Every Vote Counts

I don't think my son could have picked a better time to cast his first vote.

November 2, 2010 was a memorable night, when America turned from Democrat to Republican, and Wisconsin elected a new governor, stopped the re-election of Senator Russ Feingold, and put conservative majorities in the State Senate and Assembly.  It was a night which would resonate loudly for every citizen in the Badger state and throughout the country, sick of Obamacare and out-of-control spending.

It was early evening that he walked into the small school gym where we vote -- and registered for the first time.  (I'm too old to remember the first time I voted, but I'm guessing it was in college, when I was swept up in the 1980 election fervor between Ronald Reagan, President Carter and John Anderson.  That was almost three years AFTER being eligible to vote.)

Sean in Washington D.C.

I don't know how he voted last November, but I have an idea.  As a loyal watcher of Fox News, devoted listener of NPR, avid reader of Ayn Rand's Fountainhead and owner of a copy of the religious Qur'an, he is interested in many divergent points of view.  I would expect no less from someone who is looking forward to college and a brave new world.

I say his "timing" is great because the last 5 month's have been unbelievable in ways that he will remember for the rest of his life.  In just the 157 days since he cast his ballot, he has seen --

. thousands of protesters -- including teachers, students, big union representatives, Hollywood actors, director Michael Moore, and the Rev Jesse Jackson -- gather on the steps of Wisconsin's state capitol building.  Regardless of their misguided reasons, you have to admit that residents of Wisconsin know how to throw a protest party.

. an attempt to remove collective bargaining rights for state public employees.  Back in 1959, Wisconsin was the first state in the US to provide these "rights" to public employees, and unions are not going to let it go without a fight.

. the flight of 14 Democrat senators from the state, leaving 19 Republican senators one vote short of a quorum needed to pass the state spending bill.  State police were dispatched to retrieve the senators, but because they had slipped into nearby Illinois, they were unable to bring them back.

. a "sick day" in schools throughout the state to allow teachers to protest in Madison.  Weeks later, these same teachers held a make-up day of school, but since students weren't required to attend, the school day for those students who showed up consisted of movies, music and free time on the computer.

. the creation of a Facebook page that lists companies that contributed at least $5,000 to Scott Walker's campaign, with the intention of "bringing woe to companies that support him, and therefore his anti-worker, anti-education and anti-progress politics."

. recall efforts to remove 16 state senators from both parties for their support or opposition to the bill curtailing public employee unions.  One of these, Senator Kapanke of La Crosse, has received death threats, suffered vandalism to his car and discovered nails scattered on his driveway.

. the temporary passage of Walker's bill when the State Senate removed all budgetary measures.  Eight days later, (union-friendly) Judge Maryann Sumi issued a stay on the bill saying it had been passed without the required 24-hour notice to inform the public of the meeting.  It remains in court (never a good omen) as I write this post.

.  an election for a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, viewed as a referendum on Governor Walker's budget battles.  On the morning following the election, results showed Democrat Kloppenburg leading Republican Prosser by a minuscular 204 votes, or 50.1% to 49.9%.  It was the most expensive state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin history, with $3.58 million spent by outside political support groups.

. a reversal of fortunes, when it was reported that a Waukesha county clerk announced that she had forgotten to report to the AP an additional 14,000 votes, giving the election lead back to incumbent Prosser.  Democrats and conspiracy theory advocates have cried foul.

. an eleventh-hour budget deal that prevented the U.S. Government from shutting down.  Budget shortfalls and party programs will continue to force battles between liberal and conservative ideologies until the next presidential election in 2012.

Who knows what the remainder of this year will bring?  In all likelihood, some of the senators being recalled will lose in their special election, and the union-busting bill will eventually wind up in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  So the future will be anything but boring.

Every morning -- while the smell of coffee brings my household to life --my son snatches the frost-covered newspaper from outside our door.  Like a spy coming in from the cold, the Tribune leads with headache-inducing headlines that speak of open law violations, constitutional crises, trillion dollar deficits, government shut-downs and bankrupt social security/Medicare futures.  Local talk radio is flooded with ads that misrepresent candidates and their positions, and callers -- with too little information and too little time -- blast local events and developments.  Evening news reports are vidid with video of thousands of protesters surrounding the capitol building in Madison.  Teachers, well known throughout the community (and who "teach" our children Monday through Friday) hold signs attacking Governor Walker for being another Hitler or Darth Vader.  And fellow students stand and scream on street corners asking for signatures that will recall a local businessman/owner of a successful summer league baseball team.

What's an impressionable teenager to think?  Or do?

In my son's case, vote.