My anticipation about Tuesday’s election was high. My information about the how, why, when and
what of this recall election came from the Left side of politics. I generally avoid the blogs and the radio and
television shows of the Right.
I am pro-union because I am pro-worker. No business can operate without employees, no
business can succeed without employees.
Employees are a vital part of any business and are, all too often, dismissed
or ignored when the success of owners and CEOs are applauded. And unions give employees a voice in working
conditions, employee safety, wages, health care and pensions. Within large companies and/or corporations
individual employees have relatively no chance to ensure their health and
welfare, along with what they are paid. That
isn’t saying that employee versus employer is a good guy versus bad guy
situation. It is more like one person,
with no weapons, facing another armed with guns, ample ammunitions, tanks,
missiles and more. Or even going into a
poker game where one person is dealt a single card while the other has six
cards. It simply isn’t a level playing
field.
Regardless of what news outlet you follow, there have been a
wide variety of speculations, theories and hypotheses about why the election
turned out as it did. Personally, I don’t
think the outcome can be narrowed down to one single reason that Walker won the
election or that Barrett lost.
Walker is only the third governor in U.S. history to face a
recall. The other two both lost and were
recalled. Each of the political pundits is
feverishly competing to come up with the definitive explanation for this outcome. Personally I think the bigger story is the
solidification of the division between the opposing sides and the repercussions
which will follow for, not only, the state of Wisconsin but the rest of the
country as well. Families and friendships
have broken apart because of this battle.
For me it seems our increasingly contentious political system is becoming as
toxic as the lead up to the Civil War and the animosity between those who
supported slavery and the abolitionists.
Initially, I felt certain that the imbalance of money in the
election would be the determining factor in the election (Walker is estimated
to have outspent Barrett 7 to 1). After
reading some of the post election coverage, I am not so sure that the enormous
amount of money spent (estimated at $60 million) really had much impact on how
people voted. In one post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/wisconsin-recall-vote_n_1572662.html)
it was pointed out that the vote split in the recall almost matched the initial
faceoff between Walker and Barrett.
Basically the people of Wisconsin voted this time the way they voted in
the governor’s race in 2010. The undecided
voters only amounted to about 8%, with new voters accounting for around 13%. To me that means that those 8% were the only
ones who might have been influenced by “the money” issue. The article goes on to say that Walker
managed to turn out a higher percentage of his original supporters than did
Barrett.
Recall elections are few and far between in the U.S., as
evidenced by my earlier point that Walker is only the third governor in our
history to face a recall election. Several
sources, including the one I’ve cited above, have put forth that about a third
of people polled don’t support recall elections unless the politician has done
something egregious, like committing a crime.
Their political affiliation doesn’t matter. The seriousness of the offense is the concern
of to the voting public regardless of political party. What that says to me is that most voters
believe in democracy, meaning the voters have chosen and the person with the
most votes, whether or not you voted for him/her, is the winner. Shut up, bite the bullet and let the winner
serve out their term. (NOTE: I am not saying that I believe we actually
live in a democracy, but that the general public believes in democracy and that
our American system is a democracy……..because that is what they have been told. The formerly and currently disenfranchised
probably have a different perspective).
Add to
this that the opinion of unions, unlike in the mid 20th century, is
mostly negative. After about 50 years of
chipping away at the number of American workers who belong to a union or have a
union member in the family, the number of union workers has declined
substantially. Where once both union and
non-union workers banded together in solidarity, it has become a mostly
contentious relationship, where union workers are seen as greedy, lazy and
recipients of unfair pay scales, benefits and pensions. Big business has succeeded in demonizing the
collective power of unions who were responsible for the 5 day 40 hours work
week, minimum wage, paid sick time and the formation of OSHA to protect the
safety of workers on their job. For me,
that is the story, not the fact that Walker successfully kept his job. It’s the workers and employees of America that are the losers in this race.
