Barack Obama

Politico Gaffe Becomes Organizing Tool In Wisconsin Recall Effort

Brian Beutler | February 20, 2012, 11:57AM

When President Obama spoke to workers in Wisconsin last week, Politico accidentally made itself the story. The paper's reporter mistook the Wisconsin state flag for the seal of a local union, and cited it as an illustration of President Obama's pro-union bias.

Politico cleaned the egg off its face by wiping the story from the Internet. But the gaffe made the rounds among actual union officials in the state and now that the laughter's subsided, they've turned it into a membership drive.

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Scott Walker

Scott Walker Supporter Releases 'Stand With Governor Walker' Ballad

David Taintor | January 23, 2012, 5:55PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

An apparent supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has recorded a hymn of sorts to lift up the embattled Republican governor facing recall. Titled "Stand With Governor Walker," the song features soaring melodies and balladic piano riffs.

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Wisconsin Recalls

With Recall In Motion, Democrats Consider Candidates To Challenge Walker

Eric Kleefeld | January 18, 2012, 5:57AM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Now that Wisconsin Democrats made their big move to trigger a recall election against Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- turning in over a million signatures against him on Tuesday -- the next step is now approaching, with potential Democratic challengers starting to make their way out into the open.

The recall drive started last year, in reaction to Walker's very far reaching anti-public employee union legislation, stripping public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights. This triggered waves of protests that filled the state Capitol and other locations, followed by a summer of state Senate recall campaigns that attracted tens of millions of dollars in political spending. The Democrats had to wait longer to target Walker for recall, however, because the state constitution's recall section requires that an elected official have served at least the first year of his term.

In addition to the review process for petitions, the Democrats have another task at hand: Getting a candidate. Recalls in Wisconsin do not feature any direct up-or-down vote on the incumbent, but instead effectively take the form of a special election with the incumbent and a challenger fighting it out to serve the rest of the term.

During the signature collection process, the party's open preference was to keep the political focus on Walker. Therefore, maneuvering by potential candidates remained very much behind the scenes. Originally, the Democrats had openly sought to have an early, united team around a single candidate -- but it is now looking more and more like there will be a genuine primary.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis Dems Make It Official: One Million Signatures Collected To Recall Walker

Eric Kleefeld | January 17, 2012, 2:43PM

Updated January 17, 4:45 p.m. ET

Wisconsin Democrats announced Tuesday that they have collected over a million signatures to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- nearly twice the 540,208 signatures, or 25 percent of the total votes in the previous election for governor, needed to trigger a new election.

The petitions are being submitted today to the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections. This will in turn set off a lengthy review process by state officials, before an election can go forward later in the year. But given the very large number of signatures that are well beyond the already high threshold, and the state's recent history of recalls in the state Senate, it seems a safe bet that an election will occur.

The state last year achieved national fame (or infamy), for Walker's legislation stripping public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights -- and the waves of protests that filled the state Capitol and other locations, followed by a summer of state Senate recall campaigns that attracted tens of millions of dollars in political spending.

The Democrats had to wait longer to target Walker for recall, however, because the state constitution's recall section requires that an elected official have served at least the first year of their term. And now, the state is set to potentially become the second most heated and politically consequential election of the year, below only the presidential race.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Poll: Barrett Leads Potential Democratic Primary In Walker Recall

Eric Kleefeld | January 17, 2012, 12:56PM

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D)

With Wisconsin Democrats set to turn in a mountain of petitions to trigger a recall against Gov. Scott Walker, a new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) shows that Walker's Democratic opponent in the 2010 election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, would start out as the favorite in the Democratic primary if he were to seek a rematch.

In a two way-race, Barrett leads former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk by 46%-27%, and he would also lead former Congressman David Obey by 42%-30%. Obey leads Falk by 43%-28%. In a more wide-open race, Barrett has 26%, Falk 22%, Obey 21%, and state Sen. Tim Cullen (who has already said he will run, but is less known) has 11%.

