By: Jeffrey Klein
Political Buzz Examiner
There is a reason why the mainstream media are in collective Septic Shock this morning–after Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 53 to 46 percent recall election win blew a gaping hole in the middle of the Democrat party voting base.
It’s simple–the virtual end of the Democrat party is now academic.
Last night at 9:00 p.m., CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was breathless and giddy when he barked that this recall election–which could foretell [Wisconsin’s] political direction in November–was too close to call, as exit polling indicated the race was in a 50/50 dead heat.
However, fast forward to 9:55 p.m., just after Sean Hannity of FOXNews called the race in favor of Gov. Scott Walker–who was leading opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, by 60 to 40 percent with a third of the precincts reporting–the very same Wolf Blitzer read the copy as if it would the obituary of a long-time close friend.
In very brief retrospect–the characterization is more than likely accurate.
First, Walker’s win secured the legislation responsible for the statutory curtailment of public union’s collective bargaining rights against reversal, which was the ultimate goal all along.
This legislation, which allows workers to ‘succede from the union,’ has cost the Wisconsin branch of AFSCME, the second largest public union in the state, to lose 54% of their union members and their bi-weekly dues income–a large portion of which Democrat political candidates depended on for campaign contributions.
This will put an end to this taxpayer “money laundering” operation and seriously deplete Democrat campaign coffers.
Second, Walker’s win has revealed unions and their “power” to be impotent in their “threatened” challenges against any fiscal reform-minded GOP Mayors, Governors and President, more of whom will now likely implement these same bold, yet righteous measures to balance their budgets, as union legacy costs are the prime component for bringing governmental entities to the steps of bankruptcy court.
In fact, Wisconsin-like ballot measures passed in both San Diego and San Jose, California, according to an Associated Press article today.
“The public is frustrated,” said San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio, a Republican who staked his mayoral bid on the pension measure in Tuesday’s election. Not only did the measure pass by a vote of 66 to 34 percent, DeMaio was rewarded by advancing to a November runoff to lead the nation’s eighth-largest city.
In San Jose, the nation’s 10th-largest city and ‘capital’ of notably Liberal “Silicon Valley,” their “Measure B” passed by a 70 to 30 percent electoral landslide.
“The voters get it, they understand what needs to be done,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat who has called pensions his highest priority.
Reed joined an 8-3 City Council majority to put the measure on the ballot, and after Tuesday’s success he expects other cities in financial binds to pursue similar measures.
“It’s novel but it’s certainly not radical,” he said. “Mayors across the country are very interested. We’re at the leading edge, but we’re not alone.”
Most Governors, as well as our likely future President, will no doubt move forward to implement similar budget-balancing measures as soon as possible.
Finally, exit polls indicated that 38 percent of voters who were union members or lived in union member households chose to ‘cross the line’ and vote for Gov. Walker, according to Susan Jones CNS News.com article this morning.
These voters more than likely respected that fact that Walker had accomplished his fiscal campaign promises, which included transforming a $3.6 billion budget deficit into a $143 million budget surplus without raising taxes, while 30,000 new jobs were created, which aided in the lowering of the state’s unemployment rate from 8.5% to just 6.7% while in office.
The academics for the Democrat party are simple, when you “free” up all public union workers–a large portion of them flock to fiscal sanity and vote Republican–robbing Democrats of enough votes to render them irrelevant.
At the same time, when public union due cash flow evaporates, so will the campaign coffers of all Democrat candidates, rendering them fiscally impotent.
Finally, when both events combine–they pave the end of the road for the Democrat party.
