Sure, changes in my working conditions and pay as a public employee will be further determined by a State Supreme Court decision. But, no problem, because the Court follows the state Constitution, right?
And it just so happens that it looks as though the candidate the Walker administration said would best further its agenda (1) happened to spring ahead in the election after all the results had already been announced.
And, just by coincidence, the clerk who found the votes in a pro-Walker county happened to work a few years back in a GOP caucus for Republican Assemblyman David Prosser just before the caucus was dissolved for illegal actions (a clerk, by the way, whose secretive and inaccurate vote-reporting methods have been criticized before). (2,3)
But I can rest easy regarding any improprieties because the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (who just happened to endorse David Prosser) has declared that the missing votes made sense. (4)
The Capital Times editorialized that if this had happened in Illinois, for example, and that the Dems there just happened to find 7500 more votes for their candidate (coincidentally, about the number needed to stop a recount), you bet people would scrutinize it. (5)
But, thank goodness, this is Wisconsin.
What, me worry?
Great link about civility in recall campaign: April 9 entry of Mark Peterson's Glenn Grothmann Watch
Thanks to The Political Environment for the Cap Times editorial tip.
(1) Walker agenda could be stopped, if Prosser is defeated, JS Online, 4/5/11, http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/119285829.html
(2) Election officials scrutinize Waukesha County results, JS Online, 4/8/11, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119486574.html
(3) Waukesha County clerk has drawn criticisms in the past, WI State Journal, 4/9/11, http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_7e777016-62b2-11e0-9b74-001cc4c002e0.html
(4) The Waukesha Surprise..., JS Online, 4/8/11, http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/119476004.html
(5) Scandal in Fitzwalkerstan...,Cap Times, 4/8/11, http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_be206ecd-4b8d-571a-9fa2-cb4e5bf8e668.html
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
So, it's not a referendum...?
As Scott Walker once more declares that the Wisconsin Supreme Court vote is not a referendum on his administration's policies (1) , his Republican colleague Jeff Stone is at home dumbfounded as to why he's not celebrating a victory in Walker's vacated Milwaukee County Executive postition. Instead, Stone got absolutely trounced (61%-39%) by an inexperienced political unknown, Chris Abele. And JoAnne Kloppenburg, a non-factor in the Supreme Court primary in February (25% of the vote, compared to Prosser's 55%), is the leader in the clubhouse for the justice post.
Not a referendum, huh?
When Walker won the gubernatorial election in 2010 by a not-landslide-like 52%-47% margin, he was all about how his subsequent policies were what the people of Wisconsin wanted. He and his Republican colleagues in the Legislature certainly acted as though they felt that was a referendum on his policies (or, at times, perhaps a divine command?) (2)
Unlike that election, though, voters here knew the real costs. They didn't have their candidates lie about collective bargaining, (3) or consolidate political power to appease corporate investors (4) , or say things to purposely mislead the people of Wisconsin (see previous posts).
Kloppenburg's possible election may be nothing more than something akin to a mosquito bite on the neck of Walker's administration, but a slew of them may just have him and his friends running for cover.
On, Wisconsin.
(1) Supreme Court vote doesn't shake Walker's resolve, WI State Journal, http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3e2fac38-60b6-11e0-ae09-001cc4c002e0.html
(2) Scott Walker Believes He's Follwoing Orders From the Lord, The Progressive, 3/7/11 http://www.progressive.org/wx030711.html
(3) Politifact, JS Online, http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/
(4) Yes, a power grab, JS Online, 12/27/10, http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/112522499.html
Not a referendum, huh?
When Walker won the gubernatorial election in 2010 by a not-landslide-like 52%-47% margin, he was all about how his subsequent policies were what the people of Wisconsin wanted. He and his Republican colleagues in the Legislature certainly acted as though they felt that was a referendum on his policies (or, at times, perhaps a divine command?) (2)
Unlike that election, though, voters here knew the real costs. They didn't have their candidates lie about collective bargaining, (3) or consolidate political power to appease corporate investors (4) , or say things to purposely mislead the people of Wisconsin (see previous posts).
Kloppenburg's possible election may be nothing more than something akin to a mosquito bite on the neck of Walker's administration, but a slew of them may just have him and his friends running for cover.
On, Wisconsin.
(1) Supreme Court vote doesn't shake Walker's resolve, WI State Journal, http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3e2fac38-60b6-11e0-ae09-001cc4c002e0.html
(2) Scott Walker Believes He's Follwoing Orders From the Lord, The Progressive, 3/7/11 http://www.progressive.org/wx030711.html
(3) Politifact, JS Online, http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/
(4) Yes, a power grab, JS Online, 12/27/10, http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/112522499.html
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