Recalls in Wisconsin do not feature any direct up-or-down vote on the incumbent, but instead effectively take the form of a special election with the incumbent and a challenger fighting it out to serve the rest of the term. In the 2010 Republican wave, Walker defeated Barrett by a 52%-47% margin.

The survey of likely Democratic primary voters was conducted on Monday, January 16, and has a ±4.3% margin of error.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wisconsin Democrats Submitting Recall-Walker Petitions Today

Eric Kleefeld | January 17, 2012, 5:44AM

It's the big day in Wisconsin: After two months of collecting petitions, state Democrats will officially turn in a vast number of signatures collected in order to trigger a recall election against Gov. Scott Walker.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wisconsin Dems To Deliver Walker Recall Petitions Next Week

Eric Kleefeld | January 12, 2012, 11:52AM

Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Democrats have announced they will submit the petition signatures in their effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker next Tuesday, January 17 -- with a massive drop-off of boxes at the state's election administration agency, the Government Accountability Board:

Julie Wells, the Janesville grandmother and factory worker who triggered the recall, will be joined by volunteers from Wisconsin's 72 counties, who will load scores of boxes from a truck dubbed the "Forward Flyer" into GAB offices.

Also present and available to the media will be representatives from the recall efforts against four Republican senators.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis. Judge Rules For GOP On Recall Procedures

Eric Kleefeld | January 6, 2012, 11:20AM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Judge Rules Against Wis Dems Intervention In GOP Recall Lawsuit

Eric Kleefeld | December 29, 2011, 4:18PM

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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker On The 'Koch' Call: 'It Was Stupid'

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2011, 10:35AM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker Wages Major TV Ad Campaign Against Recall

Eric Kleefeld | December 23, 2011, 11:41AM

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.

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker's Holiday Ad: Let's 'Put Our Differences Aside'

Eric Kleefeld | December 22, 2011, 10:40AM

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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis Dems File Rebuttal To GOP Lawsuit Against Recall Procedures

Eric Kleefeld | December 20, 2011, 7:05PM

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.

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Wisconsin Protests

Wis. Activists Defy Walker's New Pay-To-Protest Rules -- And Nothing Happens

Eric Kleefeld | December 20, 2011, 10:32AM

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:

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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker Defends GOP Lawsuit Challenging Recall Procedures

Eric Kleefeld | December 19, 2011, 2:30PM

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.

"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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker Raises $5.1 Million To Beat Back Recall -- $250K From Swift Boater

Eric Kleefeld | December 16, 2011, 4:34PM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis Dems To Intervene In GOP Lawsuit Challenging Recall Process

Eric Kleefeld | December 16, 2011, 12:10PM

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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis. GOP Files Lawsuit Against Election Officials Over Recall Process

Eric Kleefeld | December 15, 2011, 5:38PM

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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Almost There: Wis Dems Announce 507,000 Signatures To Recall Walker

Eric Kleefeld | December 15, 2011, 1:10PM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Scott Walker To Deliver Big Speech At CPAC

Eric Kleefeld | December 13, 2011, 5:03PM

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.

Wisconsin Recalls

Walker Ad Shows New Slogan: 'Laying The Foundation For Wisconsin's Success'

Eric Kleefeld | December 12, 2011, 12:30PM

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."

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Wisconsin Recalls

Man Who Illegally Defaced Recall-Walker Petition: 'I Kind Of Kicked Myself In The Ass'

Eric Kleefeld | December 8, 2011, 3:30PM

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."

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."

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Wisconsin Protests

Wis ACLU: State 'Wasted Their Time Today' In Session About Pay-To-Protest Policy

Eric Kleefeld | December 6, 2011, 3:57PM

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."

