The “Mulligan Revolution” — Recall Mania in Wisconsin

As Nov. 15 draws near and the recall petition drive begins that will attempt to force Gov. Scott Walker to stand again for election before the end of his term in 2014, many are troubled that Wisconsin will be caught up in a continuing cycle of recall elections. However, this may not be the case given a few changes in the state. Before, looking at the changes, let’s look at the reasons for the recall mania.

Even before Scott Walker was sworn in, he was attempting to block the legislative approval of some of the state public employees’ union collective bargain agreements, even though they would only be in force for six months. His public statements at the time focused on the idea that he didn’t want his hands tied in balancing the state budget when he was sworn in. This was consistent with his campaign rhetoric where he promised to balance the state budget and to cut waste. Many of the state employees I spoke with at the time were expecting the governor to possibly cut wages and/or benefits, they were also expecting wide spread layoffs and hiring freezes in preparation for privatization, and at least a continuation of the wage freezes. From what they expected to what actually occurred came as a complete shock. When the governor dropped the bomb in his proposed Budget Repair Bill, he set the stage for the current recall mania. It was not the Democrats who first began calling for recalls, but the Republicans asking for recalls against the 14 state senators that left the state; from that moment on, recalls or the threat of recalls, have dominated state politics. I think that if state law had allowed it, attempts to recall Scott Walker would have begun immediately. However, since an elected official must be in office one full year before standing for recall, the governor received a short reprieve and the effort was focused on the eligible state senators. The state recall effort has been about the governor all along.

The true source of the call for the governor’s recall is what has been termed as his “bait and switch" tactics. His opponents claim he campaigned without any reference to his plans to restrict the public employees’ collective bargaining rights. Many supporters claim that the restrictions were nothing more than a needed action to balance the state’s budget. However, when Walker testified before a House committee, he had to admit that it had little or no effect on the state’s budget shortfall. Therefore, it became fairly obvious that the action was taken for some other purpose, which turned out to be purely political maneuvering to significantly weaken the Democrats by cutting off one of their largest financial sources; the public sector unions. This action, along with the redirection of the state’s resources away from education and health to business, has resulted in a general distrust by many of the electorate toward the governor. The question is now whether or not the majority of the Wisconsin electorate supports the governor’s actions and his policies.

The recall of the governor will settle the question once and for all. If enough recall petition signatures are collected then the general electorate will provide a confidence or no confidence vote. However, that doesn’t answer whether or not the recall mania will become a continuing part of the Wisconsin political landscape. I maintain that once the question of the Walker recall is resolved that the readiness to recall will calm down. To continue a never-ending recall process is understood as nonproductive, expensive and time consuming. I think the electorate will finally settle down and the state will settle back into business as usual.

For those that now want to change the recall law; I think that it is unneeded. After the Walker recall is over and things return to normal, recalls will become a rarity, especially a statewide recall.

Besides, I like the idea of a recall procedure to keep politicians from overreaching.