Main Street

Wisconsin Roundup IX: The Recalls Cometh

We’ve finally arrived folks. The first round of recall elections in the most important political battle of this new decade is today, Tuesday, July 12. And there are a few signs that things are looking up for the good guys.

Unfortunately, Scott Walker is making it hard to be optimistic and easy to be nauseous – but hey, it wouldn’t be a day in Wisconsin without that!

This is your Wisconsin Roundup:

• GOP challenger fails to make ballot. Scott Walker’s allies were elated when they recruited Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) to run in the recall election against Senator David Hansen (D-Green Bay). Only one problem: due to lack of enthusiasm, poor planning, bad paperwork, or a combination of all of the above, Rep. Nygren didn’t get enough valid signatures to make the ballot, according to a decision by the GAB.

In one of the more surprising twists in the exceedingly twisty Wisconsin saga, Nygren failed to make the ballot by two valid signatures (he needed 400, he got 398). That’s an hour of work at most, or a couple of door knocks. But that ship has sailed, and the math of the recall is substantially changed.

Nygren initially submitted an appeal to the GAB, but has since dropped it. Now Hansen will face a substantially weaker candidate on July 19.

• Grassroots donors make it rain. While the Nygren incident was a hit to Walker and his anti-worker allies, this next bit of news must have them really scared. Even though the Wisconsin GOP has the backing of the Koch Brothers, the Club for Growth, and a host of shadowy corporate donors, the grassroots efforts of We Are Wisconsin and the Democratic candidates have proved once again that a large number of small donations – fueled by the Internet – can pack a powerful punch.

From the Wisconsin Democrats:

Low-dollar donations from ordinary Wisconsin citizens fed up with the extreme, divisive agenda of Scott Walker and his sock puppet senators in Madison have fueled nearly $1.6 million in contributions for Democratic challengers in the latest fundraising period for the recall elections this summer.

The numbers are pretty incredible. Nancy Nusbaum, who is running against Robert Cowles in Senate District 2, raised over $177,000. Average donation? $19.27. In fact, for five out of the six candidates, the average donation size was under $25, highly unusual in this post-Citizens United era of mega-donors and super-expensive elections.

In Wisconsin and all over the country, working families and pro-worker activists of all stripes are starting to recognize the impact that a recall victory this summer would have on the destructive agendas of Scott Walker, John Kasich, Rick Scott and the gang – and they are even willing to depart with a few hard-earned bucks to make it happen.

And if they needed some extra motivation, Scott Walker and his pal Rush Limbaugh are happy to oblige:

• Walker’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, featuring Rush Limbaugh. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill is now in effect, and anti-worker politicians are trying to claim that the new law caused the Appleton School District to go from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus. You don’t have to be an economic expert to know that’s bogus (the change is the result of concessions made by teachers far before Walker’s collective bargaining law went into effect), but it’s still been bandied about as fact by the usual reality-phobic pundits, like Rush Limbaugh.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post wrote:

Walker’s premature declaration of victory — and the right wing echo chamber’s flacking of it — could look awfully silly when the full bill for his policies really comes due. And the notion that this one school district’s fiscal success is in any way a referendum on the most controversial aspect of Walker’s union busting proposal is laughable. This fight has never been about public employees’ unwillingness to make fiscal concessions — and always about stripping them of their rights.

He’s right. It’s never been about jobs for Scott Walker. It’s about ideology, personal prestige, and the bidding of his corporate donors.

And that’s why today, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, Wisconsin will start the process of removing Walker’s rubber stamp senators from office. Stay tuned.