Wisconsin Senate Recall-a-palooza: 2012 Edition

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Time to burn in political hell Kapanke.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The best part:

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LOL.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And Secretary of State is a Democrat thankfully.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm amazed Kapanke ever got elected from La Crosse in the first place. He's a lockstep far righter, not moderate at all, and apparently made some type of comment comparing Walker to Jesus.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why isn't Harsdorf getting more attention? Seems like a ripe target.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Appears she is: http://www.newrichmond-news.com/event/article/id/42647/group/News/publisher_ID/9/

Oh hey this is the district just over the Minnesota border. I can actually help out!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

LOL, Risser. Doesn't he represent the bulk of Madison? Why even bother with him?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Wisconsin Senate seats are drawn really badly, and not in a gerrymander way. Green Bay is split really odd for seemingly no reason. The main problem is perhaps that they are too big, only Madison and Milwaukee are large enough to take up over an entire Senate district so in many places you have to kind of awkwardly attach cities to rural areas. Another is that all are really just piecing together of three State House seats, but the ones pieced together could be more logical, why Green Bay is split between three Senate districts really goes without logic.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I want to do some work for Moore but the "We bleed Packer green" comment...ugh.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

In theory couldn't the Republicans get joke candidates to run in the primary in their incumbents' seats to delay the election, and allow them to shove through redistricting before possibly losing the Senate? Then again it might not be late enough, isn't the data finalized in September that needs to be done before redistricting?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Better not to bother with that and just take the moral high ground, Wisconsin is a "good government" state, not like New Jersey or New Mexico.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Instead of focusing on recruiting fake Democrats, why not get a real Republican to run against Hopper? Because there is no way in hell they are holding that seat otherwise. (They don't have any realistic chance of holding Kapaneke's seat either, but no other candidate would do better.)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Is there still anyone *couchcinyccough* who thinks Kapanke is going to hang on?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Moore is actually running TV ads, odd for a State Senate race.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Keep in mind though the district is only a very small portion of this media market. This isn't some mostly rural area with some small local networks. If I'm seeing the ads they're costing a bunch.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Type of seat that just shouldn't be competitive despite an appendage reaching down to the Milwaukee border, and and only was because of Obama coattails. He won the district 51-49 which in Wisconsin isn't all that strong, but Darling only won 51-49 as well, so there was clearly a downballot effect. Of course I've also got the impression that Darling is an idiot and not all that popular (one of those both stupid and crazy female Republican types like Bachmann, Palin and O'Donnell, though in her case more stupid than crazy), so her poor performance isn't a surprise. Her name is pretty appropriate for such a right winger though.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Kapanke isn't even a moderate and must've kept his craziness under wraps while running for the state leg, he said something along the lines of that he supported all of Walker's agenda because it was God's will or some nonsense like that.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Still hope here, since Hopper's is 50/50 and Darling could still go down.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That Waukesha clerk needs to be indicted.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Of course, one of the remaining Republicans is a RINO who stood against Walker's union proposal.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This race may typify a changing political attitude in the US.  It is not good news for Obama, short term, or the Democrats, long term.

lol

Is there some type of ridiculous hackery or self-parody goldmine? That quote belongs there if so.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

A bunch of Republican incumbents winning in Republican districts is a stunning endorsement of Walker's policies? As noted Walker's anti-union law would not pass in the new Senate makeup due to the Republican who opposed it.

Let's see how Walker's approvals are in the next poll.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I see JJ is reliving his 2008 glory days of hilarious over-the-top hackery.
I eagerly await to hear about how the Bradley Effect killed the Democrats chances to take the senate.

I think I'm just going to put him on ignore rather than risk a surge of anger resulting in a relapse to old BRTD.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Additionally, anyone trying to draw "messages" from this result - on either side - needs to stop. If 1,000 votes in SD-14 had flipped then this would have been heralded as the rebirth of the modern labor movement. Since that didn't happen it's apparently a rejection of Democratic politics and the power of organized labor and an endorsement of Walker's agenda. Both interpretations are foolish. These were six individual races with unique dynamics fought on a variety of issues. What happened happened.

I was going to make a new post pointing that out, but as I stated earlier, that's like screaming at your house to change its color instead of getting it painted.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

As far as I know, the Democrats' goal was to recall at least three Republican State Senators in order to gain a majority in the State Senate. They have not reached this goal. Thus, it takes a lot of spinning to portray these recall elections as a victory for the Democrats. That's not to say the Republicans have "won", of course. Their majority has become smaller. But if I were a Democrat, I wouldn't be too enthusiastic, either.

I don't think any Democrats are acting that way.

The point is more that this doesn't prove anything beyond that non-scandal plagued Republican incumbents can win in Republican districts. Not that the public wants to carry out a mass lynching of public sector employees.

I assume the GOP gerrymander will shut the Dems out for a decade in the Wisconsin legislature. The state is so polarized that gerrymandering has a lot of traction.  I know some of Darling's "problem" towns are being dumped into a Dem sink district.

Wisconsin is too fluid, nothing can shield against a Dem wave there, just look at the swing from 2004 to 2008. The inverse is true too of course if there was a Dem gerrymander.