TPMDC 2012
Barack Obama
Will Low Hispanic And Black Voter Registration Doom Obama?
A Friday Washington Post analysis brought to light a staggering obstacle for the Obama campaign.
"The number of black and Hispanic registered voters has fallen sharply since 2008, posing a serious challenge to the Obama campaign in an election that could turn on the participation of minority voters," the article read. "Voter rolls typically shrink in non-presidential election years and registrations among whites fell at roughly the same rate, but this is the first time in nearly four decades that the number of registered Hispanics has dropped significantly. That figure fell 5 percent across the country, to about 11 million, according to the Census Bureau. But in some politically important swing states, the decline among Hispanics, who are considered critical in the 2012 presidential contest, is much higher: just over 28 percent in New Mexico, for example, and about 10 percent in Florida. For blacks, whose registration numbers are down 7 percent nationwide, and Hispanics, the large decrease is attributed to the ailing economy, which forced many Americans to move in search of work or because of other financial upheaval."
Alarming -- and darkly ironic. The economic and housing crises Obama inherited could potentially become the source of the disruption that sees him ousted from office after only one term. But is the problem real -- and if so, is it fixable?
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Hispanics
In the last weeks of winter and early weeks of spring the national political discourse has been whipsawed by a series of disjointed news stories, seemingly bereft of real meaning, let alone any connection to the country's immediate needs.
There was the contraception fight and its foil, the battle for religious liberty. There were slut wars and mommy wars. A skirmish between political flacks even turned into a semi-serious debate about whether Mitt Romney -- who once strapped a dog to the roof of his car for a long drive to Canada -- is a better friend to canines than President Obama -- who ate dog meat when he was a young child living in Indonesia.
On Capitol Hill last week, Republicans narrowly avoided a Democratic trap that nonetheless resulted in 31 male Republicans voting against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Simultaneously the parties continued to skirmish over how to prevent an automatic spike in student loan interest rates, and who's at fault for putting young up-and-comers in financial jeopardy in the first place.
If you're a casual news consumer, the natural response to these schizophrenic politics is "WTF?!" Even political junkies have a hard time making sense of it. But there's a signal buried in all this noise -- several, in fact. And as clearly as any polling data, they're alerting us to the factional politics that will decide what's likely to be a very close election.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Brian Schweitzer, David Axelrod, Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney, Student loan reform, Violence Against Women Act
Mitt Romney
Boehner To Rubio: DREAM On, Dude!
In another indication that Republicans will have a hard time eating into the Democrats' advantage with Hispanic voters, House Speaker John Boehner subtly warned Republicans: There's no way we can pass a modified version of the DREAM Act now.
"There's always hope," Boehner said. "I did talk to Sen. Rubio about his idea, and he gave me some particulars about how this would work. I found it of interest. But the problem with this issue is that we're operating in a very hostile political environment and to deal with a very difficult issue like this I think it would be difficult at best."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, DREAM Act, Hispanics, John Boehner, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney
Senate Democrats
Top Democrats Raise Expectations For Holding The Senate
Their Senate majority widely believed to be in peril this November, top Democrats are invoking favorable events of late to raise expectations for holding on to the chamber, expressing a bullishness about the prospect that has been previously unforeseen.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), asked Sunday if he believes his party will stay in control, responded, "I sure do."
"We feel really good," Reid said on CNN's State of the Union. "We've have some tremendous -- we've had some good fortune in North Dakota, in Massachusetts, in Nevada, in Arizona. We have good candidates all over. And I feel very comfortable about where we're going to wind up in November."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Lindsey Graham, Olympia Snowe, Senate, Senate Democrats
Steny Hoyer
Hoyer: If The Economy Improves, We'll Retake The House
Steny Hoyer speaks at press conference with House Ways and Means Committee Democrats. November 30, 2011.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer -- a top Democratic fundraiser and recruiter -- says Republican disarray and an improving economy can put the House of Representatives back into his party's hands.
