FUN WITH CHEESEHEADS
Big fun today! The chaotic disarray of the democratic machine is quite a sight to see, isn't it? In case you've been living under a rock, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker won his recall election last night. Handily. I'm not quite sure what's sweeter - the fact that he won, or that he won by a larger margin that when he was initially elected governor in 2010. Mmmm, sweet like candy!
It looks like the taxpayers finally have a seat at the bargaining table in Wisconsin. It's about time.
My favorite quote of the night comes courtesy of Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch:
"This is what democracy looks like!"
Running a close second is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal with this little gem:
“A lot of people thought it would be a late night in Wisconsin. I think it’s going to be a late night in Chicago.”
To quote the vernacular: Tru'dat!
How disconcerted are democrats? Well, David Axelrod had a rather puzzling tweet on the subject:
"Bad night in Boston....WI raises big questions for Mitt"
In case you're confused, he isn't talking about Walkers reelection, he's talking about exit polling that shows President Obama over Mitt Romney, 51-45%. A six-point lead is nice, right? Perhaps Mr. Axelrod missed this from the Chicago Tribune article he referenced in his tweet (emphasis mine):
Wisconsin voters in Tuesday’s recall election seem ideologically fairly similar to those in 2010 – more heavily conservative than in the 2008 presidential election, but inclined to reelect President Obama nonetheless, according to early, partial exit poll results.
It's that "more heavily conservative" bit that is the sticking point. Heavily, huh? Ouch. While a six-point lead sure is nifty, it isn't nearly as nice as the extra-spiffy fourteen point spread he enjoyed against McCain in 2008. An eight point drop isn't anything to brag about, Dave. Especially in ultra-blue Wisconsin. He might have missed that bit about 'more heavily conservative', though. It was waaaay down in the...first sentence of the article. I'd hazard a guess that the Romney camp was pretty happy with last night's outcome, and that his perfectly coiffed head slept soundly on its luxury 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, most likely dreaming up ways to make Wisconsin even more competitive in the future.
The defeat has hit union supporters hard, to say the least. Last night Mayor Barrett was meeting and greeting supporters after he had called Gov. Walker to concede and found out just how hard - literally - when he was soundly slapped by a distraught...er, supporter (via Mediaite):
Well, at least she asked first, right?
President Obama has piped in as well. He's sincerely hoping that Gov. Walker got the strong message the unions sent with the recall.
Oy.
Hopefully President Obama will eventually get the strong messages the American taxpayers have been sending him for the past three years, starting with Scott Brown. The attempt at getting the message received really hit its stride with the historic 2010 democratic defeats - not to mention loss after democratic loss in Wisconsin alone over the past year of recall mania. And all of it (at least for now) culminating with Scott Walker's enthusiastic reconfirmation. I'm not going to hold my breath on a presidential epiphany. In fact, I'm rather hoping he won't have one until he receives one more message on Nov. 6th.
There will be a lot of moaning - crying, even - over the "stealing" of the election by the eeeevil corporations and their dirty, nasty millions. Perhaps the unions would have had more in their war chest if the DNC had had more faith in their cause and candidate and had actually given money instead of moral support to help the election as the RNC did.
On a side note, funny how blockbuster campaign contributions - including out of state money - are a sign of universal support when its for Obama and democrats, but a sign of the coming zombie apocalypse for anyone with an 'R' after their name.
The big question now is whether the bitterness can be shed and relationships repaired. As a parent, whenever I have to strongly rebuke one of my children, I know that sometimes there will be a certain amount of anger, resentment, and maybe even a temper tantrum or two. But I also know that eventually they will get over it and life returns to a well-behaved, amiable normal. Unfortunately some children are either not that bright, self destructive, or a combination of the two and fight on far longer than is wise, not caring that they are damaging themselves and others along the way. Let's hope the union hierarchy, whose fifteen month tantrum has cost the state of Wisconsin somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 million, will wise up soon. Continuing the bad behavior of the past year will only damage the image of the unions further. Considering they have already lost in excess of half their dues-paying membership since the reforms were put in place, they certainly can't afford to alienate anyone else.
It's time to concede and move on. I would counsel conservatives to not spike the ball on this too much (never mind that I've written a whole post that is pure ball spiking!), as we don't want to give cause to extend the epic pout we are in for over the next few days. But considering some of these people are fine with slapping their own candidates, I see no reason why we can't slap each other on the back a bit for a job well done (happy dances optional)!
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