According to Andrew Feldman’s Christmas Eve opinion piece in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, “Despite Democrats’ massive protests and their success at gathering recall signatures, most Wisconsinites did not appear to be in a ‘throw the Republicans out’ mood in 2011. If they had been, Supreme Court Justice David Prosser would be out of a job and Democrats would have won back the state Senate during the summer.”
First, not all of those who protested Walker’s draconian budget bill in February and March were Democrats. And it’s not only Democrats who are circulating recall Walker and Kleefisch petitions or signing them. Many of those who voted for Walker are more than disillusioned and disappointed. They’re furious—furious enough to work very hard on the recall effort. And the signatures are coming, not just from Madison and Milwaukee but from all over Wisconsin. Over 507,000 signatures were collected in the first 28 days—that’s 94 percent of the signatures needed (540,208) and 70 percent of the signatures hoped for (720,277)—in less than half the time allotted (60 days).
You may recall that voter turnout for the Prosser/Kloppenburg Supreme Court race was unprecedented. The outcome was perilously close and is still considered highly questionable. When the election began, Kloppenburg was not particularly well known, and she was trying to unseat the incumbent. Even if the dubious votes that Kathy Nickolaus miraculously discovered were indeed legitimate, the election can’t be dismissed as a failure for Democrats. We sure as hell gave Prosser a run for his money—a LOT of money, come to that. And I wonder how those who voted for Prosser in April feel about his bad behavior since then.
You can hardly call the recall elections of this past summer a Republican victory. The accomplishments of Democrats, progressives, and labor organizations this summer were truly remarkable. On August 10, 2011, John Nichols told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that “Democrats and progressive groups, labor especially, took on six entrenched Republican incumbents in districts that were drawn to elect Republicans and that, in some cases, have elected Republicans steadily for more than a century. So, this fight was played out on the turf of conservative Republicans. With that reality, you saw two Democrats win.” Recall elections targeted six Republican senators and three Democratic senators. Democrats held on to all three senate seats and successfully recalled two Republican senators.
In August, Ian Millhiser pointed out how truly remarkable those achievements were:
All of the Republican state senators who were eligible for recall in [2011] were Republicans who held on in 2008 despite the fact that they had to stand for election during a Democratic wave. Likewise, all of the Republicans who were elected in 2010 only because they were fortunate enough to run during a Republican wave were immune from recall. Come 2012, however, all of this changes.
In 2011, we were only just getting started. Some of the battles we have already fought were at least as challenging as the ones that await us in 2012, if not more so. We set very high goals for ourselves, and that we didn’t attain everything we went after doesn’t mean that the victories we did achieve count for nothing. Our accomplishments thus far are formidable and cannot be dismissed or discounted.
Feldman is quite correct that unseating Walker will be a daunting challenge. But don’t make the mistake of underestimating how angry Wisconsinites—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—are about Walker’s actions. Feldman is also right about the need for Democrats to “create a bold agenda that does nothing less than revive Wisconsin’s progressive tradition.” But for my part, I am inclined to believe that Wisconsin is indeed in a “throw the Republicans out” kind of mood.
blue cheddar 
Most Republicans and independents I know have little fear that the entitlement recall will work. Its easy to stand by a liquor store or lottery outlet and get people to sign, but to have them get motivated enough to vote, a whole different animal.
“Entitlement recall”? What do you mean by that? In winter, it’s not so easy to stand outside anywhere and gather signatures. Most of the conservatives I know are very angry at Walker and are participating in the recall effort. They’re not afraid. They’re furious.
They are scared, and they should be. Keep up the good work, it is an inspiration to us all. I wish we had appropriate recall laws here in Michigan, but we are hosed. I don’t even recognize my State anymore…
stinks on both sides. One guy was bragging that he had signed over 80 times…just go to different locations, he says. No one is checking signatures…
Lots stinkier on one side than on the other. Many instances of trying to destroy legitimate petitions and harassing or threatening signature collectors, whereas much ado is being made of one guy who claims he signed 80 times or so.
“The Democrats said they’re working to weed out repeat signatures before submitting them to the GAB. The Board may not necessarily catch the duplicates.” (
http://www.wisn.com/politics/29958007/detail.html)
I seriously doubt the guy supports the recall, but rather, is up to GOP dirty tricks like we have seen ever since the recall effort began; spitting on people, tearing up petitions, threatening to gather signatures and then burn them. People have even had their lives threatened because they want to exercise their legal right to recall.
That’s waht’s happening in Wisconsin.
Walker supporters are doing whatever they can to call into question the legitimacy of the recall. They’re desperate, poor things.
All of the signatures are being checked. I have some documentation to that effect and several sources I know have said so. By the way – – can you tell me why that guy would sign something 80 times?
Every time I hear that we “elected” Prosser, I am reminded that if the judge at the recount had thrown out all the votes that were obviously questionable, like, er the ones where the bag had been slit and restitched with duct tape, Kloppenburg would have won. As it was, the cover up stands as the world thinks he was elected. Not. And now with the reviewal of the open meeting laws violation that went to the bench where Gableman was working for the corporation along side Prosser, maybe we can get some justice. And everyone on the other side of the aisle HAS to speculate there won’t be a recall. Just watch us.
So many of Wisconsin Republicans’ “victories” don’t pass the smell test. Hopefully things will start smelling better for the people of Wisconsin in 2012.