"I think our chances are reasonably good that we can retake back the House," Hoyer told a select group of reporters in his Capitol office. "And if the economy continues to perform as it's performed, I think we will back the House."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Steny Hoyer
Mitt Romney
D'oh! Debt Hawks Fear Most GOP Tax Plans Will Increase Deficit
A key test for the political establishment and the media this campaign cycle will be whether they accurately explain the Presidential candidates' budget plans to voters, or whether they allow the candidates to spin their way out of the severe implications of their own proposals. The election will hinge to a large extent on the two parties' visions for the role of the federal government and how to pay for it, and keeping the taxing and spending implication of those visions clear is the key to helping voters make informed decisions at the polls.
An event hosted Thursday morning by the fiscal discipline hawks at the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget offered this corner of the establishment an early critique of the GOP candidates' tax and spending plans -- all of which drew mixed reviews or worse.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Budget, Bush Tax Cuts, Debt, Deficit, Medicaid, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Social Security, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Jobs
Two Charts That Should Terrify Republicans
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
If Republicans seem spooked to you these days, here's why.
President Obama's political comeback over the past several months aligns neatly with when he began more aggressively attacking the GOP and politicking for economic growth and equality back in September.
But over that same stretch, the economy began moving in the right direction. Indicators of economic growth started moving upward, and the eye-popping indications of economic weakness started moving downward. That's surely had an effect. And if the trends continue, it augurs very well for Obama in the general election.
Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Economy, Jobs, Unemployment
Mitt Romney
Why Florida Was A Dangerous Test Case For Romney's General Election Prospects
Mitt Romney
The fight for Florida's fifty delegates was more than just a key test for the four remaining Republican presidential hopefuls. It also took the GOP's three year experiment with far-right politics into a more appropriate laboratory -- a state where the voters didn't reflect the party's base as neatly as they did in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
And though Mitt Romney trampled his opponents and solidified his status as the nominee-in-waiting, Florida was also a wake-up call. To win so resoundingly, Romney had to inch away from conservative movement dogma for the first time since he began his candidacy.
It wasn't easy.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, DREAM Act, Foreclosures, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Social Security
Mitt Romney
Romney Team Silent On Key Offshore Tax Avoidance Question
Mitt Romney
Just over a week ago, Mitt Romney's top campaign and financial aides held an on-the-record press call to walk reporters through the former governor's 2010 tax return.
The briefing cleared up several questions, but left others unanswered -- including one from TPM that will either exculpate Romney from allegations that he's used investments in offshore entities to avoid U.S. taxes, or reveal that his campaign has not fully addressed those allegations.
On the call, Romney's trustee pledged get back to us with this information. But despite multiple inquiries in the days since the conference call, the Romney camp has not set the record straight one way or another.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Mitt Romney, Taxes
Debt Ceiling
Uh-Oh... Looks Like We'll Hit The Debt Limit Again This Year
President Barack Obama
President Obama sacrificed an awful lot last year to take the debt limit off the legislative table until his second term, or some lucky Republican's first term. More importantly, he wanted it off the table until after the 2012 elections, to prevent a replay of last year's debt limit fight from playing out in the middle of election season, when the political consequences would be farther-reaching. And by "farther-reaching" we mean the doomsday scenario of legislators succumbing to a collective action problem and allowing the country to default on its debt.
Well, it looks like Obama will probably get his wish, but it will be an awfully close call.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Super Committee, Treasury, Treasury Department
Mitt Romney
Three Key Questions Raised By Romney's Tax Revelations
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney's campaign has tried desperately to put a lid back on the can of worms that burst open weeks ago when the one-time GOP presidential front runner declined to release any of his tax returns.
But by actually releasing his 2010 return, and an estimation of his 2011 return, camp Romney has provided reporters with some, but not all, of the answers they're looking for as they try to paint a complete picture of the finances of one of the wealthiest candidates for President in U.S. history.
Romney's revelations confirm that his effective tax rates in the past couple years have been as low or lower than those of workers with truly modest means. They also confirm that he's availed himself of truly complex tax strategies designed to boil his liability down to the lowest level allowed by the country's heavily rigged, labyrinthine tax code. And we know, too, that these are things Romney didn't want voters to know -- at least not yet.
