Voting for Walker, not because he is "against Barrett" but the recall has a negative impact, he says

[WillParkinson]

One problem for Barrett is that some voters may cast their vote for Walker simply to show their distaste for the recall process itself and to signal that, despite any problems they may have with Walker’s policies, Democrats overreached.

Jim Kramers of Kenosha, Wis., says he is voting for Walker not because he is “against Barrett” but because the recall has had “a very negative impact on the state locally and nationally.” “We’ve become a laughingstock,” Mr. Kramers says of his state.

<big snip>

“There’s a very small number of undecided voters, so there’s not a lot of people out there to be moved,” he says.

One such resolute voter is Karen Stardy, a farmer from Union Grove. Earlier in the day, while manning her booth at a farmer’s market in South Milwaukee, Ms. Stardy said her disgust was not necessarily with Barrett but with how the recall election is dividing her community but not offering real solutions to turning the economy around.

“There’s arguments all over the place. It’s like, nobody’s really right and nobody’s really wrong,” she said. “I’d rather not see people arguing over politics. We have to tough it out. There’s no instant solution to the problems that we’ve got.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2012/0601/Wisconsin-recall-Did-Tom-Barrett-close-gap-with-Scott-Walker-in-debate

(Small snippet of the article)

[PeaceNikki]

1. This is going to be a tight race and we could lose. Make no mistake, Walker has plenty of supporters

I know that seems insane to those of us with fully functioning brains, but he does. I live among them, work with them, shop with them and see and hear them every day. And they vote. Walker won and Feingold lost in 2010 because 125,00 people who voted for Obama in 2008 couldn't or wouldn't get to the polls that fateful day. 108k in Milwaukee alone.

This is the most politically divisive place in the nation and it will be a very very right race. I am preparing for a recount already.

Disregard the preemptive calls of fraud, we're watching every polling place. Democrats here generally do a dismal job of showing up in mid-term and special elections and local GOP wins national awards for turnout. We very well may lose. Thousands of us have and are working very hard to be sure that doesn't happen, but if every single person who voted for Obama doesn't show up, it will. His supporters exist en masse and they show up at the polls.

Seriously, what would it take for the Stand with Walker crowd to abandon their “hero?”

http://bloggingblue.com/2012/06/01/what-would-it-take/

I’ve struggled with this question for some time now. What would Walker have to do to get them to see him for who he is? Let’s face it, he’s got the following record:

He has the worst Jobs Record in America
He oversaw corruption while County Executive
He’s lost 10,000 businesses
He has a legal defense fund
He has two high-priced legal mouthpieces
He’s been obstructing the John Doe investigation for two years
He’s the most dishonest governor in America according to PolitiFact

I think transvestite comedian (comedienne?) Eddie Izzard has the answer: Scott Walker would have to impale babies on spikes to lose support from the enthralled masses. And even then, I think they’d figure out a way to excuse it since he impaled babies and not fetuses.

A million signatures to recall is not enough. We need every single one of those to translate into a vote AND for each of them to bring a Democratic friend or two. Do the math:

2010 election results: http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/percent%20results%20post%20recount_120710.pdf
2008 election results: http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=15398&locid=47

[Mairead]

19. Is the problem perhaps that the only reason to vote for Barratt is that he's not Walker?

What is he offering that makes voting for him worthwhile? If nobody can figure that out, that might account for the whole problem.

To many people, these days, there's little or no substantive difference between the Dems and the GOP. Everyone here can say, even in unison, "they're wrong!", but that won't convince them.

Does the GetRidOfWalker campaign have a one-page flyer that lays out in concrete, bullet-point terms what is or is not on offer from Walker and Barratt? If not, maybe someone should quick produce one and start handing it out.

As to the bogus laughing-stock complaint, people saying that should be asked whether they would be so afraid of being laughed at that they'd keep someone on their payroll who was wrecking their business.

[HereSince1628]

2. That was basically the position taken by Milwaukee JS when it endorsed Walker.

To suggest that WI has become a laughing stock identifies him as not very aware--I suspect but cannot prove he gets most of his information from political ads run on tv.

No one, Democrat or Republican is laughing. In particualr the Republicans having raised beyond 25 million in support of Walker appear to be taking this very seriously.

[Kalidurga]

3. It seems that some people were beaten with a stupid stick...

Seriously, people that vote for a scum bag just because they don't like the recall process are stupid. If you don't like the process then don't participate.

I am just flabbergasted at that kind of "reasoning."

