The atmosphere is settling a little now, two weeks past the recall vote. Make no mistake, however. The grassroots organizers are determined to keep our state on a progressive path, despite the results at the polls. I share with you thoughts and observations (For what its worth) from family and friends and coworkers (and Daisy’s reactions, of course):

The Journal Company endorsed Walker and they own WTMJ, an NBC affiliate—

• NBC was 1^st to come out with calling the race in favor of Walker.
• WTMJ was extremely invested in their coverage at the Walker site. They spent most of their live time there with multiple crews and cameras while Barrett coverage was one crew that was on the air a little.  If Walker had lost, then WTMJ would have covered that angle, not the Barrett win. Hmmm…
• Do I sense a bias in the Milwaukee media? The J-S editorial panel endorsed Walker, despite their news reporters’ investigations into the governor’s illegal activities. The right hand at the JS doesn’t seem to know what the left is doing. Their credibility took a hit, that’s for certain.

Did the number of votes not for Walker (Barrett and Trevoli sp? combined) at least equal the number of people that signed the recall petition? No; this was a grave disappointment. There were rumors of phone calls claiming incorrectly “If you signed, you don’t have to vote.” I hope no one believed it. 

If it is less then you have to ask what happened…Were there people who signed the petition that didn’t vote?  See above; there were voter suppression efforts that may have knocked off a few votes. Were there people who signed the original petition that voted for Walker in the end? Unfortunately, yes. Our canvassers spoke to people who had felt coerced into signing petitions at their workplaces or in their neighborhoods. They even talked to a few women who said they “had to” vote the way their husbands did. WTH?!? 

Will there be legal wrangling regarding the vote suppression campaigns and the media contacts with voters standing in line? I hope there will be an investigation, if only to stop any interference from happening in future elections.

Is Wisconsin now a regressive state? Action in Madison certainly doesn’t look progressive. Frightening thought. There’s more truth in that quick statement than I care to admit. 

The Walker win must at least be telling the national parties that Wisconsin is no longer a lock for the Democrats and that the state is up for grabs.  Will we see an endless parade of Obama and Romney visits to our state between now and November? Sure. Wisconsin is known on the national scene as a “purple” state: neither fully blue nor fully red. Exit polls imply that many who voted for Walker plan to support Obama in November. Now if Rep. Paul Ryan gets the nod to be Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin citizens might as well turn off their TVs and unplug their phones. 

And why does Spell Check recognize “Romney” as a valid word? (My computer doesn’t flag it as a misspelling like it does with other proper names.) Now that’s just plain scary. 

So, young ones, the votes were counted. Wisconsin broke all kinds of records for voter turnout. My own city, Appleburg, reached an unheard-of 84%. Madison even had over 100% turnout. All of the registered voters turned out, and new ones registered. The election was over, but the issues hadn’t died. Oh, we still had issues. 

And in the aftermath, more issues surfaced. I had issues with the mainstream media for announcing election results long before all the votes had been counted. In fact, there were still people waiting in line to vote because their polls had run out of ballots. Polls officially closed at 8:00, but anyone in line by 8 was allowed to vote. No one is really sure whether Tom Barrett knew that people were still voting when he prepared to concede around 10. Some felt that the people were done voting by then, the votes just had not been counted.But even then, important precincts (like Milwaukee!) were not included in the early totals.

So I had issues with the mainstream media on election night. I also had issues with our local paper. Their headline said that Governor Walker had won “easily.” Easily? I think not. Estimates of his campaign spending hovered between forty and eighty million dollars. Millions! I believe the lower end of that range is more accurate. Even so, Walker and his rich buddies outspent their opponents by at least a 10 to 1 margin. That speaks of challenges, not winning “easily.” 

Easily? The man should have won by a huge margin if he won easily. As the late votes were counted and the absentee ballots came in, the gap between winner and loser got progressively narrower. Walker still won, but he didn’t win easily, children.

There’s a lesson here; make your own value judgments. Don’t let the media decisions become yours. You do your own research, my dears; read, listen, talk to people close to the candidate. If a major bigwig on national television tells you it’s over, stick around. It’s not over until all have voted and all the vote totals are in. Predicting a winner too early can discourage voters and even affect a close race. Did I ever tell you about the presidential election of 2000? Oh, that’s a great story. I was teaching fifth grade that year, and we were learning about American history. I told my students to pay attention to the world around them because they were living in historic times. But back to the story — 

The Wisconsin Recall Election of 2012 made waves worldwide. The BBC ran stories about it. Canadian media covered the events. Nationwide, people were watching us. We were, indeed, making and living history. Many of us felt that Election Night wasn’t the end; it was just the beginning. 

Kiddos, would you like to hear about the presidential election of 2000? Well, not now. I’m bushed. Tomorrow morning over coffee, that’s when we’ll talk.