But they raise a series of new questions that will likely require Romney to disclose several years' worth of additional tax returns if he wants to answer them satisfactorily. Here are three big ones that touch generally on the theme of Romney's efforts to reduce his tax burden by taking advantage of areas of the law that simply aren't available to most people.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Mitt Romney, Taxes
State Of The Union
State Of The Union: Obama's Point-By-Point Romney Refutation
President Barack Obama
President Obama's State of the Union address was premised on two political bets: that there's a broad national appetite, spanning conservative and liberal ideologies, for certain populist reforms; and that Republicans in Congress are too deeply committed to opposing his agenda to back those reforms along side him.
His speech was peppered with the sorts of proposals that play well across the country. But after executing a three year plan of partisan opposition to his full agenda, Republicans can't possibly support them -- and that puts them on the steep side of an election Obama is framing while Republican presidential hopefuls tear each other down.
It was also sharp-elbowed. It read in a way as a series of critiques of the GOP's most prominent rhetorical attacks on Democratic priorities, and as a piecemeal rebuttal of the talking points his most likely general election opponent Mitt Romney has levied against him in a bid to shore up support among Republican base voters.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Bailout, Barack Obama, John Boehner, Medicare, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, State Of The Union, Taxes, Warren Buffett
Mitt Romney
Romney Camp Revelations Leave Key Tax Questions Unanswered
Mitt Romney
On a conference call with the media Tuesday morning several of Mitt Romney's political and financial aides tried to suck the life out of the undying story of Romney's tax liability, walking reporters through hundreds of pages of his family's tax returns.
As he acknowledged several days ago, Romney pays a very low effective tax rate given his enormous income and extraordinary wealth. His effective rate is about the same as that of a wage earner making $40,000 a year, barely hanging on in the broader middle class.
For the most part, Romney's aides deftly addressed lingering controversies about his returns. Many of these stem from the complicated nature of the strategies they use to keep his liability down, all of which constitute very new terrain for political reporters. But a couple of things stuck out.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Mitt Romney, Taxes
Mitt Romney
Finding The Real Deal On Romney's Offshore Investments
Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.
On Tuesday, Mitt Romney finally acknowledged what we've long suspected: that, despite earning millions of dollars a year, his tax rate is approximately 15 percent -- the same as it would be if he were a teacher earning $50,000 a year.
The disclosure touched off a flurry of news stories -- some about the rigged nature of the U.S. tax code, most about how this fact would play in the primary and general elections. Then on Wednesday ABC News broke another story. Romney, it turns out, has a lot of money invested in offshore funds -- the sort of funds you used to hear about years ago when wealthy people, foreign investors, private pensions and others would invest and shelter their money.
The timing of the ABC story couldn't have been better for those hoping to create a hazy sense that Romney's some kind of tax avoider. But they're largely two different things.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Mitt Romney, Tax Cuts, Taxes, Warren Buffett
Minnesota
'Behind The Eight Ball': Terrible Times For The Minnesota Republican Party
Minnesota State Capitol Building
The Minnesota Republican Party is having a hard time.
This week, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the FEC that alleges the party and its now-former chairman, Tony Sutton, violated the Federal Election Campaign Act.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, Minnesota, Republicans
Economy
The Rapid Economic Recovery Republicans Are Praying Against
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
Everything that's supposed to happen in politics this year, and everything that has happened for the last several months, has been premised on the tacit, but seemingly safe assumption: The economy will remain weak for years.
This has underlined Congressional jobs bill theatrics, campaign rhetoric about Obama's record, debates about who's to blame for high unemployment, and which party best represents the interests of the middle class.
But what if that assumption is wrong?
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Economy, Jobs, Unemployment
Wisconsin Recalls
Wis. Judge Rules For GOP On Recall Procedures
A judge in Wisconsin threw a curveball Thursday evening into the recall campaign targeting Republican Gov. Scott Walker, ruling that state election officials must make a greater effort to screen out fake or duplicate petition signatures -- rather than abide by the pre-existing rules, which have placed more of the burden on the Walker campaign.
The state GOP's lawsuit filed in mid-December against the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in the state, claims that Walker's 14th Amendment rights of Equal Protection are violated by putting a burden on his campaign to review and challenge petition signatures within a ten-day period. Instead, they say, the GAB must thoroughly search for and directly strike out duplicate signatures, and invalid names and addresses.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Mac Davis, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Judge Rules Against Wis Dems Intervention In GOP Recall Lawsuit
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)
A judge in Wisconsin has ruled that Democratic recall organizers cannot challenge a lawsuit brought by the state GOP against election officials -- a suit that claims Gov. Scott Walker's constitutional rights are being violated by the state's petition review process.