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Wisconsin Protests

Wisconsin ACLU Eyeing Walker's New Policy Charging Protesters Money

Eric Kleefeld | December 5, 2011, 1:07PM

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

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2011, 12:54PM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis Dems Say They're Already Halfway There On Walker Recall Signatures

Eric Kleefeld | November 28, 2011, 8:46PM

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

Eric Kleefeld | November 25, 2011, 2:03PM

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'

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2011, 4:40PM

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

Eric Kleefeld | November 21, 2011, 11:03AM

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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

'Uncharted Territory': How Long Could The Walker Recall Campaign Take?

Eric Kleefeld | November 18, 2011, 9:30AM

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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Wisconsin Recalls

Walker Blames 'Big-Government Unions,' Says Recall Campaign Isn't 'Organic Movement'

Eric Kleefeld | November 16, 2011, 2:18PM

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)

Gov. Scott Walker did a radio interview Wednesday morning on NPR's Tell Me More, responding to the recall drive that was officially launched Tuesday as a backlash against his anti-public employee union laws.

During the interview, Walker stood by his policies as an important set of fiscal reforms and changes in government flexibility for the state. Later on, host Michele Martin asked Walker what the appropriate role should be in the recall campaign for interest groups outside Wisconsin, both those who favor and oppose him.

Walker began by demurring on the matter of the appropriate role for outside groups, correctly pointing out that it will happen no matter what. And then he ripped into the unions, accusing them of artificially kicking up the recall campaign from out of state.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Recall Papers Officially Filed Against Scott Walker

Eric Kleefeld | November 15, 2011, 2:32PM

The Wisconsin recall drive (Part II), targeting Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican officials, is now in full swing.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the Dems kicked off the recall drive at midnight, as they had scheduled earlier, with a celebration of sorts:

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin hosted a petition pickup party Monday night, and more than 40 recall supporters wore party hats and blew kazoos as they counted down the final seconds before 12:01 a.m.

The first completed petition was then turned in at the Dem office, at 12:42 a.m. CT, and the recall committee itself was formally filed this morning:

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Wisconsin Recalls

Can Anti-Recall Ads During Packers Game Save Scott Walker?

Eric Kleefeld | November 14, 2011, 6:23PM

Wisconsin Dems are kicking off their efforts to recall Gov. Scott Walker, starting at midnight -- but even before that, Walker is set to run a TV ad defending his record, and urging against a recall.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Walker campaign has purchased more than $300,000 of air time between Monday and Sunday, according to sources, in the Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison and Wausau media markets.

Tonight's ad will run during tonight's football game, between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis Dems And Unions To Kick Off Walker Recall Effort At Midnight

Eric Kleefeld | November 14, 2011, 4:38PM

The Democratic effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in a backlash against his anti-public employee union legislation and the state budget, isn't just set to begin tomorrow -- the kickoff will now happen right after midnight!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

"We are going to be filing online (with the state) just after midnight that will allow us to start collecting the signatures," Meagan Mahaffey, executive director of United Wisconsin, said. "There are some midnight collection events around the state. People are ready to go and want to start as soon as possible. There's a lot of excitement about it."

United Wisconsin, which is helping lead the recall efforts against Walker, will also make a paper filing with elections officials at the state Government Accountability Board in Madison Tuesday morning, Mahaffey said.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wisconsin Dems Kicking Off Walker Recall Effort Tuesday

Eric Kleefeld | November 14, 2011, 10:42AM

Wisconsin Protests

This is a big week in Wisconsin -- with the state Democrats officially kicking off their effort to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Under the Dems' official game-plan, the effort to recall Walker will begin on Tuesday, November 15. For the last few weeks, the Dems have been holding a series of training events and kickoff rallies, with even more happening today and tomorrow. They will need all that effort and preparation they can muster.

In order to trigger a recall, the Dems must meet a strong threshold: 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.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Key Wisconsin Republican Opposes Change To Recall Law

Eric Kleefeld | October 31, 2011, 11:24AM

An effort by Wisconsin Republicans to make things harder for Democrats in any potential new state Senate recalls in the coming year appears to be out of the running -- with state Sen. Dale Schultz, a moderate Republican who holds a key swing vote in the 17-16 chamber, announcing that he will vote against the measure.

