Beating Disaster Politics, a WI lesson from two Ap 5th elections

[HereSince1628]

The sentiment in Wisconsin runs strongly against union busting, but it doesn't generalize very well. Some have estimated it to be a margin of about 3 to 1. That ratio is something of a benchmark against which the results of the April 5th elections can be compared.

In Milwaukee Co, voters rose up against Stone, a candidate who was an assemblyman who voted for the gaddam union busting bill. He was defeated by about a 2 to 1 margin. Abele, the liberal candidate had some of the worst baggage ever seen for a candidate--2 DWI's, one unpaid fine for DWI lasted 7 years, 92 parking tickets). Even with that baggage, he won by a wide margin on the strength of the link between Stone and Walker.

Across the state in the supreme court election, Kloppenburg did not run as strongly a partisan race, and an ad run by Kloppenburg supporters critical of Prosser's early work as a prosecutor--he didn't pursue a pedophile priest--blew up in their face when the child victim, now an adult, came out in support of Prosser. Catholics are the largest denomination in the state (not being a Wisconsin catholic, I am not sure how this went down with them, but the issue of pedophile priests is a sensitive subject here). Moreover, Wisconsinites seem to be quite sensitive to Fairness.

It will take some public surveys to figure out what happened but it seems that Kloppenburg's high-road approach, together with anti-Walker sentiment, was just enough to yield a victory that in the vote count gave the pro-union forces high-anxiety.

Does this mean anything for the expected special elections coming from the recalls now being completed? Maybe. Those races are against opponents who, like Stone, are strongly linked to the Union busting bill. There is also nothing ambiguous about the relationship of those being recalled to the union busting bill and radical activist-like support of Walker. The special elections will probably turn out much like the Milwaukee race for Walker's vacated County Exec seat.

To win them, by wide margin, we will still need good candidates that tap directly into the well of determined anti-Walker opinion.

[opihimoimoi]

1. the Season for Reason is here.......(flowers)