This means that barring a hypothetical appeal, any continuing litigation in this matter will be conducted exclusively between the state GOP and the election board's attorney, without the Dems themselves being able to participate and present legal arguments.
"I was a little surprised," said Jeremy Levinson, the attorney for the recall committee, in an interview with TPM. "It's the first time I can recall -- let me rephrase -- it's the first time I'm aware of a recall-related lawsuit where only the official who is being targeted for recall gets to be a party, and the folks who are working to recall that official are shut out of the process."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
2012
Why The Policy Battles Of 2011 Won't Be Settled Until After The 2012 Elections
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama
When President Obama and the GOP's primary contenders talk up the 2012 election as a choice for voters between two visions for the country's future, it's only about half hyperbole.
We'll see a prelude of this fact in the months between now and November both on the campaign trail and on Capitol Hill as politicians club each other with their past votes and statements on taxes, Medicare, Social Security, and other potent issues. But it's not just rhetoric.
To an unappreciated extent, the legislative whipsawing in 2011 has set the country and the parties up for a major reckoning about the role and size of government at the end of next year. And the outcome of the election will help determine which side of the argument wins.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Debt Ceiling, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Payroll Tax Cut, Social Security, Super Committee, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker On The 'Koch' Call: 'It Was Stupid'
In an interview last Friday with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Gov. Scott Walker (R) gave perhaps his most blunt show of contrition yet for the mega-gaffe that could haunt him in the coming recall: His 20-minute phone call in February, at the height of the protests against his anti-public employee union legislation, with a blogger posing as conservative financier David Koch.
The interviewer said that a friend of Walker's has said that the "Koch" call was the only time he saw Walker rattled, to have done something so "stupid."
"Yeah, that's a good way to put it, an accurate summary," Walker responded. "It was stupid. It was stupid -- you know, the call in and of itself, the whole fact that something like that would happen -- it diverted attention from, you know, a debate that needed to be focused on the facts, and instead got off into this hysteria and everything."
Walker also said the controversy served as a wake-up call to him, to stay focused on the issues at hand and not let the story become focused around himself.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, David Koch, Ian Murphy, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker Wages Major TV Ad Campaign Against Recall
Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)
The recall signatures have not yet been filed against Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) -- but he is already running a heavy TV advertising campaign, fighting out the election that is yet to be officially triggered.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:
At the outset of Wisconsin's historic recall fight, GOP Gov. Scott Walker and his allies are outspending the other side on television by a margin of roughly 4-to-1, an advantage he's expected to maintain in the weeks ahead.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
The governor has already aired more than $1 million in broadcast ads since he hit the airwaves in mid-November, according to the ad-tracking firm Kantar Media CMAG.
When you include cable ads and time bought for spots that haven't aired yet, Walker's TV spending easily exceeds $2 million, according to two political sources tracking media buys.
Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker's Holiday Ad: Let's 'Put Our Differences Aside'
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has a new TV ad, in his efforts to fight the Democratic recall campaign against him. This one takes on a friendly, conciliatory holiday greeting to the state.
The ad is mainly narrated by Walker's wife, Tonette, as video is shown of the family helping out at a soup kitchen: "The holidays are a time for us to give thanks -- and to reach out to those who are struggling. it's a tough time for many families. But in Wisconsin, we have a long tradition of helping our neighbors. We're grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Wisconsin.
The ad then cuts to the Walker family in their living room: "In this season of peace, our hope is that we can put our differences aside, and move forward together."
Walker himself then adds: "From our family to yours: Blessings of the season."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Wis Dems File Rebuttal To GOP Lawsuit Against Recall Procedures
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)
Wisconsin Democrats late Tuesday filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit that state Republicans filed on Thursday against state election officials, with the Dems seeking to become legal parties to counter the GOP's claims that the procedures in the recall targeting Gov. Scott Walker are a violation of Walker's rights.
A copy of the filing, made in the names of the Committee to Recall Walker and other organizers, was sent to TPM by the state Democratic Party.
Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Protests
Wis. Activists Defy Walker's New Pay-To-Protest Rules -- And Nothing Happens
Cracks are already showing in the new policy from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) administration, seeking to charge protesters money in order to get a permit to demonstrate at the state Capitol. On Monday, when the policy was set to go into effect, a large demonstration was indeed held against Walker, with over 250 people turning out in the Capitol -- without a permit, and also without anything bad happening to them.
The administration has been holding a series of informational sessions on the policy -- which seem to have stirred up only pushback from demonstrators and civil libertarians. But on Friday, the state Department of Administration appeared to back down at least a little, signaling that there would not be arrests.
The Capital Times reports:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker Defends GOP Lawsuit Challenging Recall Procedures
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) shakes hands with Republican legislative members after delivering his budget address to a joint session of the legislature at the state Capitol on March 1, 2011 in Madison, WI.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) spoke Monday in support of the lawsuit filed by the state Republican Party against state elections officials, demanding that the board (and not his campaign) be tasked with challenging duplicate petition signatures for disqualification in the recall campaign against him.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
At a news conference Monday, Walker mentioned a news report of a person saying he signed a recall petition at least 80 times is a sign that the GAB should take additional steps to review the petitions.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
"If people want to sign it -- and they have every right to in this state -- it should be enforced that they can sign it once and they actually have to sign it with a real name related to a real voting location in this state."
Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker Raises $5.1 Million To Beat Back Recall -- $250K From Swift Boater
Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is clearly preparing to bring his best game against the Democratic effort to recall him from office. And he's raising a lot of money for it.
As the Wisconsin State Journal reports, Walker has raised $5.1 million since this past July -- much of it in the past month, aided by a state law that allows the target of a recall to raise unlimited funds. In all, Walker has received 18,000 donations since November, the month when the recall process was triggered.
Also, $2.4 million of the total has come from out of state -- notably a $250,000 donation from Bob Perry, the Texas businessman who financed the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth campaign of 2004, which spread false information about Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's war record.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Wis Dems To Intervene In GOP Lawsuit Challenging Recall Process
On a conference call with reporters on Friday, Wisconsin Democrats announced that they will seek to become a party in the lawsuit that the state Republicans filed on Thursday, in which the GOP claimed that aspects of the recall process targeting Gov. Scott Walker are a violation of Walker's rights.
"Next week, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin will file a motion to intervene in the spurious and flailing lawsuit in Waukesha by Scott Walker's dead-end Republican allies trying to forestall the inevitable recall against him," state party chair Mike Tate announced.
"Let's call this what it is," Tate added, "another pathetic attempt by Walker and the Republicans to avoid facing accountability by the people of Wisconsin."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Wis. GOP Files Lawsuit Against Election Officials Over Recall Process
Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)
Wisconsin Republicans have mounted a new response to the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker -- filing a lawsuit today against the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections, alleging that Walker's 14th Amendment constitutional rights are being violated by the procedures the board uses in verifying, accepting or rejecting petition signatures.
The state GOP's legal complaint argues that the GAB's procedures for recall petitions, which involve the incumbent's campaign challenging duplicate signatures of people who would have signed more than once -- place an undue burden on the Walker campaign. Under the law, the incumbent has a ten-day review period, in which to submit challenges.
"The GAB's position that it is the responsibility of the Walker campaign to identify and challenge duplicate signatures flies in the face of the idea of a fair electoral process," the party said in a press release.
When asked for comment, the GAB gave TPM this statement from Director Kevin Kennedy: "The plaintiffs are challenging the procedures that have been established by statutes and administrative code, and which have been in place since the late 1980s. Since then, these rules have been used in every state and local recall petition effort against incumbents of both parties."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Almost There: Wis Dems Announce 507,000 Signatures To Recall Walker
Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Democrats made a big announcement Thursday afternoon: That after 30 days, they have collected 507,000 signatures in their effort to trigger a recall campaign against Republican Gov. Scott Walker. This puts them almost at the goal of 540,000 signatures, at the halfway point of the 60-day petition period -- and, they announced, they intend to go much, much further.
"The people of Wisconsin have said, enough is enough," state party chairman Mike Tate said in a live Webcast. "In just one month, in just 30 days, in less than half the time granted, you have done something truly amazing." Tate also announced a higher goal of 720,000, which would give the Dems a buffer putting them well beyond any efforts at disqualification or public discrediting by their opponents.
