November 27, 2011

The recall Scott Walker election will cost the state $650,000 — "with potentially millions of dollars more in costs for local governments."

They don't have the signatures yet to force the election, and the question of the cost of the election has probably just about zero effect on whether anyone signs the petition:
Top Republicans say they're assuming recall organizers will get the signatures they need and are putting their energies into winning the recall election that would follow. They said Walker and Republican lawmakers solved a $3 billion budget gap over two years without relying on tax increases and shouldn't lose their offices to a "baseless partisan power-grab."
The linked article (in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) describes the signature effort, which includes a "group of about 80 volunteers... working in shifts of six to eight people to collect signatures on a series of high-traffic Madison streets that are wide enough to let a steady stream of cars pull over." They pull in an average of 400 signatures a day, we're told. My arithmetic says that "steady stream" is 1 car every 10 minutes... not counting the cars that stop but don't sign. Apparently, some pro-Walker drivers stop to waste the volunteers' time, yell at them, and even — in one case — rip up a petition. (Ripping up a petition is criminal, and the volunteers take down the license plate number and report the crime to the police.)

Meanwhile, some anti-Walkerites are worried the signature drive will fall short.
I fear the recall is going to fall short. People are not outside in public areas in cold months. People stay home, or they drive to grocery stores, theaters and shopping malls. The problem is that this is private property, controlled by generally pro-Walker business owners.

Maybe a door-to-door effort will be necessary. But that is unpleasant, hard work.
Unpleasant, hard work? Why?
The best hope, as I see it, is door-to-door. But that takes great courage, this is a volatile issue. People in smaller cities will be reluctant to rock the local boat. There are violent threats in seemingly safe public spaces, better bring some security door-to-door.
Bring some security?! Over at the link — at the Isthmus — Meade writes:
Security? What?!! You mean like you're going to show up at my door with two big bruisers standing behind you? Wait. Believe me - that will not get you invited in.

Look: just ring my doorbell politely. I'll ask you to come in. We'll sit down by the fire and I'll brew a big pot of tea. I'll bring you your nice cup of tea - Red Zinger, Sleepytime, whatever you choose - and then I'll listen very politely as you answer each and every one of my questions.
Of course, it's the Isthmus, Madison's weekly tabloid, where the assumption is that anyone not on the left is stupid, so Meade's humor goes undetected:
You can hardly expect a group of people to spend time with you, they have to keep moving. Try Dane County Social Services if you require a case worker.
Meade:
I know, I know - time is money.

*sigh*

Back in my day, we took the time to dialog with people. And share feelings. That was back when we got Clean For Gene. I know - a long long time ago.

73 comments:

DADvocate said...

Meade has a great plan. Invite them in sip tea, talk for an hour or so. Bid pleasant farewells.

That'll slow down the gathering of signatures tremendously and perfectly legally.

rhhardin said...

A heaven-directed petition is a lot cheaper.

James said...

LOL...Meade you're doing an excellent job at yanking their chains.

alan markus said...

Meade should have a "sister" blog here - I think we all could have a lot of fun there.

"Security" - that reminds me of the 2008 election. I live in a Republican stronghold, but that didn't stop the local Dems from doing a canvass here. A very attractive blonde high school girl rang our bell. We live in a rural area,and she was escorted by an older lady (there didn't seem to be any family resemblence)in a dark colored LaBaron convertible. Anyway, the escort/"security" person stood about 25 feet down the driveway smoking a cigarette while the young girl handed me the Obama literature. I recently saw the LaBaron with some anti-Walker bumper stickers. I'm hoping they come back - I would like to shoot some video of the smoker, ala Mark Block.

Meade said...

Thanks, James. gardener, videographer, pancake maker, chain yanker. As you well know - it's what I do.

edutcher said...

So, the recall may get recalled itself, due in no small part to the money that Walker has saved municipalities so far.

alan markus said...

Meade should have a "sister" blog here - I think we all could have a lot of fun there.

I thought he did.

PS Sleepytime?

Sounds like you're going to slip them a Mickey and put them aboard the first clipper ship bound for Shanghai.

WV "dartme" What a lot of guys hope the great-looking girl will ask them after an evening at the local pub.

AllenS said...

It's a big expense for rural townships. Don't drive up my driveway.

Joe Schmoe said...

Sounds like the Dem party apparatchik isn't that jazzed with the recall effort. They don't have a candidate, they don't have a great plan to get the recall petition signatures, and they either don't have a lot of money or don't want to spend a lot of money on a futile effort.

Seems like the strategy is let the volunteers on the ground do whatever they feel like doing; if they consign an already-past-his-prime Russ Feingold as the opposing candidate, that's fine--then the Dems won't have one of their up-and-comers lose face losing this election. They keep the money for the real fight: retaking the state legislature in 2012. This whole recall thing just serves as a diversion to the Walker administration. War by attrition.

