Governor Scott Walker’s victory last night – his seven-point win against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was by a greater margin than in 2010 – will have profound national ramifications. It was a historic defeat for organized labor, and most especially public sector unions. They chose Wisconsin as the ground on which they would make their stand and make an example out of Walker. Instead, they were decimated. In addition, Walker instantly becomes a dominant political player in the GOP, as well as a model to other reform-minded governors. The loss will also drive a wedge between President Obama and organized labor, which cannot be pleased at the indifference Obama showed toward this race. (Tom Barrett was one of Obama’s earliest supporters in 2007.) The president wasn’t there when organized labor needed him. They are likely to return the favor in November.
When combined with the dismal jobs report on Friday, the news Monday that new orders for U.S. factory goods fell in April for the third time in four months, and the downward revision of economic growth in the first quarter (to 1.9 percent) – all of which signal that our weak economy is growing still weaker – Democrats must feel as though the walls are beginning to crash down around them.
The epic 2010 mid-term election was foreshadowed by three races in particular – the victories by Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey in November 2009 and Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts in January 2010. They were clear signals of what awaited Democrats in November 2010.
Scott Walker’s crushing win in Wisconsin – which occurred only 154 days before the presidential election — has a similar feel to it. Wisconsin ain’t Utah; it is the home of Robert La Follette and a state with a strong progressive tradition. Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 14 points in 2008 and it hasn’t gone Republican since 1984. For Governor Walker to win by the margin he did, based on the agenda he’s enacted, is a sign that the political currents in America strongly favor conservatism and the GOP. Even in Wisconsin.
Intelligent Democrats know that. Which is why panic is spreading throughout their ranks this morning. They see another huge wave forming and growing. And right now, they have no idea how to avoid it.
Ominous, sir. I hear the soundtrack from Gladiator playing faintly in the background… n nAs a born and bred Badger Stater (now transplanted to Alabama) I am so pleased and proud of the people of Wisconsin. They've done something crucially important for the whole nation. They're on the front lines, providing inspiration and leadership for all who have the eyes to see… when their moment arrived, Wisconsinites did not shrink from the task. THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE… and may the rest of us aspire to soon join them in maturity and wisdom. Well done, Wisconsin.
Well said. And, while we are dishing out compliments; the folks in Alabama also deserve some national recognition for the way they stood up and took needed measures against the current invasion of illegal aliens. They seem to be crawling out of the woodwork all over these days but everyone else just stands around like a bunch of ninnies wringing their hands. I guess they are petrified by the thought of lawsuit from the ACLU. I wish that there were greater awareness of the amazing decreases in unemployment that have occurred since your so-called "draconian" law was instituted.
Well said, Sally.
What? Only a 7% margin of victory? According the The Washington Post this morning, the percentage was almost 13%. That is not just a defeat for the Left but a rout.
They see another huge wave forming and growing. And right now, they have no idea how to avoid it. n nYes, the left is caught between their ideological rock and an economic/political hard place. The democrats might lessen the wave's blow if Obama, Pelosi, and Reid were to heed the advice of the nimble, more pragmatic Bill Clinton, but they are so blinkered and straight-jacketed that you are correct, Mr. Wehner.
But they have a very coherent plan; it is simply a matter of letting the Latino's produce babies until the states of Texas and Florida are safely in the democratic column. Then, Ha Ha, helped also by the prolific negro womb, the evil white republicans will be reduced to crying in the hinterland wilderness while the liberal intelligentsia rule suburbia and tax us all in undisturbed splendor! Victory is inevitable.
whoa. "the prolific negro womb" you been overdosing on your Andrew Sullivan pills?
One problem: Most Latinos are Catholic. n nAnd the lefts continued assault on Catholicism may well drive some Latinos away.
Thank you Wisconsin.
"They see another huge wave forming and growing. And right now, they have no idea how to avoid it." nAvoid it hell their every action is causing it to only grow!
How did Wisconsin do it?! My state, Oregon, is owned by the public emplyee unions and will follow Illinois and California into bankruptcy… but New Jersey and Wisconsin have stepped back from the edge in spite of the Democratic Machine politics. HOW DID YOU DO IT? I'd love to be in a state with a rational budget and a chance for economic growth.