When asked by TPM, state party spokesman Graeme Zielinski said that the 507,000 figure does already take into account the party's own efforts to screen out flawed signatures.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Scott Walker To Deliver Big Speech At CPAC
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) shakes hands with Republican legislative members after delivering his budget address to a joint session of the legislature at the state Capitol on March 1, 2011 in Madison, WI.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is clearly both a hated man -- and a beloved one. At the same time as Wisconsin Democrats are organizing a massive recall petition drive against him, on the other end he has been invited to deliver a a keynote speech at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference, organizers announced on Tuesday.
CPAC 2012 will be held from February 9 through February 11. Comparing this with the timeline for the recall campaign, this means that Walker's big speech will be held about three weeks after Democrats handed in the petitions to hold the recall election. (This analysis assumes that the Dems will have met the goal, rather than falling short.)
Thus, the state election officials will be in the the middle of reviewing the signatures, a process that will likely take 60 days. Meanwhile, we can imagine that both Democrats and Republicans will be actively campaigning back home in Wisconsin, while Walker is making his appeal in Washington to national conservative activists -- and perhaps more importantly, conservative donors -- for what could be the second most watched campaign of the year.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, CPAC, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Walker Ad Shows New Slogan: 'Laying The Foundation For Wisconsin's Success'
Ad from Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), "Wisconsin Success"
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has a new TV ad -- his latest answer to the current Democratic campaign to recall him. This one features man named Chris, who is identified in the ad as a business owner, extolling Walker's virtues against a background of uplifting music.
"Governor Walker is a friend of small business, he recognizes that 70 percent of the jobs created in this country and this state are by small businesses," the man says. "He wants all of the people in the state to be successful. It's comforting, and it's been rare, so it's a refreshing change.
"We've got offices and divisions of our own company in other states -- New York, California -- and we can see that if Wisconsin continues on a pro-business strategy, we're gonna grow our staff here."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Man Who Illegally Defaced Recall-Walker Petition: 'I Kind Of Kicked Myself In The Ass'
Wisconsin has definitely become a polarized environment, with the Democratic effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker being just the latest symptom. But one man who supports Walker found out the hard way that it's not only bad form to vandalize a recall petition -- it's against the law.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
A West Bend man told police he intentionally scribbled over petitions seeking the recall of Gov. Scott Walker with the hopes it would "screw up the petition."PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
But when Jeffery Karnitz handed the defaced petition back to a recall volunteer, she told him, "I hope you know that's a felony," and from then, he told police, "I kind of kicked myself in the ass."
Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Protests
Wis ACLU: State 'Wasted Their Time Today' In Session About Pay-To-Protest Policy
Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's administration held its first informational session Tuesday on the new rules for state Capitol protests -- under which demonstrators would have to pay potentially large amounts of money up front, in order to get a permit.
Stacy Harbaugh, communications director for the ACLU of Wisconsin, attended the session, which was hosted by officials from the Department of Administration -- and in an interview Tuesday afternoon, told TPM that the group is still reviewing its legal options.
"Unfortunately, a lot of our questions continued to be unanswered," Harbaugh told TPM. "The big thing that I think was a problem today was that the state Department of Administration didn't provide an attorney to represent their position.
"People have a lot of legitimate questions, legal questions, about how these rules could even be enforced. So by not providing an attorney and answering their questions, the Department frankly wasted their time today. There are too many questions that are unanswered."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Protests
Wisconsin ACLU Eyeing Walker's New Policy Charging Protesters Money
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is beginning to roll out his new policy to require protestors to pay big money if they want a permit to demonstrate against him in the state Capitol -- and the state's civil libertarians are in turn beginning to push back.
Friday evening, the state ACLU put out a scathing press release on the new policy, from executive director Chris Ahmuty:
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Wisconsin Protests
Walker's New Plan: Charge Protesters Big Money
Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's administration is rolling out a new strategy to deal with the waves of protests that have fallen upon the state Capitol, ever since he rolled out his anti-public employee union legislation, and which have given rise to the recall campaigns targeting him and other Republicans: Make the protesters pay for all the costs of the increased event security.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, the Walker administration announced the new policy on Thursday, and it will be phased in by Dec. 16. Under the policy, groups of four or more people must request permits at least 72 hours in advance, for events at the state Capitol or other state buildings.