Joe Schmoe said...

Meade, I think they're afraid of the Persuasive Power of your Peanut Butter Pancakes.

purplepenquin said...

Look at the violent threats that Ann's Fans have uttered on this very forum and it is obvious that some folks might be a tad fearful about going door-to-door alone.

Sorun said...

Dems: Hating is the easy part. The rest of it is a lot of work.

Sorun said...

...it is obvious that some folks might be a tad fearful about going door-to-door alone.

Try this: Place an announcement in the Capital Times asking for non-violent residents willing to sign the recall petition to put a smiley face sign in their window. Then only knock on those doors.

Joe Schmoe said...

Look at the violent threats that Ann's Fans have uttered on this very forum and it is obvious that some folks might be a tad fearful about going door-to-door alone.

Sure, that's fair. Dems deserve no blame or ill will towards their never-ending electioneering. You should all just eat your peas with a big shit-eating grin on your face.

Purple, don't you think there are repercussion for all this crap the Dems are putting the citizens of Wisconsin through? And AllenS, gentle soul that he is, made no threats. He just asked you not to drive up his driveway. He doesn't want to be bothered. What's wrong with that?

Jason said...

They still dont have a candidate yet. Until that happens, its hard to take what any of these "Recall Walker" people have to say seriously.

Hell, some of these people actually think that just by recalling Walker, he wont be governor anymore....they seem to forget that they actually have to win an election.

There is a reason no decent candidate has committed to run yet. Its because they will lose.

KCFleming said...

A census taker once tried to test me.

kjbe said...

Purple, don't you think there are repercussion for all this crap the Dems are putting the citizens of Wisconsin through?

I suppose it all depends on your persective - as in who's repercussioning whom.

And Jason, was Walker a declared candidate before Ament's recall?

Ann Althouse said...

"Look at the violent threats that Ann's Fans have uttered on this very forum and it is obvious that some folks might be a tad fearful about going door-to-door alone."

Anti-Walker people have threatened me on more than one occasion. I have had to call the police twice, and we have declined to involve the police on other occasions.

Mary Beth said...

Going door-to-door is hard work? It's just a leisurely stroll around a neighborhood, talking to people, explaining your point of view and asking them to join you.

Oh, wait, now I see the hard part. You can't just tell them what you want, you have to explain the reasons and logically support those reasons. Sisyphus had it easy by comparison.

Fen said...

Invite them in sip tea, talk for an hour or so. Bid pleasant farewells.

almond flavored tea

[starts at 3:30]

Titus said...

Meade needs a job.

Karl said...

I like Mead's approach.
One's decision to sign the petition shouldn't be made emotionally.

If any of these lost children appear at my door, I will welcome them in and allow them a good chunk of my time to listen to their presentation.

Who knows? Perhaps someone will make a case for me to sign. Please come prepared to discuss facts rather than feelings.

And if you want to use my phone to call home - no problema.

garage mahal said...

The 650k figure assumes the WIGOP won't run fake Democrats again. An easy topic to discuss with potential signers is the fact Wisconsin lead the nation in October in job losses, and also job losses from June-October with 27,600. It's clearly not working, in fact, making it worse.

Remember the smack talking plan of luring Illinois jobs to Wisconsin with tax cuts to corps that would relocate? Illinois is at the top in job growth with +30,000 jobs June-Oct.

Automatic_Wing said...

Hilarious thread over at The Ithsmus. What their readership may lack in terms of numbers is more than made up for through sheer earnestness.

ricpic said...

Gene was just fine with LBJ's big gut intruding on every private domain in America until it intruded on the college student sons of Gene's peers domain.

Ann Althouse said...

If there is a primary, the Democratic candidates will have to spend money on that. Meanwhile, Walker will rake in contributions. The Dems will beat each other up in the primaries, then one battered candidate will emerge, with whatever money he's got left, and immediately have to fight Walker.

If the Democrats don't have a realistic chance, why throw all this money away conducting the elections? Why take the beating they will take? Why leverage Republican fund-raising for 2012?

Joe said...

Come hell or high water, liberals are going to spend the tax payers dollars. Their contempt for the people is on full display. (And yet, so many people go along.)

garage mahal said...

The only scenario where there will be a Democratic primary is if the WIGOP runs a fake Democrat. Again.

I think David "I don't smoke rocks" VanderLeest is probably available?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
robinintn said...

I just read through the whole thread over there. Fortunately, they've decided to let Mead live. At least for a while.

purplepenquin said...

Anti-Walker people have threatened me on more than one occasion. I have had to call the police twice, and we have declined to involve the police on other occasions.