[HangOnKids]

22. Ah Shit Kal Those MotherFuckers Are Lying Cowards

Not buying their weak sauce line of defense that the process is turning them off. Not. Buying. It. They just don't have the fucking courage to admit they support a scuzbagshitweasel like Walker.

[kentuck]

4. Yep.

Stupid can't be fixed.

[Tennessee Gal]

5. The recall has had a negative impact?

No, the negative impact is coming from Walker.

To stand against him is the right thing to to. That some don't see that is just the purest form of ignorance.

[PeaceNikki]

6. You have no idea how hostile things are here.

Neighbors, co-workers, drivers with bumper stickers for the opposition... it's terribly sad. Don't get me wrong, the fault of this lies with Walker, not the recall, but the "stand with a fucking criminal" crowd (and there are a lot of them) feel that it does.

Walker fucked up my state.

[Tennessee Gal]

8. Sorry you are going through this.

It is hard to imagine how people there can't see how bad Walker really is and how bad he will become if he retains power.

[flamingdem]

9. But really, why do they support Walker?

Do they have no concern about Koch brothers money and union busting?

I find it interesting that SHAME is functioning here. In US culture this is a very strong emotion that is used for social control.
It seems to be working here to inhibit straight thinking and to define oneself as a member of the herd, the herd being those
who don't rock the boat.

[PeaceNikki]

10. They have been indoctrinated to HATE unions, HATE public employees and HATE teachers.

Walker succeeded in dividing and we're trying to stop him from conquering.

[PeaceNikki]

11. Also, they think rich people are 'job creators', they all think they'll be rich someday and that

government is EVIL and taxes are EVIL. They hate the poor, hate the black Kenyan socialist preznit. They are just like teabaggers everywhere else, but they've been fed the bullshit 'divide and conquer' strategy for a year and a half.

It's sad.

[flamingdem]

12. How could there be so many in that category

with the liberal aspects of the state? I wish you all the best. I saw excerpts of "We are Wisconsin" the movie. Supposedly it's being screened around the state now. The filmmaker was using the film to reach the other side with house parties, etc. Such a long process, it takes time.

[PeaceNikki]

13. I don't know, fd. I don't know. I don't think there *are* more in that category, but they get to the

polls better than we do in mid-term and special elections. And *that* must change. Without that, Walker will win Tuesday.

[Ed Suspicious]

16. This he did.

People are openly hostile to one another. I see it every day. This man took a state filled with pragmatic voters - voters who voted for the interest of the people of the state and ripped it right apart. Turned many of us, including myself, into frothing-at-the-mouth ideologues for out "side." Don't get me wrong, there was political divisiveness pre-Walker, but there was a sense that small changes and a give and take attitude, and an ethic of compromise and cooperation ruled the day. This state today is not a state I recognize after living here for my nearly 38 years.

Many conservatives and even some liberals try to frame the recall as being about unions. This is not what this is about... Well, it's partly what its about, but it goes much deeper. It's really about the drastic departure from the more open and incremental way Wisconsin does the business of running the state. It's about the tragic loss of the sense that even though my family and friends believe in personal responsibility, they also realized there was a need for strong public schools and Badger Care. We used to admire Madison and the forward thinking and research that came out of it. Now we are inundated with messages of division. We are told how Madison and Milwaukee are not at all like the rest of the state. Somehow Milwaukee became a haven for state dependent useless eaters and Madison became the abortion loving liberal nanny state wet-nurse for an impoverished liberal Milwaukee population.

Walker and the opportunistic republican state congress have turned this state from a place where neighbor helped neighbor and it really was a faux pas to preach politics because on some level we had respect for each other, and a sense that even if the conservatives managed to get there way on issues, they were in it for Wisconsin. We now hate each other quite openly and vehemently. Distrust is today.

This state has indeed changed for the worse. WI was sort of naive and idealistic in a very good way. We were pragmatic and sensible on both sides of the aisle. I lament these changes. I hate the hostility that's been forced upon us. I want our innocence back.

That's why Walker needs to go. It's why we need to get back to electing WI first politicians like Jessica King and Dale Schultz who still value old fashioned across the aisle compromise and fixing problems in a way that focuses our energies on those problems and not on the deficiencies of each other.

[PeaceNikki]

17. Agree 100%. Did you hear the episode on "This American Life" about it?

A must listen: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/439/a-house-divided

[Ed Suspicious]

18. No, but I love the show. I'll be listening when I get a chance. Thanks. n/t

[Ilsa]

7. Oh, Dude (Kramer),

There is nothing to be embarrassed about in getting rid of a criminal governor mid-term. The "instant solution" will set WI on the right track now.

