Wisconsin Governor Recall Election Begins

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

The campaign to recall Wisconsin governor Scott Walker will begin on November 15th. The drive needs to obtain a half-million signatures in order to compel a recall election.

According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, a Walker recall election would only be the third gubenatorial recall election in the nation's history. It is far from a done deal that the vote will occur. Wisconsin voters have not significantly moved from their political positions; Walker, in some quarters, is viewed as somewhat stronger than at the height of the Wisconsin protests.

Less publicized is a recall campaign against four Republican state senators. In the unlikely event the entire quartet is recalled, the Wisconsin state senate will have a slim Democratic majority.

Russell Pearce, Author of Arizona's Controversial Immigration Law, Faces Recall Election

Arizona State Senate president Russell Pearce (photo), who authored controversial legislation aimed at the state's immigrant population, is facing a recall election this November. An Arizona court recently ruled against a legal objection to the recall by Pearce's attorney. Pearce, a Republican from Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, will face two GOP contestants in the election.

According to a story in the Arizona Republic, one of the hopefuls is alleged to be a "stealth" candidate sympathetic to Pearce. The candidate's goal is purportedly to drain votes from the non-Pearce competition.

Pearce made his national name aggressively and very publicly sponsoring SB 1070, a state law that targets those people whom law enforcement has reason to suspect are illegal immigrants. Here's a brief summary of the statute, taken from an Arizona Republic story:

The text of SB 1070 permits, but does not require, a law-enforcement officer to transport a person who does not have proof of legal status to a federal facility. It requires officers to inquire about a person's status when practicable, and it requires them to determine an arrested individual's status before releasing that person.

Pearce became a Tea Party darling for his immigration position. He's also garnered the attention of other right-wing organizations, such as the Club for Growth. If this support scenario sounds familiar, you've heard it earlier this year in connection with the Wisconsin recall elections.

In keeping with the initial political proxy struggles in Wisconsin, the right-wing is using "stealth" candidates in the Arizona contest on behalf of its favored candidates. Curiously, the stealth candidate is running against a fellow Republican. This situation suggests a split in the GOP, at least locally, between the party's ideologically charged wing and just about anyone else claiming the party of Lincoln and Bush as their own.

Pearce's political history, and his association with corrupt ventures such as big-time college football's Fiesta Bowl, is well worth reading. The Arizona Republic articles are a good place to start.

Green Bay Democrat Wins Wisconsin State Senate Recall Election

In the undercard to Wisconsin's State Senate's August recall elections, Green Bay's incumbent state senator, Dave Hansen, retained his seat against a Republican challenger. This result, while not entirely surprising, may be a harbinger of things to come. The recall score, after one inning: Democrats 1, GOP nil. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the details.

Hansen was one of fourteen Democratic state senators who fled the Badger State during this winter's tumult over the collective bargaining rights of state public employees. The photograph shows Hansen during his March 2011 return to Wisconsin's state capital, Madison.

Wisconsin GOP Rushes Legislative Agenda Before Recall Elections

The Badger State's Republican party, with a standing governor and legislative majorities in both houses of the state legislature, is running scared. Clearly concerned about the state's potent recall movement, the GOP has hastily put its "urgent" bills into the legislative process, in some cases offering minimal time for public comment.

The AP story, courtesy of Yahoo, provides details.

The image shows Wisconsin state senator Alberta Darling. The GOP legislator represents a suburban Milwaukee district and is widely considered vulnerable to recall.

Florida's Political Tremors

Submerged in the bleak news from around the world was a very noteworthy domestic political event. A recall election was held earlier this week in South Florida which produced a massive "no" vote against the Miami-Dade mayor and the Miami-Dade county commissioner. They're gone, the result of the largest successful recall vote since California governor Gray Davis got the electoral guillotine in 1993.

The most startling aspect of the Florida recall was that 88% of the voters turned thumbs down on the targeted pair of elected officials. According to a Miami Herald story, the percentages were 4:1 across just about every significant demographic group that voted. Even convicted criminals, such as the late US senator from Alaska, Frank Murkowski, got a higher percentage of votes in his post-conviction re-election effort than the Florida pair did combined.

The Miami-Dade decision, with its overtones of impatience and mob psychology, suggests that the stability of the American electoral system is increasingly in play. An edgy population, disinclined to listen to alternate points of view, demands immediate action. This perspective is magnified by our ardent, largely blind embrace of speed as the greatest possible good. The resulting scenario diminishes reflection as a useful, highly desirable quality. What does this say about the rational basis of government which America's founders found essential?

The institutions currently shaken by recall elections, whether it is a right-wing putsch in California or a left-wing lotta in Wisconsin, were not designed for this style of political action. Social volatility can swiftly take on a life of its own, beyond the management of professional "risk managers," and become "black swan" events.

Careful what you wish for.

Stories Overshadowed By Events in Japan

Obviously, the ongoing disaster in Japan has gripped the world's attention. However, it's worth noting some other events occurred today. Here are five of them:

1. Arab League calls for no-fly zone over Libya -- "social network" revolution needs help, as Mr. Gaddafi is turning out to be a very determined, ruthless adversary.

2. Democratic state senators return to Wisconsin capital -- public service unions between Obama and a hard place. Fox News keeps asking the question liberal media dodges: where is the Obama Administration on the Wisconsin protest?

3. Literary agent Owen Laster passed away -- an "old school" literary agent, who represented an amalgam of belles lettres figures and plainly commercial, big-money writers.

4. Maryland House torpedoes same-sex marriage bill -- passage was supposed to be a slam dunk in this politically liberal state. Bill had made it through state senate, and governor was ready to sign the legislation.

5. Miami recall election -- no one talking about this one. They should be. It involves the Miami-Dade mayor and the Miami-Dade county commissioner. Wisconsin watchers should take notes.