Maybe we could cede Portland to Washington.
Hey Jaime, people in New York are leaving the state in droves, I don't know if that is possible at all in your situation,but where I you, I'll leave as fast as I can.It is going to get worse before it gets better,but trust that the wave is going there too!
Blue states are seeing a migration that was first noted in the census. You can't live where the taxes are so high that they drive businesses and jobs away. But please, when you move don't make the mistake that so many transplants make. Don't whine about how it was back home and try to change your new home by introducing the same failed policies. You won't find the same type of safety net mentality in places like Texas. But you also won't find the type of mindset that seeks to throw up challenges to business development either.
Jaime Hardisty ·- The common denominator in Wisconsin and New Jersey is a Republican governor who understands the vulnerability of entitlement-mentality unions to a populist assault revealing how those unions function as the fundraising arm of the Democratic party. Here's the best kind of "campaign finance reform": make sure that the money that parties use to push their agendas comes from people who gave it to them voluntarily, not payroll-deducted as a functional prerequisite of employment in a chosen field.
Ahh, I was so nervous Tuesday, but glad to see the Wisconsinites did the RIGHT THING. Walker is a good Gov, and needed to be retained. n nNow, if we can figure out how to win in Nov…:)
Dear Clarespark, n nLook on the bright side. In less than 4 weeks the Supreme Court is going to overturn Obamacare on constitutional grounds and an actual entitlement program will be reversed. n nIf you think last night made them mad, wait until that next pile of merde falls on their pointed little heads.
its time for CHANGE…We cant afford 4 more years of BARRACK OBAMA, 8.2% UNEMPLOYMENT, 1.9 DISMAL GDP, 14 MILLION AMERICANS OUT OF WORK, RECORD AMOUNT OF FORECLOSURES, AND A RECORD 16 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT AND GROWING……..ITS TIME FOR REAL CHANGE FOLKS….CHANGE YOU CAN REALLY BELIEVE IN….
The idea of public sector unions is unjustifiable. The unions make taxpayers the "enemy" of government employees.
What ever happened to those bedrock Democrat constituencies of dead, illegal, and non-existent voters? nNo-show? At least the Libberwal stronghold of Madison proudly claimed to have done good work and turned out over 100% of registered voters, according to Breitbart's blog… nAnyway, as Uncle Joe Stalin said, It is less important who gets to vote than who gets to count the votes…
Here's how Democrats can avoid the wave – ride it! n nJust as they did in the '60s with civil rights legislation, racist Democrats co-opted the Republican position and somehow convinced minorities that not only were the heretofore Jim Crow Democrats for blacks, but that Republicans were the racists. n nI don't think Democrats can turn the tables on Republicans given the availability of alternative media to cut through the Iron Curtain of the Democrat propaganda machine, but they can open their eyes and finally admit that socialism does not work, and the kind of "growth and recovery" we have been experiencing for the last 3+ years is always the result of socialist / Marxist policies. n nYou think the economy is bad? Wait until Obamacare hits the fan. We're talking socialism with a capital C-O-M-M-U-N-I-S-M!
I have to believe the "brains" in "Team Obama", Axelrod and Plouff, did not send Obama to Wisconsin because they knew Walker was way ahead and that Obama couldn't change the outcome. It would make him look even weaker than he does now to go there and have no impact. Obviously I'm just guessing but there has to be a reason. Obama is dumb as a post but those two Chicago political thugs are most definitely not.
I don't think they wanted Obama to be blamed for Barrett's failure. That taint of failure is hard to wash off. Right now, Obama has no coattails to ride on. I predict they will force out Biden and put in Clinton as a chance to revisit the glory days of blaming Bush.
The seven point spread win is probably even much larger if we could identify and remove all the illegal votes that were cast by union members being bused in from Detroit and other places within driving distance of Wisconsin!
I heard there were four buses that headed in from north. I heard nothing more after that. Do you know if it's being investigated?
