Wisconsin's unions and Democrats, energized by the accomplishment of their cohorts in Ohio, have officially launched their fool's errand against Scott Walker:
Taking the next step in a battle that's been in the works since February, organizers planned a midnight kickoff to efforts to gather more than a half million recall petitions against GOP Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. "There are some midnight collection events around the state. People are ready to go and want to start as soon as possible. There's a lot of excitement about it," said Meagan Mahaffey, executive director of United Wisconsin.
United Wisconsin, which is helping lead the recall efforts against Walker, planned a midnight electronic filing and a paper filing later Tuesday morning with state elections officials, Mahaffey said. Separate recall efforts against GOP senators also will be launched Tuesday. Meanwhile, Walker planned to hit back with an ad campaign starting with Monday night's Green Bay Packers game.
Here's the spot Walker ran during the Pack's romp over the Vikings, which aired on ESPN:
Good stuff. It reminds Wisconsin voters of what liberal city officials and even left-leaning newspapers have already discovered: The budget fix is working. It is closing the budget shortfall, preventing teacher layoffs, and restraining runaway spending -- all while avoiding tax hikes and maintaining more generous collective bargaining privileges for Badger State public employees than their colleagues in most other states and (yes) the federal government enjoy. For a more in-depth look at how effective Walker's pension and collective bargaining reforms have been, I'll leave you with an encore presentation of this excellent video produced two Wisconsin-based conservative groups:
It's these sorts of positive messages that will continue to push independents and taxpayers back into Walker's camp -- a process that is already underway. As I've written before, if Wisconsin liberals want to divert millions of dollars from tight Presidential and Senate contests in a hugely competitive swing state, that's certainly their prerogative. Team Obama may not be pleased, but I say bring it.
UPDATE - www.standwithgovernorwalker.com