In addition, organizers would have to pay for the extra Capitol police officers, at a rate of $50 per hour per officer -- plus costs for police officers brought in from outside agencies, according to the costs billed to the state. The police payment would have to be tendered in advance, as a requirement for getting a permit. Afterwards, organizers would then be charged for any clean-up costs.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
Wis Dems Say They're Already Halfway There On Walker Recall Signatures
Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Democrats have made a huge announcement in their effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker. They say that in the first 12 days of the petition effort, up through this past Saturday night, they now claim to have collected over 300,000 signatures -- more than halfway to the goal that they have 60 days total to meet.
In order to trigger a recall against Walker, the Dems must meet a high bar: Signatures of at least 25 percent of the number of voters in the previous gubernatorial election must be collected in a 60-day window. That means the Dems must get over 540,000 signatures -- over 9,000 per day, statewide -- plus some significant buffer that campaigns routinely collect in order to protect against signatures being disqualified over one imperfection or another.
But even against that lofty requirement, the Dems are claiming that in the 12 days since the recall launched, they have collected over 1,000 signatures per hour. Put another way, when measured against just the 9,000-per-day requirement, they claim to have taken only 12 days to reach where they had to be at about Day 33.
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Wisconsin Recalls
Wis Dems Shopping For Recall-Walker Signatures On Black Friday
Black Friday is a big day for the American economy, with businesses starting off the holiday shopping season with big deals. And in Wisconsin, another bargain is on offer: Signing petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker!
On Wednesday, the state Democratic Party announced that volunteers would be collecting signatures near shopping centers during Black Friday, in their effort to recall Walker.
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Wisconsin Recalls
New Walker Ad: 'I'm Not Big On Recalls'
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is out with his second TV ad against the effort by state Democrats to recall him, featuring a teacher seeking to persuade the state's voters to stick with Walker and not sign recall petitions.
This follows Walker's first ad, which was released last week just as the Dems were officially kicking off the petition campaign. The key for Walker in these ads is that there is no such thing as a petition to not hold a recall election.
Thus, there is no base of his own supporters to get out at this stage -- instead, he must seek to persuade people in the middle who are unhappy with him, to not sign up for a recall.
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Wisconsin Recalls
Dems Claim Over 100,000 Signatures For Walker Recall
Wisconsin Democrats, after last week's official launch of the campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker, made a major show of strength over the weekend.
United Wisconsin, the group managing the recall, announced on Saturday that during the first four days of the effort -- from Tuesday through Friday -- they had brought in 105,000 signatures, nearly a fifth of the threshold they must legally meet: 540,208 signatures in a 60-day window.
There are, of course, two important caveats: First, after months of build-up to the recall campaign, it is natural that there would be an initial rush to sign in the first few days. Second, the Dems will have to gather even more than 540,208 signatures in real terms -- for a buffer that campaigns routinely collect in order to protect against signatures being disqualified over one imperfection or another.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Recall, Russ Feingold, Scott Walker, WI-GOV, Wisconsin , Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Recalls
Wisconsin Recalls
'Uncharted Territory': How Long Could The Walker Recall Campaign Take?
With the Wisconsin Democrats having officially kicked off their recall campaign against Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the state is set for the political battle to come next year. So the question is: How long will it take?
Late Thursday night, the recall group United Wisconsin announced that they have already collected over 50,000 signatures, in the two days since the launch on Tuesday: "Over 50,000 Wisconsin residents signing recall petitions in the first 48 hours is a clear sign that Wisconsin is not going to stand for Walker's lies and destruction of our state."
Of course, after months of build-up to the recall, we should expect an initial rush of signatures in the first few days. As such, the situation needs to be continually observed, to see whether the Dems can make the goal.
And then, if the Dems do make the threshold, there's no clear timetable for how long an election might take. In separate interviews with TPM, both the state Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski and state Government Accountability Board (which oversees elections in the state) spokesman Reid Magney used the same phrase to describe the situation: "Uncharted territory."
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