Paul Ryan said he’s thinking about a Senate run. Which could create a kind of political pundit’s wet-dream situation where Paul Ryan and Russ Feingold go up against each other for a Senate seat. (Tammy Baldwin’s looking like a solid option, too.) But why sell yourself short, Paul? You could totally run for president — and you’d be able to do it without saying the kind of idiotic things most of the other candidates are currently saying. We’ve been pitching this line for weeks. In a lineup of weak GOP candidates, you stand out. And as Jennifer Rubin smartly points out, all the excuses that Ryan has for not running for the presidency also apply to a Senate run. So what’s the problem?
Heads up, Scott: A new poll shows progressive hero Russ Feingold neck-and-neck with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in a hypothetical recall election. This is less than a year after Feingold lost re-election to the Senate by five points to a political novice. Yeah, yeah, we know: this doesn’t mean much, as Feingold hasn’t expressed any interest in running and Walker is nine months away from even being eligible for a recall. But we can dream, right? source
» Total Recall: Democratic efforts to flip control of the Wisconsin State Senate just reached an important milestone, as organizers have now collected enough signatures to force three Republican senators into recall elections. If Democrats win all three elections, they’ll be rewarded with control of the Wisconsin State Senate. This is, of course, pending validation of the collected signatures; in all three cases, Democratic organizers submitted around 150% of the required number of signatures, so it’s unlikely that the petitions will be invalidated on those grounds. If Democrats are successful in recalling even one Wisconsin Republican, it’ll be an enormous victory for the pro-union movement, which launched the recall campaign last month in response to Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting “budget-repair” bill.
This take on the whole Wisconsin vote situation by Jonathan Cunnhingham is pretty fascinating. As is the Daily Kos take. So, yeah, there needs to be some independent analysis of this, stat.
Another Wisconsin GOP senator to face recall: In the wake of JoAnne Kloppenburg’s possible State Supreme Court win (pending a mandated recount, as she leads by the narrowest of margins), an unthinkable upset absent Gov. Scott Walker and his union-busting ways, it seems clear that Wisconsin Republicans have a tough road ahead. GOP State Senator Randy Hopper is the latest victim of this, as he’ll be forced to face a recall election; Democratic activists have more than enough signatures to file against him. source
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» A few caveats: First, a lot can change in a year; who knows if Wisconsonites will even be thinking about Walker’s 2011 assault on unions in 2012? Second of all, an obscure judicial election isn’t really comparable to a signature-gathering recall campaign; they’re apples and oranges. Still, this is reason for Democrats to be cautiously optimistic about the feasibility of recalling Walker in a year. JoAnne Kloppenburg, the Democratic candidate in question, has claimed victory in the judicial election, although there will assuredly be a recount.
» After just two months on the job, Deschane received a raise of 25%, or $16,500 a year. This wasn’t too long ago; it was around the time Walker said that Wisconsin was “broke,” and has “been broke for years.” If that’s what it’s like to be broke, we don’t wanna be rich!
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