I ain't saying there aren't nuts on both sides of this issue, rather I'm disagreeing with the implied statement that there is nothing-at-all to fear from anyone on the ProWalker side.

It is just like how the AntiUnionCrowd reacts whenever we hear reports about petitions getting torn-up or signature-gatherers getting spit on. They quickly cry out "Moby alert!" and "It was a liberal plant", as if they honestly beleive that there is no-way-at-all that someone who shares their opinion could resort to such boorish (and illegal) behavior.

Granted, it may be 'cause I hang out on here more too much, but the threats of violence seems to be far greater on the right than from the left. Even in that Isthmus thread I don't see folks urging anyone to stomp on Meade's head or to torture him with a taser...but those kind of comments seem to be par for the course around here.

*shrug*

Henry said...

There are violent threats in seemingly safe public spaces

Just stay away from the Occupy group and you'll be fine.

Paco Wové said...

"Granted, it may be 'cause I hang out on here more too much,"

Or possibly, you're just highly (and incoherently) partisan, and only see the worst in your 'opponents' while glossing over same in your own tribe.

As I said, a possibility. Just trying to be helpful!

Anonymous said...

If the Democrats don't have a realistic chance, why throw all this money away conducting the elections?

Because the ghost train is coming. And the airplanes will once again bring the luxurious benefits that came in the days of yore. We can return to that if we just dance and pray hard enough. It is written. The gods have said.

caseym54 said...

One thing unions have done in California to obstruct anti-union signature drives is to sign them with absolutely false information (non-existent addresses are especially favored) so that the validation sampling of the petitions comes up with a high failure rate.

It can also cause the petition drive to end too soon, as the percentage of valid signatures is less than expected.

Anonymous said...

Those earnest humorless twits at the at the 'other-blog-which-shall-remain-nameless' are the perfect foils for AA's better-half. LOL funny.

purplepenquin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael said...

What's the run rate on the signature collections? Must be horrible or otherwise we would be getting some excellent lefty math telling us how far ahead of the 9,000 per day they require and how the requisite signatures are days away.

purplep: " ...the threats of violence seems to be far greater on the right than from the left."

Because the teachers say so? What possible evidence can be produced to support this other than a "feeling?"

Ann Althouse said...

"Granted, it may be 'cause I hang out on here more too much, but the threats of violence seems to be far greater on the right than from the left."

I'm concerned that if signature-gatherers go door to door, they will make statements about how nasty people were. Unverifiable hearsay... like we're already getting about the cars that stopped.

purplepenquin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
purplepenquin said...

Or possibly, you're just highly (and incoherently) partisan,

I considered that as well, but if you take a gander at comments/opinions I have about other issues it is pretty obvious that I'm much more "independent" than partisan.

Henry said...

PP - Maybe, before you indulge in any more seeming you should get up from your keyboard and go walk around where you live until you find some actual political violence to tell us about.

People being rude isn't it.

Anonymous said...

The signature collectors would probably think that someone inviting them in for tea is damn strange and would most likely decline, knowing they would be wasting precious time.

I am certain the Isthmus readers were aware of Meade's attempt at satire.

Underestimating your opponent is always a mistake. The Democrats are not going to make the mistake of thinking they will be safe while doing what the right wing sees as "the devils work".

Chuck66 said...

I support civil disobedence to disrupt the signature effort. But please don't tear up the forms as that is bad. Perhaps if they are curbside, stop at side curb to drink your coffee and read the newest issue of National Review.

Why? Just to annoy the left. Whose streets? Our streets!

Chuck66 said...

Oh, I know, crank Glenn Beck, Rush, or Sean Hannity when you are stopping by the recallers.

Chuck66 said...

AA, to be clear, I am not really serious about blocking the curbside signatures.

Us on the right fight fair.

Paco Wové said...

For highly idiosyncratic values of "obvious".

AllenS said...

“I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face.“ -- obama

There's your violent talk, right there. Give it back to them, when they come to your door.

ndspinelli said...

I had to sit through dinner in a restaurant last night w/ my brother-in-law. He's a recently retired state employee[not worker..employee]. When he started ranting about the recall I bit my tongue. My wife was tensing up and so out of respect to her I excused myself to the bathroom and made a stop in the bar for a Makers Mark straight up. When I got back my bride had changed the subject. Ah...families. Anyone want to trade?

James said...

>>Thanks, James. gardener, videographer, pancake maker, chain yanker. As you well know - it's what I do.<<

Your responses were hilarious.

I haven't seen anyone gathering signatures in my neck of the woods; perhaps I haven't been paying attention.

MadisonMan said...

@ndspinelli, I would be inclined just to wind up my brother-in-law, just to watch him turn purple and then wind down. Or would your wife not appreciate that? (Assuming it's her brother).

Petunia said...

