OPINION: What Today’s Recall Primary Winners Mean To Wisconsin

[This article reflects the opinion of the author. Click here for WCMC’s editorial policy on election coverage.]

The people of Wisconsin are voting to pick the challengers to recall our TEA Party Governor, 1% Walker, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and four TEA GOP state senators. It is the ultimate showdown of what our uprising in Madison during February and March 2011 were all about.

Wisconsin citizens stunned the world last year with our utter rejection of this Robber Baron, John Birch Society, corporate-funded TEA Party-fueled Fitzwalkerstan Regime and everything they did to our progressive state with their blatant disregard of our state constitution and laws designed to keep open and transparent government in our beloved state.

Whomever emerges the winner today in the battle for the Republican and Democratic parties’ nomination for Governor will say a lot about whether or not the true grassroots message of accountability via the right to recall politicians has been heard by both major political parties in our state. In my opinion, as a Naught-TEA Republican, any of the five major contenders for Scott Walker’s job will be able to beat him in this election. But the choice is what determines the direction our state moves to address the reasons why Walker needs to be recalled.

For example, should Tom Barrett win the Democratic nomination, it will continue to be Party Politics as usual. He is favored by the Democratic Party, but there are those pesky unions who remember he also supported voucher schools before the Fitzwalkerstan Regime started expanding this program, stripping public schools of badly needed funding. Personally, I think we grassroots activists want something more than just a repeat of the 2010 race.

If Kathleen Falk wins, it will prove that our Wisconsin unions can still influence our political system. Also, she has a lot of women supporters who feel that after the war on women’s rights to equal pay discrimination lawsuits at a state level, the repeal of the Healthy Youth Act to allow abstinence only sex ed in schools, and her conservation record as Public Intervener can help her win. But I feel that she and Barrett are bound to split voters of Democratic Party union members which may bring unexpected results.

If Kathleen Vinehout were to win, it will be those who knew Wisconsin’s budget problems could’ve been solved in better ways. Her alternate budget put money back into public schools and universities. She also co-sponsored the “Castle Doctrine” law, which could help her get cross-over Republican votes. A Vinehout victory would validate the idea that the Wisconsin Fab 14 did the right thing, supported by our citizens, when they fled the state to stop the passage of Act 10. She is not taking special interest money to run her campaign, as Falk and Barrett are, so it would be a true grassroots victory if she were to be chosen.

And then there’s Secretary of State Doug La Follette, whom I believe has the best chance in the Democratic Primary. He is running a true progressive campaign, actually sinking $112,000 of his retirement savings into his run for Governor. A proven statewide winner since 1983, La Follette’s vow to return the power back to Wisconsin citizens and to re-invest in our proud progressive state, and his love for Wisconsin’s traditions and her people shows strongly each time he speaks. I believe his being chosen to face down Scott Walker would prove that voters chose to reject the big money campaigns and special interest candidates in lieu of voting for the candidate who only promises to put our people first.

I said five candidates, and the last one is actually running directly against Scott Walker on the Republican side of the ballot. If Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who is running as a Lincoln/La Follette Republican, were to win in his primary today, it would mean that Scott Walker’s TEA Party rule is over. It would also mean that real Republican voters are turning not against their party, but against the TEA Party altogether! A vote for Kohl-Riggs is a vote to reclaim Wisconsin’s proud Republican heritage from the corporate 1% Koch-addicted TEA GOP. It would validate the idea that the TEA Party politicians who belong to groups like ALEC, or who practice pay-to-play political cronyism with our taxpayer dollars will no longer be accepted in our proud progressive Wisconsin.

So the final results will be interesting, and I will be eager to see how this shapes up for our final battle – the June 5th general recall elections. The world is watching Wisconsin to see if we choose wisely. So go and vote today for whom you believe will be the best replacement as we recall Walker! And if you live in Senate District 13, vote for Lori Compas so she can help us recall Scott Fitzgerald as well. Let’s get both the Fitz and Walker out of Fitzwalkerstan to reclaim OUR WISCONSIN!