6.8.12 @ 7:35AM
A free man died recently. He was a good man and now he's gone. H started life in an orphaage. He lived life with joy. He held his faith like shield. He graduated West Point. He never made excuses. He was there when things were bad. He never borrowed. He loved his wife for 60 years and into the beyond. He called his own shots, to the end. He was a free man and now he's gone. That is why I belong to the Tea Party.
Sam Vaughn| 6.8.12 @ 7:47AM
What I mean is there is more to this country than meets the eye, it goes a lot deeper than trite analyses. When friends talk about me, they say he's a regular guy. There are a lot of us who know what's going on.
TLP| 6.8.12 @ 8:00AM
The Liberal's "Ground Game" is overrated. I have always thought that. Plus, how do you put a Rate on Wheeling Alzheimer's Patients in to the Voting Booths, and pulling the lever for them? Or, emptying out all of the Methodone Clinics, giving the Homeless packs of Kool Cigarettes, and rounding up all the Dead People, and driving them to Vote?
Or is this about Slashing Tires, Breaking Windshields, and pouring Sand in to the Gas Tanks of Republican's cars?
Truth be told, it's hard to get people to believe that 2+2=5, once it's been PROVEN to them, that it's 4. Or, that the world is Flat, or that all of the Kardashian whores, are Virgins.
Walker's policies worked, as opposed to those in Liberal Illinois, Communist California, or the Muslim White House, where 2+2=5 is The Coin of the Realm.
NOT Drilling for Oil and Natural Gas will reduce our LIBERAL IMPOSED dependence on Foreign Oil.
MORE Borrowing and Spending, not LESS,will reduce our Defecits, and our National Debt.
MORE Regulations. MORE Mandates to Business, from Washington, will get us going.
MORE EPA. MORE NLRB. MORE Energy Department, and Interior Department impediments, at every turn.
MORE of our Racist Crook, Gun Running, Lying sack os sh*t A.G. - Eric Holder.
MORE Crony Capialism. MORE Sloyndras. MORE General Electrics, and GMs and Chryslers paying ZERO TAXES.
MORE Money for Brazil and Colombia, so THEY can Drill, and THEY can build New Refineries.
That's a lot of Lipstick.
Doctor Right| 6.8.12 @ 8:31AM
It's amazing that the Romney campaign hasn't sought your political advice.
TLP| 6.8.12 @ 3:41PM
Who says they haven't, Dumb@ss?
Doctor Right| 6.8.12 @ 5:44PM
A little thing called "common sense."
Try getting some.
TLP| 6.8.12 @ 8:34PM
Am I, all you've got?
It must suck, being you, WISHING you were me.
Now, run along, and get your hand lotion, and that picture of your Sister, that you're so fond of.
I SH*T biggern you.
Mimi | 6.8.12 @ 8:39AM
Tim the 2+2=5 crew will have to get defeated, and they will ! They reached their limit of sucking fools into believing their untrue message.
The trouble that they have got themselves in by their unreadiness and lack of integrety, to govern, too arrogant to even understand the advice offered...mistake ..after mistake now over flowing. All is coming out and the schock and disgust is Bipartisan..ie Fienstein,McCain, Issa.
They have failed and they will lose...again PROVIDENCE has a guiding , watchful , care of this NATION!
TLP| 6.8.12 @ 3:42PM
We will overcome.
Trust me.
The Muslim Cat, is out of the bag.
Louis Jenkins| 6.8.12 @ 8:41AM
We should be pleased that Gov. Walker beat the recall. Maybe he's just more plain than the Lt. Gov. Nothing wrong with that. And yes, the Democrats are through comparing the Wisconsin debacle to a preview of the coming election, they lost a battle but haven't lost the war. At least not in their mind.
Anthony| 6.8.12 @ 8:49AM
Hell, even Bubba Clinton got carried away with the Walker victory and declared that the Bush tax cuts need to be extended.
Then Obozo took Slick Willie to the woodshed and now Monica's hunk is singing another tune.
Hey who's getting whose coffee now, Bubba??
Maybe Slick's aides are correct, he's old and slow. Better stay away from cigars there boy, you might do a Monica on yourself.
irish19| 6.8.12 @ 11:45AM
"you might do a Monica on yourself."
Yuck!
Anthony| 6.8.12 @ 12:22PM
The Slickster had to swallow it whole. Obozo got Bubba's mind right, with the help of Hillary, who told Bubba, I'm gonna be V.P. pal, not stay at home and change your Depends 3x a day.
But fear not irish 19, I, unlike Bubba, have respect for women and fine cigars. I know how to handle them both.
JimH| 6.8.12 @ 9:06AM
I know many here are against any labor union. I think however it is important to differentiate between private sector and government employee unions. It needs to be pointed out to the private sector members that they are taxpayers and it is in part their money which is going to their public brethren that allows them to collect wages and benefits beyond those available in the private economy. One of Reagan’s successes was that he has able to go over the heads of union leadership and gain the support of many of the members by showing that he best represented their interests.
