[JohnnyD]

Couple things... and I have only a minute so forgive me for going quick.

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

One election down, one to go?

So what do y'all think?

In my opinion, this is an unmitigated disaster for liberals. Remember, this was their fight, they picked this fight, not the conservatives. Yet they got outspent, outworked, and clobbered in the end.

I think it's a wake-up call for the Left. This wasn't some regional-only vote - even Bill Clinton came out against Walker. Now the Left knows that it's not going to be be as much of a cakewalk as they thought.

The most amusing part in the reactions for me is how many in the Left are saying things like "I can't believe that someone who's actions are so much against what the public wants was voted for again. I mean, we had 900,000 signatures." Well these people obviously don't know how the democratic process works. 900k obviously wasn't enough and the public told the state *twice* who they wanted as Governor.

Your last sentence is the only one I'll partially agree with the amount of outrage "they were outspent." From what I've read, something like two-thirds of Scott Walkers funding came from out-of-state. In a post-Citizens United world, it's depressing that the election process in this country is far more a battle of fundraising than it is a battle of "who's most qualified."

Does this put WI in play in November? Somehow I don't think so. Yet I cannot imagine how anyone who voted for Scott Walker yesterday would ever, in a million years, vote for Obama.

You obviously didn't read the exit polling. A significant number of people that said they'd vote for Obama in the presidential election also voted not to recall Walker.

While this result is interesting, I think there are a number of possible reasons for the exit polls to show these results:
- For the same reasons a Republican like Romney was Governor of Mass, there's a major difference in political needs at the state and federal levels.
- Scott Walker is basically doing what he was said he'd do and was elected to do. In WI, these actions have a significant chance of balancing the state budget. Even some democrats realize that kicking the debt can down the road isn't an option.

The lunatics at MSNBC, when not getting their shock treatments, are saying that the election was bought because conservatives spent more money. The question is, why is that? If the democrats and the unions asked for this fight, and all those anarchists "occupied" the capital, why did the GOP raise so much more money?

A major issue (and I agree with it if reports are accurate) is that most of Walker's money came from out of state. People will say that this was an vote needed because of corporatism trying to squash the little guy and corporations, with all their money, were just able to do it again.

Scott Walker, like Obama, inherited a mess. Obama tried liberal solutions, Walker tried conservative solutions. Walker has cut unemployment by a full percentage point, and has drastically reduced a multi-billion dollar deficit. Anyone here care anything about facts?

Walker had the nerve to ask union members to pay 12% of the cost of their health insurance. In the private sector, the average employee pays 30%.

How does anyone side with the unions, unless they are in a union? These are insane, antiquated benefits that are bankrupting almost every city and state in the nation.

The tide is turning.

I read something by Rachael Maddow today that couldn't be more accurate, "The democrats cannot with without the unions."

She couldn't me more correct. The struggles of the dems and repubs is interesting to me right now... decades ago, Democrats decided that they are going to be the party for the common man and that meant teaming up and pandering to Unions. Unfortunately for the dems, unions have bloated up into being utterly unsustainable.

Unions are going to die with the baby boomers.

And it's a Mike Tyson-like uppercut to the jaw of Obama. Obama won WI in 2008. In 2010, those people elected Walker, a hard-core conservative. Last night, even more people voted for Walker than in 2010.

Being a Massachusetts resident, I wouldn't make this comparison.

Well, I typed about 10x more than I thought. So much for being quick...