Kit, Tom Ament was NOT recalled. That's a lie being circulated by the left in yet another attempt to portray Scott Walker as a hypocrite.

Ament RESIGNED his office as Milwaukee county exec and Walker won the special election.

garage mahal said...

Petunia
Ament didn't resign, he retired. They had over 100k sigs at the time to force a recall of him.

Larry J said...

Since when have the Lefty's cared about what things cost the taxpayers? They're pissed that they lost the election and are going to keep throwing hissy fits until they get their way.

Petunia said...

Sorry, Garage, I mistyped. Ament retired instead of resigning, so he could keep his pension.

It's irrelevant how many signatures were there to try to force a recall. He pre-empted that by retiring, so to say that Scott Walker won the office in a recall election is...well, a lie.

ndspinelli said...

MadisonMan, I grew up out East where people enjoy conflict. This is the archetypal Wisconsin family..no conflict, just passive aggresive horseshit. I won't do passive aggressive so I bite my tongue until it bleeds.

Please don't get defensive about Wisconsinites. Whether you accept it or not, that's the way many are. I married one and love her dearly.

MadisonMan said...

My wife is the Wisconsinite, but I'm the passive-aggressive one. Trained by Mom (the expert), who was also a Wisconsinite.

Roger J. said...

Wisconsin issue--you guys and gals can handle it

glad I am not paying taxes in WI, though.

at the end of the day you will probably get what you deserve.

Darcy said...

No Earl Grey? Pfft. :)

Calypso Facto said...

The only scenario where there will be a Democratic primary is if the WIGOP runs a fake Democrat

So much for debate or diversity of thought. The Party has spoken!

garage mahal said...

@Calypso
Hah. Neither party is interested in primaries.

Darcy said...

Hi garage!

Hope you had a nice holiday. :)

garage mahal said...

Hey Darcy!
Yea had a great Thanksgiving, hope you did as well.

Calypso Facto said...

PS--with $2.1 million of state and local money spent on 9 districts last summer, I'm sticking with my $10 million estimate for a statewide recall election.

And I'll again point out the chance for special election is of course self-interestedly hyped by the media, with huge expenditures (probably over $60 million?) of ad money to gain. What a waste.

bgates said...

Place an announcement in the Capital Times asking for non-violent residents willing to sign the recall petition to put a smiley face sign in their window.

Have the announcement invite people to go to the Wisconsin Democratic Party website and buy a $50 "I'm Non-Violent and I Want Scott Walker to Die in a Fire with his Children" smiley face sticker. Granted it's not as satisfying to get money from people when it's not coerced, but cash is cash.

Dad29 said...

The Petitioners set up their tables and chairs on Bluemound Road in Brookfield. One near B'fld Square, the other about 2 miles west.

Drove past 4x, different times of the day. Never saw anyone stopped, nor signing a petition.

Anonymous said...

Dude!

Gay!

Love, Oscar Wilde

I'm Full of Soup said...

Haha - it took the Isthmus commenters an awfully long time to figure out Meade "the Putz" was yanking their chain. And the commenter named Huckleby has still noT figured it out.

Meade said...

James said...
>>Thanks, James. gardener, videographer, pancake maker, chain yanker. As you well know - it's what I do.<<

Your responses were hilarious.

I haven't seen anyone gathering signatures in my neck of the woods; perhaps I haven't been paying attention.


Meadhouse Update:

Couple hours ago, doorbell rings. Man with a clipboard. Did I invite him in for tea? I confess I did not.

I opened the door.

"Have you signed the recall Walker petition?," a friendly bearded gentleman around my age asked, leaning in.

(Think, Meade, think.) "Oh," I replied, "can I sign more than once?"

"Ah, good! You've already signed. Good man!," he smiled, "No, no - one time will do. Thank you for your service, heh, heh."

"You're welcome," said I, as the man strode off, old fool that I am, not wanting to be thought of as being too self indulgent or too impolite.

MadisonMan said...

(laugh)

That's what happens when you assume too much.

Only one person has come to my door, and as I reported earlier, I was in the basement doing laundry.

Karl said...

Down in Les Aspin territory I was thinking that my daily travels would be impacted by eager petitioners. So far, nothing much. At all.
Looks like the low hanging fruits frequent payday loan & tobacco stores. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I enjoy a good cigar & love payday.

JAL said...

re Meade's hospitality gambit -- my folks used to do that all the time when the Mormon missionaries came knocking. (Served them a non caffeinated beverage. ;-))

My dad always said it kept them out of other folks' homes where they could be creating mischief and confusion.

Beware the teapot or lemonade, door knockers!

Anonymous said...

Back in my day, we took the time to dialog with people. And share feelings.

Euuurgh.

Meade said...

Paul Zrimsek said...

"Euuurgh."

This!