Russel| 6.8.12 @ 9:32AM
Now I want to see the ball get rolling in those states that still are without a right to work law . Our state is right to work and the private sector union's are almost non-existant . A carpenter friend recently bailed the union when it became known to him his chances of getting the promised pension wasn't too good .
Stilton A. Cheese| 6.8.12 @ 9:42AM
Quote: "Editorial writers steeped in memories of the 1930s ..."
Even a depression era kid selling newspapers on a street corner anytime in the 1930's would be older than dirt today and probably retired from writing editorials for many years.
Kwan| 6.8.12 @ 10:25AM
On the Wisconsin Front
Obama: Look kid you coulda been another JFK it was that skunk of a campaign manager that didn't know what he was doing.
Barrett: It wasn't him Barack it was you. Remember when you were campaigning in South Carolina and said you were proud to wear the union label and that if workers were denied rights to organize or collectively bargain when you were elected, you would put on a comfortable pair of shoes and walk on that picket line with us as President of the United States of America. So where were you Barack? I coulda taken Walker apart. So what happens? He wins the reelection and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville. You are a fellow Democrat Barack, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take that butt-whumping I got on Tuesday.
Obama: Your campaign saw some money. We sent some people over to help out.
Barrett: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am let's face it. It was you Barack that let me down.
Al Adab| 6.8.12 @ 11:18AM
Well, we voted for something different, gave the kid a chance and proved we were not racist by voting for him. Didn't work out very well so time to get back to running the country and a free market instead of centrally planned economy. Every now and then we are entitled to a mistake, but not too often.
wareagle| 6.8.12 @ 10:58AM
Walker, Christie, et al will gain a lot more credibility with some of us when they stop singling out teachers' unions and treat ALL public sector unions alike. That police work may be more dangerous than education is a non sequitur if the real concern is pension liabilities and union electioneering.
Obadiah Plainman| 6.8.12 @ 2:59PM
I concur completely--I thought it was a mistake of principle to exclude the police and firefighters unions, but is was a masterful political move. By carving them out, he essentially firewalled them from what would have been a far more rancorous and perhaps unwinnable battle. Personally, I do think that should be a next step, but the major strike has been made now. But Wareagle is correct that, when discussing pensions and electioneering, the involuntary funds transfer of dues to the Democrat Party, there needs to be an intellectual argument that trumps the emotional rhetoric that cops and fire fighters will engage in.
Who Knows?| 6.8.12 @ 1:08PM
Nice take, Mr. Tucker.
The thing to keep uppermost in mind is that Obama is, essentially, ON DRUGS.
“You can take the boy out of the country, but not the country out of the boy.” Translated and applied to BHO, he is still, and always and already, STONED. This applies, with doubly damned probation, to all the members of his team!
It’s time to recall an oldie---
If you aren’t a liberal-socialist-leftist when you’re young you haven’t got a heart.
If you are one when you grow up, you haven’t got a head.
Yes, the left, epitomized by the “kids” in Madison and the University of Wisconsin, and in Eugene, Oregon, and my own alma mater, the U of O, are suffering arrested development. They are, despite their chronological age, acting like children, who want everyone to be dependents like themselves.
Trouble is, these days, as reality is the rubber hitting the road, their fantasies have been revealed to be unsupportable.
Just imagine!
All the “new” kids, still locked in their “hearts”, are getting their “heads” handed to them!
David| 6.8.12 @ 1:35PM
It ain't gonna be easy for Romney to win for all the reasons I have previously mentioned on this site. The dems just have a lot more advantages stacked in their corner. And the majority of voters are ignorant. That doesn't give confidence for repub success.
Truth to Power| 6.8.12 @ 8:32PM
1. The private sector is doing fine.
2. The third summer of recovery is just ahead.
3. Free contraception for Democratic women so they won't have to abort their babies.
4. With a 100 billion dollars and another 18 years, you will be able to ride the California version of Hell on Wheels. It is better than the monorail at Didney Land.
5. With our various wind turbines and failed solar companies you will be able to be very hot and very cold.
6. Greece is a beautiful place and we will make America just like Greece kind of. Substitute in Detroit if we meet all our goals.
Oh yeah the Jackasses have all the advantages.
PolishKnight| 6.8.12 @ 1:45PM
I was watching a documentary on IFC recently about Monty Python and they revealed their liberal tendencies and something I found interesting: gripes about the CONSERVATIVE schoolmasters they were raised under.
This revealed that government and academia needn't necessarily being leftist and socialist at least not as we envision it. It's also not necessarily small government. The Monty Python troupe were raised in WWII Britain where most of their lives were under control by the state including rationing, their school, petrol, etc. Simultaneously, there still existed a mindset of free enterprise and personal responsibility.
The challenge for conservatives is how to get back to that kind of thinking (namely, the era that the old style liberals despised even as they look fondly back at.) John Cleese expressed disgust recently at what London had become yet he helped make it that way. Despite the schoolmasters being authoritarian jerks, he recognized that they largely helped maintain a decent society where people went to work, raised families, and stayed out of trouble.
Kingofthenet| 6.8.12 @ 4:25PM
Why is the problem the Unions and NOT the Govt. Elected Politicians who gave away the store, both Democrat and Republican? It it the Union's fault Govt. doesn't know the meaning of No, you can't have that?
