The Wisconsin Recall Effort: No, Money Doesn't Talk; It SHRIEKS!

As I write,  the recall election in Wisconsin has just been called for Scott Walker.  His running mate,  Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch,  as well as the Senate Majority Leader,  Scott Fitzgerald  (that's really his name!)   have also survived the recall.  Three other Senate seats are momentarily still in play.

I guess it was to be expected;  the campaign of Tom Barrett, Walker's Democratic opponent,  was outspent by a ratio of 7:1!   Still,  after a weekend of volunteer canvassing for Barrett in largely Democratic Kenosha  (as well as  previous stints in Milwaukee),   I had higher hopes.   

The canvass itself progressed quite smoothly.   A number of voters who had recently changed addresses needed information regarding registration,  location of polling place,  IDs,  etc.   (Wisconsin still has same-day registration  ---  at least for now).   The only notable clinker moment was a street encounter.   I was sitting in the car doing some paperwork.  A 70-something guy with a pot-belly that preceded the rest of him by roughly eleven inches,  shambled up to my vehicle,  eyeballed my work for a moment,  and asked me who I was working for.  I told him.   He then shouted,  "To hell with Barrett!   And you can go to hell,  too!"  I just shrugged.  "You take care now,  guy,  okay?"   He then lumbered off toward his SUV and laboriously climbed in.  (Unnh-h-h!)

We tried,  but our best efforts apparently still fell short.  In the wake of the canvass,  it was easy to feel complacent.   (Kinda reminds me of an old anecdote from the 1948 Presidential campaign:  a four-way race among Truman,  Dewey,  Strom Thurmond of the segregationist States' Rights Party,  and Henry Wallace,  the Progressive Party's candidate.    A starry-eyed young Progressive was asked who was going to win the election:   "Why Henry Wallace,  of course!   All my friends are voting for him!" ). 

No doubt  the outcome of this election will be analyzed,  and micro-analyzed over the coming days,  weeks,  and months.   But it seems clear  that with no limits on campaign funding (courtesy of the Supreme Court's  Citizens United v Federal Election Commission ruling)  the organization with the deeper pockets will continue to have the upper hand.   With unlimited largesse from a few billionaires,   the wealthier party can  fund massive media buys and spread information  which may  not necessarily be truthful.   (The Walker campaign seriously misrepresented the state's employment stats,  the condition of its budget,  and his own history of illegal campaign activity as Milwaukee County's chief executive).

Like I stated in the subject line,  money doesn't merely talk anymore,  it shrieks!    We'll need to re-energize ourselves in a major way as the year progresses.  Onward to November!