OC Political

Congratulations Wisconsin!

The story tonight is the BIG WIN for Wisconsin and its effect across the country.

While California is leading the nation down the road to serfdom, Wisconsin is taking a sharp turn. They’re heading back toward the road to Prosperity!

This should be a nice encouragement for many great local and state candidates here in California who are fighting a similar fight.

Thrilling as all get out is the big win for Governor Scott Walker himself, who fended off a massive air and ground attempt to de-legitimize his tenure in office. It came at him from the most ardent activists and political operatives the left has going.

(Side note to the lefties, if your organizing a political movement in this country, you might want to reconsider the use of the “Clinched Fist” as central to your branding. Unless you’re consultants are former Sandinista Guerilla or one of Che’s motorcycle buddies that stuff doesn’t belong on a comp sheet let alone in the public debate. Clinched fists don’t go over well here, but big government redistributionist schemes do even worse)

His margin of victory in combination with the classy way in which he and his many supporters handled themselves deserves commendation.

With over 90% of the votes reported, Walker 54% – Barret 46%

This demonstrates that voters are looking for leadership and believe in results-focused management and sound public policy.

A good secondary takeaway is that voters are also increasingly tiring of recall efforts to oust their duly elected representatives. This factor is shifting away sympathy from government sector unions, especially when recalls are the method of choice

In a tough economy, everyone has had to make sacrifices, and the comprehensive public focus is evidencing a more critical examination of bureaucracy, mismanagement, unsustainable spending, and (as the left is so fond of reminding us), fundamental fairness.

In the lead up to Election Day, Walker was pulling ahead in several polls with a concern raised that the opposition may shift strategy and attempt to pull off a victory on the Legislative side by redeploying resources in the State Senate challenges.

An important second layer of effect tonight is demonstrated through the depth of the outcome. It’s an unsung campaign dynamic that permeated all the way down the ballot to include a strong victory for Lt Governor Kleefisch as well as at least 3 of the 4 key State Senate Races:

Seat 13 – (R) Scott Fitzgerald 59% defeated (D) Lori Compas 40%
Seat 21 – (R) Van Wanggaard 49%  (D) John Lehman 51% (Race Pending)
Seat 23 – (R) Terry Moulton 58% defeated (D) Kristen Dexter 42%
Seat 29 – (R) Jerry Petrowski 61% defeated (D) Donna Seidel 39%

Having worked closely with the Wisconsin effort, our firm was involved in message development and voter contact specifically targeting the senate opposition candidates. By highlighting their records on spending, size, scope and role of government, voters got a clear choice. It’s clearly about candidates who have their backs, and their opponents who are reaching for their pockets.

In all, it was a big win for advocates of sensible government. Undoubtedly it will bring the issue of fiscal leadership back to the forefront of the national discussion as we approach the fall. Proud to have been a part of a historic night!