The schadenfreude. It hurts so good. Bravo to the Republican Governors Association for producing this gem on such short notice. I suppose they could have teed it up in advance, but didn't they hear the exit polls showed a "total coin flip"? This is laugh out loud funny, especially the book-ending clips of Maddow and DWS. Cue the laugh track:
"[Wisconsin] has given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do the dry run that we need of our massive, significant, dynamic grassroots presidential campaign." That was our pal Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Barack Obama's hand-picked DNC Chair, bragging ahead of last night's vote that it would be a useful exercise in demonstrating the strength of Team Obama's vaunted political machine. Good times. Now the White House is informing us that last night was meaningless, adding that the exit polls were packed with wonderful news for the president. Walking American political encyclopedia Michael Barone begs to differ:
The Wisconsin exit poll evidently reported the race for governor in the recall ballot as 50%-50%. With 92% of the vote in, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s excellent website reports the score as 54%-46% Walker. Let’s say that’s the final results: only 13% of precincts from Milwaukee County and 3% of precincts from Madison’s Dane County—the Democrats’ two reservoirs of big majorities—remain uncounted. It has been emblazoned on mainstream media that the exit poll also showed Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney in the state 51%-45%. But if you think the exit poll was 4% too Democratic—and that’s in line with exit poll discrepancies with actual vote results over the last decade, as documented by the exit poll pioneer, the late Warren Mitofsky*—that result looks more like 49%-47% Romney. Or assume the remaining Milwaukee County precincts whittle Republican Governor Scott Walker’s margin over Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to 53%-47%, which looks likely, the Obama-Romney numbers would look like 48%-48%.
Meanwhile, Lefty screamer Ed Schultz is blaming Walker's decisive win on the much-lied-about Citizens United Supreme Court decision. One small problem: He's totally wrong on the facts. This is my shocked face:
Yes, Barrett was outspent heavily. But none of the money spent on Walker's behalf would have been illegal before Citizens United either..nothing in Wisconsin law outlawed out of state political spending before or after Citizens United.
Liberals are grasping at straws today. The White House and DNC are comically claiming that Wisconsin voters sent "a powerful message" to Scott Walker that somehow repudiates his governance. I'd love to send that sort of "negative" message to Mitt Romney in November, wouldn't you? But what the Left can't deal with are the cold, hard numbers. Scott Walker's vote total in 2010 was 1,128,941. Last night, in a recall election of the Left's choosing, he attracted 1,334,430 votes. Two years ago, Walker edged Barrett by just over five percentage points. Last night, he expanded his victory margin to seven points. Any way you slice it, this is an epic flop for the Left -- and public sector organized labor in particular. The one fleeting victory liberals might celebrate is one state senate seat possibly flipping from R to D (the margin is within a few hundred votes). If the current numbers hold, Democrats will claim a one-seat majority in the legislature's upper chamber. How significant is this? Not at all. Not only is the state senate adjourned until 2013 -- yes, you read that right! -- the GOP is expected to pick up at least two seats in November, probably reclaiming control before that body gavels back into session. Question: If Democrats win a majority, but it never actually convenes before they lose it again, did it ever really exist at all? Enjoy your big win, guys.
UPDATE - Hitler reacts to last night's results:
UPDATE II - Watch Madison liberals' composed, mature reaction to losing. (Spoiler: it involves money bags and vuvuzelas):
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