Truth to Power| 6.8.12 @ 4:40PM
The government unions bribe, the Democratic government leaders give and the taxpayers pay. When this reality becomes widely known, Democrats get fired. This is of course what government unions are all about, giving money to the Democratic Party. More states need to follow Wisconsin's lead.
J. Kelley| 6.8.12 @ 5:14PM
The real good news is the (Main Stream Media) could not pull this out for the Unions and Dems.This is good news indeed.
David| 6.8.12 @ 9:12PM
Truth to Power, you rightly point out some super negatives about Bam Bam and the dems. So tell us, if people (voters) are aware of them, why is this still a close race?
Why did Bam Bam win in 2008 when people SHOULD HAVE KNOWN about Rev Wright, and that he was a habitual pot smoker and coke snorter as a student, that he had done nothing of substance in his life, that he won't release any of his school records, etc.?
Because people are flippin' ignorant and the major media (where the vast majority of voters get their info) did nothing to inform and educate the ignoramuses. Do you expect the media to do a better job of it this time around?
The Voter ID issue is so simple-minded and black and white, a no-brainer, and yet it is still being debated and is NOT the law in many states. Why? How can it not be clear to everyone just how commonsensical it is? Are the dems and Bam Bam going to pay a price for strenuously opposing Voter ID? I seriously doubt it.
The point is we have a battle, and if Romney and the repubs don't get down and dirty like the dems, we have a good chance to get another four years of Obama.
Truth to Power| 6.10.12 @ 10:35AM
David, you need to toughen up a bit. Sure we have our problems. Our opponents have problems too. Big problems. They just got a huge surprise in a blue state called Wisconsin. We just saw Scott Walker illustrate a recipe that will be effective in any state. In the middle of progressive land they had their butts handed to them. Work to elect conservative candidates at every level of government and work to get Romney elected. With regard to voting laws be prepared to apply pressure for years and not just months. In general in our Democracy we will need to maintain pressure for years to accomplish things. The budget issues will support that. They are not going away. While doing this states like California, Illinois and New York will illustrate why Democrats are incapable of running anything while they continue to be corrupted by progressivism. Join a tea party group if you haven't. You will be surprised by how many people are very conservative. Remember that those that appear clueless with respect to politics usually are trying to live their lives and will become smarter as we get closer to the election.
Oldefarte| 6.8.12 @ 10:56PM
Wisconsin was awesome, and the tea partiers rock big time! I'm still jumping for joy, and the drull of excitement keeps a coming. Happy days are here again indeed! I'm still shaking my head in disbelief over 11/4/08 as if it were another 9/11/01. I mean, how could America be so stupid? Okay so Bush screw up with the war and entitlement spending to seniors, but is that any reason to jump into a vat of boiling oil? Additionally, the prior Democrats winning ticket of Hillbilly was overrun by the liberalization of Kerry and then Obama, all orchestrated by the Kennedy faction that propagandized/brainwashed/trojun-horsed a Muslim black-nationalist into the highest political office within the world [even though he had the professional qualifications of a hot dog vendor on the streets of Chicago, but he did have a law degree from Harvard]. OMG, to turn ove the POTUS to him was to literally grant automatic pilot status to the office. What if another 9/11 occurred [and ludicrously the Democrats debated the 3AM phone call within their 2008 contest as a prognostication of our current situation]. No we've had a tripling of governmental spending on labor union concerns to be paid for by taxpayers which has toilet trained our economy, the oval office is constantly vacant except for Bo to answer that 3AM call since his master is attempting to obtain more tee-time thatn Tiger Woods [sans the HO's hopefully], and the time bomb is ticking towards 11/6/12!
George Silvestri| 6.9.12 @ 9:46AM
Mr. Tucker is right on. Liberals are so dense and had achieved dominance because of their divide and conquer strategy. We have a parallel. When the Communist regimes were overthrown in the satellite countries of Europe, the people no longer were divided by the fracturing issues that the Communists employed. Therein is a prescription for turning the liberals aand despots (I despise the used of the word Progressive to describe them) and are a throwback to an era of repression.
Ron Ackenberry| 6.10.12 @ 6:17PM
Many union members voted for Walker, again, apparently due to antipathy towards public employees rather than their unions.
Divide and conquer is working well, the Democratic Party has no antidote.
As for the rest of your post, your opinionated blather is as good as anyone else.
I tend to think Wisconsin will come out for Obama in the fall as fair minded people, and in particular independents, aren't buying the flagrant racism, sexism, bigotry and corporate corruption of the Republican Party.
Indeed, Walker may be perp walking the rock by then if all goes well.
Riff Raff| 6.11.12 @ 7:53PM
Walker will not be "perp-walking." Get over it. Furthermore, "the flagrant racism, sexism, bigotry and corporate corruption of the Republican Party" is a fiction, fabricated by lunatics like you who can't stand the idea that other people don't like your politics. Face it, your politics is the politics of greed and narcissism, of corruption and vice, of oppression and tyranny. THIS is the Democrat Party. Have a nice day.