I'm afraid Mr. Wehner and virtually all previous posters are guilty of wishful thinking. I think Obama will carry Wisconsin in November despite the Dems loss yesterday. n More significant is the Dems and labor victory several months ago over Gov. Kasich in Ohio, who similarly wanted to roll back union power in the Buckeye state. No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio, and polls there show Obama with a narrow lead right now. n Ohio, not Wisconsin, is the belweather to the election in the Midwest and in the nation, and we have real work to do there by November to carry the state and rid ourselves of Obama.
Lack of moderation and fundamental dishonesty from left and right will ruin this country. We need a 3rd independent party. The rt and lt don't. want a third party to spoil their theft of the wealth of this country.
i agree with you. when the center doesnt hold we are in deep trouble. the vote for governor walker was not a vote against president obama per se but rather a vote against extremism. we of the center orin my case the center right must find a way to put more passion in the center andnot let the extremes rule the body politic. . let usmake a dynamic center
watsa46: I respectfully disagree with you. If a Conservative third party as you are advocating had been running in Wisconsin, we would not have had the great victory we had. The only chance Conservatives have for real change in Washington is through the Republican Party. n nI don't know if you are a Liberal troll or a Libertarian…but the dream of Liberals is to "divide and conquer" the Conservative movement giving them a free hand to do what they want. n nTo paraphase William F. Buckley the founder of the modern Conservative movement: n"We must always nominate the most Conservative Republican who is electible." n nThird Party people are not electible!!! n nAnybodyButChicagoDemocrats
I live here…..You've been lied to again by the progressive main stream media….unions put well over twenty million dollars into this recall effort… n nSo, they can smear all the lipstick on this pig they want…..it is still a pig….
When the tsunami hit Thailand a few years ago the first wave washed into the resort areas only a little ways. The hotel staff went back to rearranging the beach chairs never realizing that a second devastating wave was coming. The 2010 midterms was only the first wave and the democrats are busy rearranging the beach chairs.
52-47 Walker 51-46 Obama. I like how Walker is running the state and I think Obama is doing wonderfully. n nThis just does not compute. Somebody's poll numbers are way wrong and if they don't know what the real numbers are, how can a message be created to bring in voters. It may be a sin to lie to someone, but it's insanity to lie to yourself.
The left will learn nothing and will continue to play their gutter game, using crooked judges , vote fraud, Eric Holder, whatever nasty trick they can conjure. Socialism is built on lies, so there is no way leftwingers will ever wake up. They are strictly un-American. They can't present themselves as they really are because no one would buy their act. It's a good thing that Walker trounced them so badly that their phony cries of "voter intimidation" were seen as pathetic loserville tactics
Nope, this is not a new wave….this is the same wave that began in early 2009 when it became apparent we had a communist in the White House…. n nThe results of the 2010 election are historical (1936)…. a solid majority of states now have conservative controlled legislatures ….. nThere are now thirty two states with gay marriage bans…even California voted for it…but of course the people were overruled there by an activist judge…. n nThe people have spoken.. n nIt took a hundred years for the progressives to fundamentally transform both sides of the aisle on the Hill. The TPM has been in existence for two or three years…we have about 100 out of 535 'public servants' in place. Once we get a majority in the Senate and oust the Manchurian Candidate in a little under 200 days, there will be no room to hide for the remaining RINOs…. n n2012 is gonna seem like…well 2012 as many progressives are swept out of Washington in the coming tsunami….. n nGoogle Whigs
Walker's victory merely indicates that voters don't want to use the recall process to remove a governor for policy reasons. The recall is reserved for criminal or otherwise egregious behavior. It has nothing to do with left vs. right.
Dream on Rodger. nIt is all about fiscally responsible government of and for the people vs a corrupt, special interest, socialist, bloated bureaucracy full of political hacks.
TheSteelGeneral, respectfully… You're an idiot! n nI love how the left loons grab onto tweaked and manipulated numbers to drive liberal talking points. The Unions and Democrats (including special interests) have spent vast millions during the past 2 years trying to remove a Governor because they didn't agree with things he was doing. Instead of counting all this money, they only look at how much was spent on Barrett, the candidate the Unions weren't backing, and compare it to all the money the Right spent. Basically, using Obama number manipulation. n nGive me a break!