Sizing up the "public employee vote" in the coming Wisconsin elections

[iwishiwas]

Now, if only all these folks to GET TO THE POLLS-STARTING ON APRIL 5


http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118675814.html

Sizing up the "public employee vote" in the coming Wisconsin elections


By Craig Gilbert of the Journal Sentinel

March 25, 2011 |(42) Comments

One huge key to the political fallout from Wisconsin’s bitter budget fight will be the voting behavior of public employees this year and next.

Will they vote in higher numbers than before?

Will they vote in higher numbers against Republicans?

And finally, how much voting power do public employees actually wield?

This last question should be the simplest to answer, but there’s no single authoritative measure. The exit polls we rely on to measure the makeup of the electorate don’t ask voters where they work.

But an analysis of government and polling data suggests that “public employee households” – homes with at least one government worker in them – comprise at least a fifth of Wisconsin voters.

In other words, we're talking about a large and highly engaged electoral force with a presence in every corner of the state. These voters are not monolithic, of course. But their sheer numbers suggest that to whatever degree they are mobilized by the budget fight or driven further left politically, Republicans could pay a measurable price at the ballot box. That’s doubly true of low-turnout elections where highly motivated voters can have an oversized impact – such as the legislative recalls expected this summer and the April 5 state Supreme Court race now caught up in the fight over collective bargaining.

Here’s the math on public employees in Wisconsin:.......................

[rfranklin]

1. That any government employee could be Republican is astounding...

voting Republican is like the line in Animal House: "Please, sir, may I have another?"

[buddysmellgood]

2. Public employees represent a fifth, now add to that spouses and

concerned friends. It's going to be really interesting.

[iwishiwas]

4. yes, it will be. And the first test is April 5.

[sfwriter]

3. And now they HAVE TO ORGANIZE....

...Isn't this the law that requires YEARLY elections to stay in existence? So all this year, the union will have to stay in contact and motivate the workers to participate in the vote to keep their representation.


I think the Republicans think, "We won, it's over."