Wisconsin's election results move state forward

By Robert Meyer

The recent election brought about mixed results based upon my expectations. Pending the outcome of the undecided Senate races at the time of this writing, the U.S. Senate elections will have somewhat worse results than I expected. The congressional elections yielded a few more pick-ups in the House than I had anticipated. And the state of Wisconsin met my objectives right on the nose.

To echo the First Lady Michelle Obama, I would say that for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my state of Wisconsin, at least as it pertains to the elections. Wisconsin held up its end of the bargain on the federal and state elections. The only mosquito in the ointment was that Democrat Ron Kind avoided an unexpected upset in the 3rd Wisconsin congressional district.

First of all, that perennial nemesis, Russ Feingold, was finally voted out of office. My wife made me promise that if Feingold escaped with a Senate victory yet again, we would move out of the state. While I hate Wisconsin winters, I'm not prepared to leave just yet, and now I don't have to. I admit that I have never understood the infatuation of local constituents as well as the national acclaim for Feingold. The reputation given to Feingold was that he was a "maverick" and a fierce independent. I don't know in what sense Feingold could have been considered independent. I don't think he ever voted with conservatives on any position. If one considers taking the positions advocated by ultra-liberal blogs, rather than flip-flopping to enhance re-election possibilities, then I suppose Feingold is principled. Feingold was one of the few candidates to perpetuate his own political suicide by actually running on his record. Okay — I suppose that's principle.

This election featured economic and policies issues. The usual prominence of values voters in this election was relegated to the back burner. But make no mistake, those folks were out they jumping on the bandwagon to assure Feingold's ouster. Russ Feingold was a long-standing thorn in the side to both values voters as well as the pro-life movement. In the final week of the election they put Feingold on notice through radio messages that they were holding him accountable. Don't think they are not celebrating today.

The big rap the mainstream media marshalled against Feingold's victorious opponent, Ron Johnson, was that he "foolishly" attributed global warming to natural causes. This means Johnson would oppose any legislation promoted by alarmists that would economically penalize the U.S. in an effort to drastically curtail CO2 emissions. We can't have that radical and uninformed viewpoint now can we?

Secondly, the election of Scott Walker as governor was a repudiation of Jim Doyle's financial incompetence, which Wisconsin residents suffered under for the past eight years. The deceptive political ad foisted against Walker was lifted from the playbook of overworked boilerplate canards. They said that Walker did not support stem-cell research, then had emotional testimonies from parents who bemoaned that Walker was stealing the hope of cure from their sick child. Of course the reality of the matter was that Walker supports adult stem-cell research, but only opposes the embryonic variety that results in the destruction of the embryo. What you're not told is that virtually all scientific breakthroughs have occurred through experimentation with adult stem-cells. Furthermore, recent technological breakthroughs have shown the ability to reprogram adult stem-cells to make them more versatile, thus fulfilling the so-called "promise" offered by embryonic stem-cells. The only question that remains is why people can't unite on this issue, but instead want to demonize those who hedge over ethical concerns.

Next, Wisconsin gained two Republican congressional seats in the 8th and 7th congressional districts. Reid Ribble defeated Steve(Ragin')Kagen, who was little more than a rubber stamp for liberal policies. His claim to fame was that he voted against the bail-out. Of course he did — after he got permission to do so from his leadership to prevent unpopularity in a traditionally right-leaning district.

Ribble among other things, outlined his progressive idea for transitioning to a Social Security system that advances beyond the demographic assumptions of the 1930's. His opponent responded by scaring senior citizens with the usual threat that Ribble wanted to "phase-out" their Social Security benefits. Thankfully it didn't work this time.

In the 7th district, Sean Duffy won an open seat that was held by Democrat Dave Obey since Nixon's first term. Enough said — thanks for retiring Dave.

Both the State Assembly and the State Senate flipped from Democratic control to Republican majorities. I am hoping that it will be a big boon for controlling deficits and redeeming this state from its lofty status as one of America's premiere tax hells. With a governor and both houses now of the same party, perhaps we can pass some conservative legislation. The whole magnitude of this is just beginning to sink in.

In a state with heavily unionized voting blocs who habitually vote for the liberal candidate, they must have been some degree of cross-over voting to compliment the conservative voters' enthusiasm. I thank and salute them for seeing the bigger political picture.

For the first time in many years it appears that politically, Wisconsin has taken steps to live up to its motto: Forward.

© Robert Meyer