Wisconsin fight goes national

[kpete]

Source: Politico

By ALEXANDER BURNS | 3/13/11 7:03 AM EDT

The first round is over. Republican Gov. Scott Walker delivered a crushing defeat to government employee unions in their fight over labor rights in Wisconsin.

But the passage of a law stripping away collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers has touched off a much larger political battle that threatens to spread over Wisconsin’s borders and across the 2012 landscape.

Democrats in Wisconsin are vowing to transform virtually every upcoming state and local election there into a referendum on Walker’s administration. Party leaders from Madison to Washington are gearing up for a major fight in the hope of sending an unmistakable signal to other ambitious GOP state executives.

Their efforts to make Walker and his supports pay a high political price for their victory has led Republicans to activate their own campaign machinery. Few expect the conflict will stay contained in Wisconsin.




Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51181.html

[murielm99]

1. I don't see any crushing defeat, politico.

The bill was passed illegally, and may not stand as it is. It has not yet become law. And Walker cannot go anywhere in his own state without meeting a pack of outraged, shouting constituents.

No victory. He's done. He's toast. And his party won't get elected to anything in Wisconsin for at least a generation.

[tomg]

6. Agree. If it is a victory, it is Pyrrhic. nt

[lovuian]

16. me neither sometimes the WAR isn't won in one battle

sometimes the injustice the cruelty ....demonstrated and the EXPOSURE of a rich corrupt EVIL man shows

[midnight]

2. K&R

[tularetom]

3. IMO republicans got fooled by their own noise machine

They actually believed the majority of Americans would approve the trashing of unions, because their own media were so effective at putting that message out. After two years of seeing Tea Party gatherings praised on TV along with overinflated estimates of participation, it was easy for them to think that they had the public on their side. They didn't anticipate a fight at all. And the 2010 election returns (when an apathetic electorate was AWOL) more or less confirmed their thinking.

So in their minds it wasn't much of a risk for them to take action like they did in Wisconsin. They were lulled into complacency by the efficiency of their own messaging. But they didn't anticpate the opposition their moves would make and now they are indeed in for a fight.

It's a wonderful opportunity for the Democratic party to pound on these douchebags. I hope somebody in the party realizes that. Unfortunately I don't believe it will be the President because he still believes the republican propaganda.

[Scuba]

11. Bingo!!!

[Plucketeer]

14. Hah! In other words

the Repugs shouldn't watch too much Fox news, lest they fall prey to their own bullshit! :rofl:

[Enthusiast]

20. They started to believe

their own propaganda.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. If at first you don't succeed...

As Willie Nelson told Jim Hightower, who quoted him last night at the Barrymore Theater in Madison:

"The early bird might get the worm, but it's the second mouse who gets the cheese."

[madamesilverspurs]

5. "...delivered a crushing defeat" ---???

No, Walker issued a big "FUCK YOU!" That's more commonly accepted as an invitation to fight. The working people he pissed off are going to issue him an RSVP that he won't ever forget.


-

[HereSince1628]

10. Yes, the 100+ thousand of us sure looked CRUSHED yesterday. NOT!

I don't see a lot of 'going national' with anything in Wisconsin. We've got a war in this state that is far from being over.

[Bandit]

22. What's the population of Wisconsin, 6.5 million or so?

One hundred thousand is a lot but not compared to even three million, if that is how many vote..Those recalls need to be done in the shortest amount of time possible or the billions that will be poured into Wisconsin from outside Republican sources will have their impact..

[underpants]

12. Politico - who starts up a news organization as all the other ones are going broke?

People who don't care about the business only about having another voice in the choir.

Politico is still basically a conduit for the Drudge Report into the MSM other than Fox News.

[buddysmellgood]

7. If by "crushing defeat" they mean "historic call to arms" then , Okay.

[russspeakeasy]

8. This genie might be out of the bottle...I hope so.

Florida is in dire need of the same hutzpah.

[bertman]

9. If, as the article says "Party leaders from Madison to Washington are gearing up

for a major fight in the hope of sending an unmistakable signal to other ambitious GOP state executives." they'd better start acting like Democrats instead of Corporatists. Right now there are a lot of us who wouldn't trust a Democrat to do a damned thing for The People, not matter what campaign promises they made. You can't win elections without your base.

[vicarofrevelwood]

13. I Fear...

That all we have done is awakened a sleeping Giant and filled Him with a terrible resolve. Adm.Yamamoto

[defendandprotect]

15. We need to organize LABOR beyond the workplace --

and commit ourselves to moving state governments one by one to universal

health care --

and from there, much else would be possible --

[JanDutchy]

17. and international according to ILO and Barack Obama: `I Believe In Unions´

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ3ibE6LtEE&feature=related

Join a Union!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yw34uLwbBM&feature=related

How Not to Join a Union

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9psdUBf_x2E&NR=1

[iwishiwas]

18. He believed until it was time to put his marching shoes on, then he

sat it out.

[JanDutchy]

19. but he calls : read my lips and sing this song:you even if your are bullied:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk69e1Vcmvg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJut7KQhI4

[Zorra]

21. I'm energized. Talking to anyone that will listen. The republican/corporatist

agenda is to take away your rights and make you powerless so they can keep your wages low and control you.