Wisconsin was a referendum on the recall process

[salparadise1000]

(this became very disjointed, but I am not able to do much editing, sorry)

6 in 10 Wisconsin voters thought that a recall should only be used for 'official misconduct". Some here will argue that that happened in Wisconsin, but the point is that, regardless of the politics there were some in Wisconsin who thought there never should have been a recall. Many who may have been partial to Barrett may have stayed home or even voted for Walker because they saw the recall as an abuse of the system. Of those who voted Obama had a 7 point lead (51-44) over Romney. Walker won by 7 points. That is a large number of voters who say they support the President, but voted for Walker.

Elections have consequences. The Wisconsin Dems lost big in 2010. This is not about politics, I am probably more liberal than at least 2/3rds of you. Its about the process. I don't care what the Rs did (I do care in the micro, but I am making a point about the macro). I know that there are allegations about Walker, but at this point they are just allegations. Remember back to the Clinton Impeachment, how did you feel about that? It was all about partisan politics, it was wrong and it was bad for the country and so is Wisconsin.

I think that there is a much larger story here than Wisconsin. I would not be surprised at all if we started to see a slew of recalls after 2012. Next time the challenger may be a Republican who is able to out spend an incumbent Democrat because of one or two large donors. In that case the challenger could easily win.

[drm604]

1. Nice talking points you have there.

Recently there seems to be a right-wing attempt to discredit the whole idea of recalls. You seem to have fallen for it.

[TheWraith]

2. Thank you for attacking the messenger.

I'm sure that to some people, the well established fact that recall elections are rarely successful is just right-wing propaganda.

[drm604]

3. You're welcome

[salparadise1000]

6. i have not fallen for anything ....

I am looking at the polling and this is what i take away. Also this is going to come back and bite liberals in the ass.

Are you really going to tell me that you don't think recalls will become more common.
We have now had 2 in 9 years (dont actually remember when CA was and dont want to Google it) Prior to that how many in the whole history of the country? not many (again dont feel like googling) I dont remember what Grey Davis supposedly did, but he should never have been recalled.

[Ellipsis]

8. ... wing-nut for an Avatar.

Liberals?


Walker was recalled for being prevaricator to his constituency

[ieoeja]

11. Out of state energy markets illegally manipulated power flow to California to increase prices.

People blamed Davis (?) and Arnold was elected with about one third of the vote.

The marketers then foolishly detailed exactly how they manipulated the markets in a report to their lawyers. Having received an admission of guilt, their lawyers could no longer enter a not-guilty plea for the marketers. I would like to take this moment to remind everyone that people who work in finance are generally more greedy than intelligent. I have had a great deal of experience with them, and they were, in general, the stupidest professional people I have ever met.

But the mob reacted before the investigation was complete. Which is exactly why recall elections are BAD.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. I would say ...

(though I only have anecdotal evidence) that the majority of the electorate accepts the idea of recall ... but the recall effort must be for a reason other than you just do not like what the duly elected successful candidate is doing politically.

I suspect, the majority of the electorate would no doubt state (and with some merit) that we already have a time tested mechanism for expressing your displeasure ... voting the legislator out at the end of their term.

I liken this issue to the "Bush ran rough-shod over Democrats during his presidency (and we didn't like it), why won't President Obama?" argument; and conclude, if you find yourself asking that question, please re-read the first part of the question.

[Fresh_Start]

4. I agree that recall processes are not well received

in general.

[Ninga]

5. Voters sending a message never works for me. If voters in Wisc.

thought the Koch dollars flooding the process was OK., then all is hopeless.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Voter Fatigue...

Having visited Wisconsin several times over the past year I can attest to how bitter this battle has been on many levels. One definitely was an outrage at both unions and the recall process. This was the third election in less than a year for many voters and too many people saw it as a battle between the unions and the governor...they had little vested in this battle. This included many private union members who don't enjoy the same protections public service employees do.

Let's see what happens with the "John Doe" investigation. This reminds me of the election of George Ryan in Illinois who was also under investigation and the prosecutors waited until after he won the election to state that he was a target in the investigation. It took another 5 years to bring him to trial. That said...the last minute calls about Wanker being indicted smacked of last minute politicking. The positive aspect here is that Wanker didn't win another 4 years...just the right to serve out this one...and we'll see if he's indicted before 2014.

[julian09]

10. Didn't Wisconsin approve recall in first place, with petitions?