I was disappointed that Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin survived the recall election, given his nearly 8-to-1 fund-raising advantage, the resentment of public employee unions by taxpayers who do not enjoy union benefits and the fact that a recall is so unusual and drastic.
Double click to enlarge.
I was not surprised at the result, but I was surprised that Gov. Walker’s margin of victory was so decisive—53 percent to 46 percent. I thought the unusually large turnout was a good sign for the recall supporters, but evidently the recall opponents also had strong grass-roots support.
The margin of victory shows the strength of the corporatist movement represented by Walker and his policies of cutting government services and stripping public employee unions of their rights.
I fear that this result will confirm President Obama in keeping his distance from the labor union movement and in economic policies that benefit working people at the corporate elite.
But as President Woodrow Wilson once said, it is better to lose in a cause that ultimately will win, than to win in a cause that ultimately will fail. So long as the United States is a democracy, the assault on the rights of working people cannot continue forever.
Click on Walker’s win in Wisconsin boosts conservatives for analysis of the results of the election by Reuters news service.
Click on What Wisconsin’s Recall Election Tells Us About Obama-Romney: Nothing for a differing analysis.
Graphic from Mother Jones [Added 6/8/12]
Click on Pro-Walker Dark Money Group for a Mother Jones report on a Walker campaign contributor.
Click on The Wisconsin Recall, As Told Through Goofy Signs for a lighter perspective on the recall campaign.
Click on Slowpoke Comics for more cartoons by Jen Sorensen.
[6/9/12] Some afterthoughts below.
Phil Ebersole's Blog 