Tag: Scott Walker

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Op-Ed of the Day: Wisconsin should drop appeal of marriage equality ruling

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Excellent op-ed piece today from the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel urging the state’s Attorney General and Governor to NOT appeal the recent court ruling overturning the ban on same-sex marriage in the state.

An excerpt:

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen feels obligated to try to block Friday’s federal court ruling overturning Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, so he asked two federal courts to stay the decision.

Instead, Wisconsin authorities should follow the lead of Pennsylvania, where a Republican governor last month said he would not appeal a similar ruling in that state. Gov. Tom Corbett had wanted to fight the ruling but then decided that he likely would lose an appeal. Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, already had declined to appeal the ruling, saying the state’s ban was unconstitutional.

Van Hollen and Gov. Scott Walker should realize how rapidly the sand has shifted under their feet on this issue. In fact, the debate is nearly over, and their side is losing it.

The editorial goes on to quote a recent Marquette Law School poll, released May 21, which found 55% of registered voters in Wisconsin now favor allowing gay marriage. So, there.

I encourage folks to read the entire piece here.

Of course, Governor Walker is going to appeal the decision. It’s well known he has national political aspirations in the Republican Party and he can’t afford to not at least “appear” to oppose the ruling.

Whatever.

I appreciate the editor at the Journal-Sentinel for prescribing the approach that keeps equality for all in mind.

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – Banning marriage quality provides a “healthy balance”

Gov. Scott Walker says having a state-wide constitutional ban on marriage equality makes for a “healthy balance” in Wisconsin.

Said Walker: “In Wisconsin, we’ve had anti-discriminatory laws that are very similar to [ENDA] for more than 30 years and they work quite effectively. We’re also a state that has a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as one man and one woman… I mean, we’ve not had problems. We’ve had no problems — I should say, limited problems — with [anti-discrimination laws]. At the same time, we still have a constitutional amendment that defines marriage. There’s a healthy balance there.

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Breaking: Wisconsin’s union busting law declared unconstitutional

Gov. Scott Walker

From ThinkProgress: Wisconsin Judge Juan Colas ruled that Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) law eliminating collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions was unconstitutional under both the Wisconsin and United States constitutions.

The law, which does not save the state any money but crushes the political and economic influence of unions, has been in effect for roughly one year.

It is unclear, per ABC’s reporting, whether union restrictions will be suspended immediately pending a likely Walker appeal.

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Wisconsin recall wrap-up

So the long and short of it is: after out spending challenger Tom Barrett on a scale of 8 to 1, Gov. Scott Walker remains the governor in Wisconsin.  With 99% of the vote in, Walker beat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) by seven percentage points, 53%-46%, which was almost identical to the margin in their 2010 contest.

What apparently helped Walker – besides 75% of his campaign money coming from out of state – was 60% in exit polls said that recalls are legitimate only for official misconduct, which they didn’t feel was the case here.

However, a couple of bright spots for Democrats from the evening:

1. The Obama White House and Chicago campaign headquarters can take comfort that the exit poll shows Obama beating Romney by seven points, 51%-44%, and it even shows him slightly ahead of Romney on improving the economy, 42%-38%.

2. Wisconsin Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race.

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Wisconsin: Governor recall election shenanigans

Voters across Wisconsin are relaying stories via Twitter, Facebook and online message boards about anonymous “robocalls” from allies of Scott Walker, telling them–incorrectly–that if they signed petitions to recall Governor Walker, their vote in today’s crucial election has been recorded.

An NBC reporter tweeted that a family friend was one recipient of the call:

Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and the Democratic nominee to unseat Governor Scott Walker, told MSNBC host Ed Schultz last night that his campaign began receiving complaints yesterday that voters had been contacted with the misinformation. This morning, Salon reported on the robocalls too, and included comments from Carol Gibbons, a Wisconsin resident who got the call herself. And a local CBS affiliate is even reporting that the caller sounds eerily similar to Tom Barrett, suggesting the group behind the call may have hired a Barrett impersonator.

So far no recording of the call has surfaced, but the reports from voters was enough to prompt the Barrett campaign to make calls of its own, warning voters not to listen to the first call. For its part, the Walker campaign denied any involvement in or knowledge of the robocall or who was behind it.

