Politics 2012: Recall In Badgerland

Scott Walker (Photo credit: elviskennedy)

In Wisconsin, voters on June 5 will decide whether or not its Republican Governor Scott Walker deserves to keep his job a year and a half into his term.

Walker has made a national name for himself with his stand on saving his state some money in tax revenues.  The way he did it, though, is the reason why this recall election--the first in the U.S. since 2003 when Californians voted Arnold Schwarzenegger into their Governor's mansion--became necessary to begin with.

You might remember the Melee in Madison that occurred in the winter of 2011.  A few weeks into his term, Governor Walker and a Republican-dominated legislature pushed through laws that restricted collective bargaining for state employees, creating conditions for a "right to work" state where union membership is no longer required for employment.  This resulted in thousands of protesters converging on the Wisconsin state capitol, and in fourteen Democratic state senators fleeing across the border to avoid voting for the bill.

Walker may have saved his state billions of dollars, but he can be shortsighted in other ways.  Such as being against a transportation bill that would have put a light rail line through Wisconsin, connecting the Twin Cities and Chicago. 

Walker's opponent in the recall election is the same man he defeated in 2010:  Democrat Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee.  Why the Democrats couldn't seem to find anyone better to run against a controversial governor is a mystery.

So far over sixty million dollars have been spent on the election, much of it coming from outside groups.  Here in Minnesota, we're seeing some of that money coming into TV ads promoting (and destroying) both candidates on stations that reach western Wisconsin viewers.

If you believe the polls, Walker seems to have a sizable lead over Barrett.  The Governor also has the endorsement of the state's largest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.  Right now, it's a question of whether Wisconsinites think their Governor has gone too far, or not far enough.

UPDATE:  As expected, Walker is still Governor of Wisconsin, defeating Barrett for the second time in Tuesday's recall election.  That makes Walker the only Governor in U.S. history to survive one.  Now let's see if he can survive the "John Doe" scandal on his way to 2014.