[lunatica]

14. The stupidest people of all are the die hard undecideds all the way up to the elections

They live for that moment of importance they crave while dragging their feet pretending they're against both sides because someone hasn't wooed them sufficiently. And of course the media grovel after them like they matter.

[annabanana]

15. "I’d rather not see people arguing over politics."

This signifies to me a basic lack of understanding of exactly what "politics' is.

[Riley18]

20. Never heard that lame argument when the GOP

did the same thing against a Dem in California.

[LiberalFighter]

21. Could not find a Jim (James) Kramers or Cramers in Wisconsin

My thought is they made up an interview with someone because they didn't want to go interview someone besides the Jeff Krien.

Jeff Krien was a sporadic voter until 2008 and then only did spring primaries in addition to general election. He covered that the recall was about collective bargaining rights and hasn't been talked about since. As if, because that apparently isn't the issue anymore that the recall shouldn't have happened. The dickhead is either a plant or an idiot. Probably both. It has gotten beyond collective bargaining rights. It is also about jobs that Walker has lost since becoming governor and also that he and his people are criminals. Wisconsin might as well elect someone from Waupan as their governor if they don't have a problem with Walker. Better choice would be to convict Walker and lock him up in Waupan. Don't know if Oxford would be a choice.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Too bad they don't understand the negative is a result of Walker's divisive policies.

Seems like a no-brainer.

[forthemiddle]

24. I live in Mid Wisconsin (in a somewhat purple area)

What I see in this part of the state is a reluctance to recall based on what this election has become. Not necessarily what it started out as, and not necessarily on Walker's divisive policies.
What I mean is that if two things would have happened I think the recall would have had a better chance of succeeding (not that it still won't succeed, but IF it doesn't).
1. From talking to my friends and neighbors (even a few that voted Barrett in 2010), IF this election had stayed a question of collective bargaining I think the democrats would prevail.
2. I also think, that although Barrett is a "likeable" guy, he was the WORST candidate that could be put up.

I think that by putting Barrett back up it was way to easy to frame this election as a do over. People don't want that. A do over election only plays into the notion that the Republicans are putting up that it is an election of sour grapes, as opposed to a new direction for Wisconsin. I think by moving away from the collective bargaining issue, or better yet the stripping of State employees rights issue, we ran into the problem of looking like whiners who just want to overturn an election. Now what is happening is people in the middle, or people that don't have a strong "dog" in the fight are leaning towards Walker because they don't want unending recalls. I truly think recall fatigue has set it, and people are saying enough is enough.

I hope I am wrong, but over the past week the #1 new bumper sticker, and sign that I am seeing is
"RECALL SANTA, I DIDN'T GET WHAT I WANT". and in many minds here in Mid Wisconsin that just about sums it up.

I hope I am wrong, but we will see on Tuesday.

[Ellipsis]

25. It's not about collective bargaining.... it's about deceit.

Collective bargaining is only one facet and the one MSM has latched onto.

[forthemiddle]

26. I agree it is not about collective bargaining ......anymore

What I was pointing out was that in my area, if it had stayed about collective bargaining (and workers rights) I think it would have had a better chance of succeeding. The people that are not hard core Republicans, yet are voting for Walker, are telling me that the election has become too much about everything else, and if it is about everything else that is not enough reason to remove a sitting Governor.
They don't think that recalls should be used except in the most dire of occasions.

If the John Doe would have indicted, or even implicated Walker before now (it has been going on for two years) then that would have done it, but since there have been no charges against him, people are telling me it is a political witch hunt.

I think that WHEN he is indicted (you know it is coming) there will be buyers remorse, but as of right now the middle isn't seeing it that way. Sometimes I wish I lived in Milwaukee or Madison to see the enthusiastic liberals I read about in this forum, but in my day to day life I am not seeing it (on either side). Most of my friends, neighbors, and co workers are so sick of elections that they just want it all over, and I think Walkers talking point about "Recall ping pong" will continue if Barrett wins. You know the other side will look for the first chance they can to recall him, or at least that is the perception we are getting here.

[Ellipsis]

27. I'm in your area... It was about a budget they tried to ram down Wisconsin's throat in 3 days.

With things in it like no bid sales contracts to sell power plants.

Don't get caught up with collective bargaining. It's simple. The man is a prevaricator.