Editor's Note: A previous version of this posting incorrectly stated that opponents of Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have announced that they have obtained enough signatures to trigger a recall election next year.
Opponents of Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker say that they well on their way to their goal of having enough signatures to trigger a recall election next year.
United Wisconsin reports:
Just four weeks into the recall campaign, and as Scott Walker continues to mislead voters, United Wisconsin announced that 507,533 people have already signed a petition to recall Scott Walker and is releasing its new signature collection goal of 720,277 — nearly 200,000 more than needed.
“Scott Walker continues to spend millions on misleading TV ads trying to convince voters that his drastic cuts to education and other “reforms” are working,” said Meagan Mahaffey, United Wisconsin’s Executive Director. “But the people of Wisconsin are not buying his lies, and are moving at record pace to stop Walker’s destruction, and recall him from office.”
Walker recently admitted in an interview with the LaCrosse Tribune that his methods of achieving parts of his political agenda may have been flawed. He told the paper that he regretted "not having done a better job of selling his changes to state government, including ending nearly all collective bargaining for most public employees."
The Tribune reports that recall backers, including organized labor and the Democratic Party, started their effort in mid-November and have until Jan. 17 to submit 540,208 to force an election in 2012. "Given expected delays in the signature verification effort and lawsuits, any election isn't expected to happen until late spring or summer," the paper says.
Walker should borrow our favorite line from GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry: "I stepped in it." Too bad it takes a recall effort for him to realize that he should have done a better job of listening to voters. That should be the first line of defense for elected officials. Capital cronyism does not endear politicians to the voting public.
Read more at United Wisconsin and the LaCrosse Tribune.