HARLAN RICHARDS
May 3, 2012

What's Up With the Governor's Recall Election?

Latest polling results show that Tom Barrett is leading in the Democratic party (his support is growing) while Kathleen Falk has lost support since the last poll was taken. This occurred in spite of unions spending millions of dollars on her behalf. As I said before, any gubernatorial candidate who vows to shut down state government if elected should not be elected.

It looks as if Barrett will be facing Walker in the general recall election (the primary will be over before this is posted). The poll also showed that there is a one percentage point difference between the two candidates. For the election to be in a dead heat after Walker has outspent Barrett by millions of dollars says a lot about Walker's unpopularity in Wisconsin. But he is the darling of the national right-wing ideologue crowd.

On May 1, 2012, the Wisconsin State Journal reported on how much money the candidates received and where it came from. From January 18th to April 23rd, Walker ranked in $13 million. 63% ($8.38 million) of which was from out-of-state supporters. Only 33% came from Wisconsin residents. Out of the total number of donors, 74% (77,977) were from out-of-state. Out of 6 million Wisconsin residents, only 26,887 residents gave money to Walker. Not very many, is it? There were also 3 billionaires among those out-of-state supporters:

Richard M. DeVos, owner of Orlando Magic and co-founder of Amway: $250,000
Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands (and major financial banker of Newt Gingrich): $250,000
Warren Stephens, conservative investor: $100,000

I have commented in previous postings about Walker's receipt of $250,000 from one of the sponsors of the "Swift Boat" ads, and it is common knowledge that the Koch brothers (the sons of the founder of the John Brich society) have also given Walker their support.

The most extreme right-wing ideologues imaginable have put their support behind Walker and flooded him with millions in cash in an attempt to buy the gubernatorial recall election.

Compare Walkter's contributions to those of Barrett and Falk from January 1st to April 23rd:

Tom Barrett: $830,000
Kathleen Falk: $977,000

This election, unlike a regular election, cannot be bought. It is an ideological battle which will affect the entire nation for years to come. If Walker wins the recall, you'll see him running for president one day. He and his supporters want to turn the U.S. into a 3rd world country. There will be an oligarchy of wealthy owners and a large poll of workers living on the edge of starvation and poverty. It is noteworthy that the one state department Walker did not cut in his budget was corrections (he increased it by 7%). This is also why he chose to exempt the police from legislation that stripped collective bargaining rights from state employees. He needs loyal enforcers to implement his long-term agenda.

I pray that Scott Walker loses the election and becomes a shameful footnote in the history in a shameful era, rather than the standard bearer for a new wave of radical fascism.