Wisconsin voters missed an opportunity to tell the nation that "my way or the highway" politics, fueled by massive amounts of money from out-of-state interests, won't work. Instead, the failed recall of Koch puppet and teabagger poster boy Scott "Divide and Conquer" Walker will embolden the wingnuts to go all out in shifting more power from the middle class to the plutocrats that manipulate them. (The only bright spot? Dems retook control of the State Senate with a win by Racine Dem John Lehman over a Rethug incumbent). So, here's our "Hall of Shame" for the recall:
1. Dirty money. Scottie outspent his Dem opponent, Tom Barrett, by a 10 to 1 margin. The Democratic National Committee largely declined to open its purse to help unseat Scottie, and Dems don't have big industrialist polluters like the Koch brothers backing them.Speaking of pathetic:
2. Dem incompetence. Instead of quickly uniting behind a credible candidate (say retiring Sen. Herb Kohl, or former Sen. Russ Feingold) the Dems waged a costly primary, with the unions supporting one candidate and the national party supporting another. Then they allowed themselves a mere 30 days to turn their attention to Scottie. Can these people even run a two-car funeral?
3. The Obama campaign. You would think that a Dem victory in the recall would give the President's reelection campaign momentum in a key battleground state. But timidity won out, and neither the President nor the Vice President showed up to support Barrett. (Props, however, to Bill Clinton, who did show up on behalf of Barrett). It's OK to lose as long as you put up a good fight, but when you lose after running away, that's pathetic.
