On January 18th, Wisconsin Democrats boasted of the "one million" signatures they had collected to recall Governor Scott Walker. After turning the signatures in, the always-understated chairman Mike Tate said Wisconsin was "bearing witness to a million-strong miracle of democracy," and that petition signers had "lived up to the nation's great promise, the quality that distinguishes us as a beacon to the world."
This "million" number was important to the left, as it represented about the same number of people who voted for Walker in November of 2010 (although not quite.) Just get the people who signed petitions out to the polls, and Walker is toast, they argued - apparently unaware that having 60 days to collect signatures is a bit different than getting people out to vote on one election day.
This "million" number was important to the left, as it represented about the same number of people who voted for Walker in November of 2010 (although not quite.) Just get the people who signed petitions out to the polls, and Walker is toast, they argued - apparently unaware that having 60 days to collect signatures is a bit different than getting people out to vote on one election day.
Of course, the media forged ahead with the "million" number, as they didn't have enough time to leaf through the petitions themselves. (Although almost none of them hedged their bets by saying "Democrats claim they have turned in a million signatures.") More seasoned observers, however, knew the number was probably bogus - "a million" seems like an awfully round number. And as the Verify the Recall group has found, it was: Unions only ended up turning in 860,000 signatures.
Democrats knew the real number they turned in was irrelevant - as long as they could say "a million" as many times as possible in the media, it would seem like they had momentum. Plus, saying "a million" is much quicker than saying "eight hundred and sixty thousand." That valuable extra second would free up enough time to compare Walker to Richard Nixon.
Furthermore, that 860,000 number is simply the number of physical signatures turned in. It doesn't count the number of signatures that would eventually be discarded due to incomplete information, duplication, or because the signature belongs to Donald Duck. (Presumably, he signed the petition because of Walker's proposed law requiring cartoon ducks to wear pants in public.)
Yesterday, Walker announced he would not be challenging the validity of any signatures, as his campaign only had time to review 400,000 of the signatures in the allowed 30-day window. Walker petitioned the Government Accountability Board to allow challenges by third-party groups such as Verify the Recall, but the board has repeatedly disallowed such challenges.
Consequently, it appears the recall election is virtually certain, and will most likely be held in June or July. Three Democrats have announced they will be running against Walker, with former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk having been endorsed by AFSCME and WEAC, the state's largest teachers' union. Falk has pledged to veto any state budget that does not reinstate collective bargaining for public unions.
Democrats knew the real number they turned in was irrelevant - as long as they could say "a million" as many times as possible in the media, it would seem like they had momentum. Plus, saying "a million" is much quicker than saying "eight hundred and sixty thousand." That valuable extra second would free up enough time to compare Walker to Richard Nixon.
Furthermore, that 860,000 number is simply the number of physical signatures turned in. It doesn't count the number of signatures that would eventually be discarded due to incomplete information, duplication, or because the signature belongs to Donald Duck. (Presumably, he signed the petition because of Walker's proposed law requiring cartoon ducks to wear pants in public.)
Yesterday, Walker announced he would not be challenging the validity of any signatures, as his campaign only had time to review 400,000 of the signatures in the allowed 30-day window. Walker petitioned the Government Accountability Board to allow challenges by third-party groups such as Verify the Recall, but the board has repeatedly disallowed such challenges.
Consequently, it appears the recall election is virtually certain, and will most likely be held in June or July. Three Democrats have announced they will be running against Walker, with former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk having been endorsed by AFSCME and WEAC, the state's largest teachers' union. Falk has pledged to veto any state budget that does not reinstate collective bargaining for public unions.
Scott Walker is the most skillful and principled public official in the country. As a former Wisconsin resident who left near the end of the Doyle (bolshevik) era, I am proud of my former adopted home state and the changes that were made. Walker has courage, and deserves support to survive the recall, and moreover, to propose and get passed additional reforms.