Winners and losers in WI recall races
Interesting list created by JSOnline columnist Daniel Bice of winners a losers in the recall election.
A few samples:
Gov. Scott Walker - Winner. Yes, he disappeared from the public eye in recent weeks. Yes, he has lost a little of his swagger. But his agenda was not derailed after less than eight months in office. That would have been huge. Instead, he will have Republican majorities in both legislative houses - even if the one in the Senate is razor-thin. The bottom line: He can push forward with his policies, albeit a bit more cautiously.
We are Wisconsin - Loser. What happened to the unions' much-lauded ground game? They dumped up to $20 million in the state and ended up with just two Senate seats. That's a lot of money to shore up the Democratic minority in one legislative chamber. The number could even dwindle to one net seat if Republican Kim Simac pulls an upset over Democratic Sen. Jim Holperin next week.
[...]
Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Loser. This marks two consecutive elections in which the party, under Chairman Mike Tate, fell short of its goals. Democrats were shellacked in 2010, and they came up one Senate seat short this time with former Mayor Tom Barrett campaign adviser Phil Walzak at the helm. You can bet President Obama's 2012 team is keeping a close eye on these developments.
[...]
Recall Walker campaign - Loser. Do you hear that hissing sound? It's the air going out of the campaign to recall the first-term governor in January. No doubt, die-hard liberals will still push the idea. But realize this: Staging a statewide recall campaign - collecting 540,000 signatures and then running a campaign against an incumbent governor - is a monumental task even if you have all the momentum. Tuesday's results make it nearly impossible.
That last is significant. Liberals were seeking to overturn the results of the 2010 elections from top to bottom in an unprecedented assault on election integrity. They failed at every level and would appear to have little chance of even getting a recall of Walker on the ballot.
It will be interesting to see how Obama does in Wisconsin next year. These tactics of the Democratcs could not have helped the president's chances.