It would now seem that the Democrats’ hopes for ousting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in June’s recall election, seem to be pretty much slipping out of reach, as the state’s biggest newspaper recently gave the incumbent a huge boost late on Saturday. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel formally endorsed Walker in his battle to keep his job when he faces off against the city’s own mayor, Tom Barrett. It came by way of an editorial posted on its website Saturday night. In the editorial, the Journal-Sentinel said that although the governor is a controversial figure, “we see no reason to remove Walker from office. We recommend him in the June 5 recall election. “Walker's rematch with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was prompted by one issue: Walker's tough stance with the state's public-employee unions,” said the editorial. “It's inconceivable that the recall election would be occurring absent that. And a disagreement over a single policy is simply not enough to justify a vote against the governor.” EXACTLY!!
The paper also said it had no doubt that Barrett “like Walker, is a capable and honorable public servant, adding, “But this election isn't about Tom Barrett. It's about Scott Walker. “Even if you disagree with Walker's policies,” the editorial added, “does that justify cutting short his term as governor? And if so, where does such logic lead? To more recall elections? More turmoil?” Adding, “It's time to end the bickering and get back to the business of the state. We've had our differences with the governor, but he deserves a chance to complete his term. We recommended him in 2010. We see no reason to change that recommendation. We urge voters to support Walker in the June 5 recall election.” The endorsement came in the week that three separate polls showed Walker opening up a significant lead against Barrett. The surveys gave Walker a margin of between 5 and 9 percentage points. And to add to Barrett’s woes, the polls are showing his personal favorability figures are plummeting.
The Washington Post blog, something called ‘The Fix’, says at this point the Democrats' best chance is to go even more negative on Walker than they have already, as if that would be possible. Thanks to plenty of union money, they’ve already thrown everything at him but the kitchen sink. And something else that brings a tear to my one good eye is the fact that in recent days a rift seems to now have developed between the state’s Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee over the amount of support Barrett is getting from outside the state. “Regardless of who’s right, these kinds of fights don’t happen on the winning side of the ledger,” says The Fix. “And they should be seen as further evidence that the Wisconsin recall is getting away from Democrats.” In an interview with the Associated Press, Walker said he is not afraid to lose to do the right thing and he still thinks people will elect him again because they want him to fix things. “They want me to keep the focus and attention on fixing things. We're just going to make sure we've got a more comprehensive and inclusive process to get there."
Look, I think from the outset of this thing unions were more than a little overconfident regarding their chances of success at being able to unseat Walker. I just don’t think they realized the extent to which people are simply fed up with being asked to subsidize pay and outrageous benefits packages for overpaid and under-worked public employees. Packages to the tune of twice that of those being asked, no make the forced into, covering the growing and rather exorbitant costs involved. Every day people are working harder and seeing less of their paychecks left over after paying for gas, food, their home, their own retirement, their own healthcare as well as all manner escalating taxes from sales taxes to property taxes to income taxes. And to watch these ‘spoiled brat’ union types actually rioting for being asked to do nothing more than to cough up a little more to cover the cost of their benefits, I think has had a rather adverse effect regarding the level of enthusiasm many people have for unions. And it is, I think, why Walker will win!
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