Forward Wisconsin?
A Spilt Decision?
- Both Wisconsin Democrats Survive Recall, msnbc.com
Wirch and Holperin were among the 14 senators who fled the state in opposition to Gov. Walker's plan to curb public employees' collective bargaining rights - What's the Real Lesson of Wisconsin for Progressives?, Truthout
. . . The people of Wisconsin have made amazing progress in taking back their state. Yet, they still have plenty of work ahead of them . . . - Democracy Died First in Wisconsin Long Live the Oligarchs, Common Dreams
The Wisconsin recall election was the first major test of the new era in American politics. . . . Now we know the result, and it bodes ill for both 2012 and for the tattered future of small-d democracy in our republic. - Democrats fall short in Wisconsin Recall Elections, msnbc.com
In massive battle of money and organizing, GOP state senators prevail in four of the six districts targeted by Democrats
In Their Own Words
- We Are Wisconsin: The Book
Combining the immediacy of real-time social media from the heart of the Wisconsin protests with reflections on what Wisconsin means for the larger progressive movement. . .
Step by Step
The Koch Brothers and Scott Walker have to be asking what they need to do to stop the workers of Wisconsin and the movement they've started. Stripping them of their rights to bargain may have busted their unions, but did not break their spirit. A controversial win in a judicial election, only showed the power that the workers had found within Wisconsin, and the support they had garnered from workers all across the country.
So while Beck, LImbaugh and the rest of the mouthpieces of the Koch Brother's and the other corporate interests that manipulate the 'Tea Party' wing of the GOP, likely spun the results of the Wisconsin Republican Recall as a victory for the anti-worker, pro-CEO agenda of Scott Walker, there may be a message that is being ignored,
An e-mail I recieved from The Progressive Change Campaign Committee the day after the election put what these working-class heroes and their allies accomplished in a perspective that no voice in the corporate media was likely willing to do. For one, as of now, the Republican majority in the Wisconsin Senate is one vote. There's a good chance that those few moderates in that States GOP that haven't swallowed the Koch Brother's 'Tea' may realize that showing some independence may be a way to keep their jobs. A second thing was that that these races were in Republican districts, the Democrats took the fight to the GOP and despite some dirty tricks in the primaries, took two seats. This brings up a third point, if this had been a state-wide election, Democrats would have won in a landslide.
There are still tests yet for the workers of Wisconsin. There are two Democrats up for recall this week, keeping one of those seats would show that the resolve of the Wisconsin's workers' has not been broken. How well the pattern they have set works will be tested in November when Ohio's workers put their state's 'copycat' legislation to a referendum.
The final test may come in 2012, when Democrats of Wisconsin will have a chance to recall Gov Walker, with former U.S. Senator, and committed progressive, Russ Feingold as the leading candidate!
