MADISON, Wis. — Opponents of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, spurred by anger over his successful push to take away nearly all public worker collective bargaining rights, blanketed the state Tuesday to launch an unprecedented effort to gather 540,000 signatures and force a recall election. The petition drive began in the early morning hours with rallies and pajama parties. More than 100 events were planned across Wisconsin as supporters tried to collect an average of 9,000 signatures a day to meet the target.
Yes, the push to collect signatures has begun in Wisconsin. It’s going to take 540,000 signatures to place the question of recalling Gov. Scott Walker on the ballot. No reasonable person would downplay the challenge inherent in collecting enough signatures to remain above the 540,000 threshold after the validation process has been completed, but the commitment certainly seems to be there.
One point of view is that Walker has merely done what promised he would do while running for Governor…and Wisconsin voters simply weren’t paying attention. Another is that he’s in the pocket of the Koch brothers and their wholly-owned subsidiary, the Tea Party, doing their bidding by working to destroy public employee unions. Walker will attempt to deflect attention by focusing on his campaign promise to bring 250,000 jobs to Wisconsin. That may well happen, but the people of Wisconsin seem less focused on that promise than Walker’s mean-spirited partisanship.
Scott Walker has become a poster boy for those (like myself) who believe that what the Koch brothers, the Tea Party, and the Far RIght in general are after is to destroy the middle class. The sad thing is that Wisconsin voters were the agents of their own destruction. Fortunately for them, Wisconsin law allows for the possibility of recalling elected officials. It isn’t easy, but it is possible, and it appears that Gov. Walker will have his day of reckoning.
It seems that much of what is beginning to happen nationwide, and particularly in Wisconsin and Ohio, is that Americans are waking up to the reality that Republicans hate the poor and the middle class. Americans are beginning to recognize that they’ve spent years voting against their own interests. They’ve seen what can happen when Republicans cater to the rich and powerful at their expense.
Maybe, just maybe, Wisconsin will be the canary in the coal mine, an indication that things are changing, and that Republicans can no longer act with impunity while they work to destroy the middle class.
With any luck, this will be the end of the oligarchy purchasing democracy. Perhaps. It’s too early to begin nailing the lid on the coffin, but the early results look promising.