The Associated Press reports that Schultz will vote against a bill that would make new recalls apply under the newly-redrawn districts -- which were passed as part of a Republican-friendly map, following a GOP takeover of state government in 2010 -- instead of the older districts:

Schultz says he opposes it because he feels voters who elected him should have the say on whether he is recalled.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wisconsin Republicans Eye Change To Recall Law

Eric Kleefeld | October 27, 2011, 11:40AM

There's new controversy in the push to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Which district maps will be used it, and for any further state Senate recalls.

Under Wisconsin's recall law, elected officials must have served at least one year of their current term before being recalled. And because half of the state Senate is up each two years, this exempted earlier this year the half of the Senate that was just elected in 2010. However, with that ceiling now lifted going into next year, the state Dems are aiming to launch more state Senate recalls, in addition to their goal of recalling Walker.

The next wrinkle, then, is the fact that 2012 is a redistricting cycle -- and the state Republicans, who gained control of both legislative chambers and the governorship in 2010, passed a very GOP-friendly redistricting map earlier this year.

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Wisconsin Protests

Poll: Walker Leads Possible Challengers, State Still Split On Recalling Him

Eric Kleefeld | October 26, 2011, 3:32PM

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI)

A new survey of Wisconsin from Public Policy Polling (D) has some mixed news for Republican Gov. Scott Walker. On the one hand, a narrow majority of the state's registered voters disapprove of his performance. However, the voters are also split on whether they would want to recall him -- as the Democrats are aiming to do -- and he leads various potential Dem opponents.

The new poll finds Walker with an approval rating of 47%, compared to a slightly higher disapproval of 51%.

However, a later question asked: "Would you support or oppose recalling Scott Walker from office before his term is up?" The answer here is 48% in favor, to 49% opposed.

"It won't be easy for Democrats to recall Scott Walker," writes PPP president Dean Debnam. "Voters aren't as angry with him as they were earlier in the year and if Russ Feingold's really out of the mix there's not an obvious Democrat to pit against him."

In a previous survey released in August, PPP speculated that there could be an anti-recall bias among a key section of swing voters, who would be inclined to vote for an incumbent in a recall.

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Wisconsin Recalls

Wis. Dems Kicking Off Rallies And Training For Recall-Walker Effort

Eric Kleefeld | October 25, 2011, 4:50AM

Protesters inside the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 10, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Democrats are gearing up for their petition drive to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker, in the wake of his anti-public employee union legislation, with a series of public rallies and closed volunteer-training sessions.

The opening rally will be in Madison, on Tuesday.

The Madison event will feature some high-profile special guests: Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who ran for governor in the Democratic primary in 2002, and was the narrowly unsuccessful Dem nominee for attorney general in 2006; state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who was one of the 14 Dems to flee the state and temporarily block passage of Walker's legislation; former Congressman Dave Obey, who is a potential gubernatorial candidate in a recall, and the current Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. Plus, it will be emceed by local talk radio personality John "Sly" Sylvester.

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Wisconsin Recalls

David Obey Would Consider WI-GOV Recall Bid -- But Wants Kohl Or Barrett To Run

Eric Kleefeld | October 20, 2011, 12:02PM

Former longtime Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) is joining the call among Democrats to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2012. He would also consider running as a candidate himself in such a recall -- but would prefer to see candidacies by either Sen. Herb Kohl, who is retiring in 2012, or Milwaukee Mayor and unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee Tom Barrett.

However, Obey also said that when he has talked to the other two men about running for governor, they politely told him to stop "pestering" them about it.

Obey told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board that "there is so much anger out there" against Walker, predicting that Democrats would successfully collect enough signatures for the effort. (The Dems need to collect over 540,000 signatures, plus a significant buffer that campaigns routinely collect in order to protect against signatures being disqualified over one imperfection or another.)

At the same time, Obey touted Kohl and Barrett as alternative candidates to himself:

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