Election day antics were a near certainty in Wisconsin. In the last week, reports of other campaign antics surfaced, including an attempt by Walker supporters to disable the Barrett campaign’s phone lines by flooding their call centers with spam phone calls.
(source)

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WI: Multi-Platinum Recording Artists Headline ‘Get Out the Vote’ Rally in Madison

Via press release: Grammy Award-winning guitarist Tom Morello of “Rage Against The Machine,” singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, Tim McIlrath of the punk rock band “Rise Against,” international touring hip-hop artist Brother Ali and Mike McColgan, the original lead singer of “Dropkick Murphys” and the lead singer of the “Street Dogs,” are all hitting the stage in Madison to turn out the vote in a Wisconsin recall election that looks too close to call.

The “Get Out The Vote’ Rally, sponsored by We Are Wisconsin, will provide a massive boost to canvassing efforts days before the recall election on June 5.

The event, which will be held at the Madison Labor Temple at 1602 S. Park St., is free to the public with a sign up to volunteer to help get out the vote. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

“Gov. Scott Walker messed with Wisconsin workers and now it’s time to pay the piper,” said Morello. “I’m headed back to Madison with some friends to help yank that right-wing extremist out of office like a bad tooth. We are ready, willing and able to use our music to help rally the troops to do the hard work of knocking on doors and getting out the vote during the last critical hours of this recall election.”

Three different polls released in the past week have shown a dead heat with challenger Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett having clear momentum and a superior field operation. Both sides have consistently said the election will come down to whom has the better ground game and turns out its base.

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Wisconsin: Scott Walker’s number stagnate despite millions spent on recall

A new Marquette Law School poll finds that Scott Walker and his most likely recall opponent, Tom Barrett, are in a dead heat, with Barrett edging Walker by 47-46 among registered Wisconsin voters.

The really important finding here, however, is that Walker’s approval rating, and his head to head numbers with Barrett, have not changed in months — if anything, they’re going down. And this is in spite of the fact that Walker and his allies have vastly outspent rivals in TV ads.

Charles Franklin, a political scientist and expert in Wisconsin politics who directs the Marquette poll, sends over some numbers.

In January, Walker’s job approval was 51 percent; in March, it was 50 percent; and this month, it’s 47 percent.

Recent poll numbers:

January: Walker leads Barrett 50-44
March: Walker leads Barrett 47-45
Now: Walker trails Barrett 46-47

“There’s been a great deal of advertising in the state, especially from the Walker campaign and Republican supporters, and we’ve seen virtually no movement in the Walker numbers,” says Franklin.

Read more at the Washington Post.

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One million signatures to be submitted for Gov. Scott Walker recall

Opponents of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker have about 1 million signatures on a petition to force a recall election, according to a state Democratic Party news release.

If the state’s Government Accountability Board rules that at least 540,208 signatures are valid and any legal challenges fail, Wisconsin will hold the third gubernatorial ouster vote in U.S. history.

One million signatures is 185 percent of the minimum threshold. There is no doubt about it: Gov. Scott Walker will face a recall election.

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recall petitions to be submitted Tuesday

Supporters of a push to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from office are prepared to declare victory in their effort to force the Republican into a recall election. However, a large issue stills remains undecided: who will run against him?

Recall organizers say they have gathered far more than the 540,208 signatures required to force the election against both Walker and GOP Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and will submit their petitions Tuesday.

Democrats and union leaders insist they’re not concerned about not having someone actively running against Walker and trying to match his fundraising. In fact, they say it was part of their strategy.

“It forced Walker and his minions to run on their record and issues rather than to run against an announced Democratic candidate,” said Marty Beil, president of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, the largest union of state workers. “That was part of the rationale through the whole recall petition collection process.”

Democrats and union leaders said they also never anticipated competing with Walker on fundraising. Beil said the key for recall supporters will be to maintain the enthusiasm that fueled recall signature collection for the past two months.
(source)

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With over 500K signatures collected Gov. Walker recall looks inevitable

A recall of controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker now appear inevitable. In just 28 days, activists collected 507,533 signatures. Organizers have until January 17 to collect 540,208 signatures, which is equal to 25% of the state’s 2010 general election turnout.

To be safe, recall advocates have set a new goal of 720,277 signatures by the deadline.
(source)