Wisconsin Supreme Court election still a squeaker

[dreamshark]

The outcome of this state election has major implications for national politics.  It's being billed as a referendum on Gov. Walker's controversial war on public employee unions. And at last count, it was too close to call, with the progressive Democrat leading by a mere 200 votes.  Usually elections of this type draw 20% turnout. This one got something like 60%.  So the pundits who are calling it a referendum on the governor's actions are not just talking through their hats.

Stay tuned.

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Um, wouldn't that be the Democrats having the nasty wakeup call? Here's an election with 3x usual turnout, which ought to favor Democrats, on an issue that's seen many tens of thousands of people demonstrating -- and if the progressive side wins (non-partisan, so I won't use the party name) it'll be by just barely squeaking by. I suspect a lot of people thought the Republicans didn't stand a chance.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Remember, this election isn't ACTUALLY a referendum on the issue of unions or Republicans or Gov. Walker. It's a spring judicial election of a sitting judge who has been in the habit of running unopposed. The fact that so many people came boiling out of the woodwork to vote in this election indicates how stirred up the general populace really is. And the fact that the Democrats are leading in a district that has been happily reelecting a Republican-leaning judge up until now indicates which way the wind is blowing.

It may be a little unfair to the judge. For all I know he's been doing a perfectly good judgely job and didn't deserve to suddenly find himself the poster boy for Republicanism. But it indicates that there is a strong potential for backlash against strongarm tactics by new Republican state governments.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

It's really kind of scary. Just like Coleman really getting almost 50% of the vote, or Bush. Where do these people come from? I'm not really ready to believe the whole voting system is totally corrupt; I think most of the problem is the voters.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

As I've been saying since the Nov. elections, it looks like Republicans won the war and lost the battle. They're in, largely through the corporate money made available from the Citizens United decision and the Democratic Party not creating jobs fast enough. But the Tea Party is dominated by racist nutjobs, and the Republican party didn't have the cojones to stand up to the Tea Party.

At least the Democrats had the sense to refuse to let George Wallace and co. take over their party. That meant Republicans won a lot of elections especially down south, but at least the party has the moral high ground. As much as any political party can have a moral high ground, which may not be a lot.

The US, and Wisconsin in particular, has a nasty right-wing streak that seems entrenched and it takes the disaster of the McCarthy Era, the Vietnam War or the Walker governorship for the rest of us to put aside petty squabbling and vote in a bloc.