SPOONER, Wis. — Now that Gov. Scott Walker has easily repeated his victory of two years ago, will political peace finally come to Wisconsin?
Quick answer: Nope.
Judging from comments being made from Washington, D.C., to here, tranquility, consensus, acceptance and surrender are not going to be byproducts of Walker’s convincing victory.
Instead, with the recall election finally over, a lot of people and organizations already are attempting to re-energize to keep the fight going.
Obviously, Republicans are having the easiest time coming up with the silver linings and energy in Walker’s victory.
Start with Walker himself, whose victory was bigger than his 6-point win two years ago, despite the fact that Tuesday’s huge turnout was supposed to have helped Tom Barrett, who now is a three-time loser in his efforts to become the state’s governor.
"Tonight we tell Wisconsin, we tell our country and we tell people all around the globe, voters really do want leaders who stand up to make tough decisions,” Walker told his cheering supporters in Waukesha.
Many basking in Walker spotlight
The globe part may have been a bit hyperbolic. But there were a lot of people trying to bask in the spotlight shining so brightly on Walker.
“I congratulate Scott Walker on his victory in Wisconsin,” presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a statement shortly after the networks declared Walker the victor over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett Tuesday night.
“Gov. Walker has demonstrated over the past year what sound fiscal policies can do to turn an economy around, and I believe in November, voters across the country will demonstrate they want the same in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Tonight’s results will echo beyond Wisconsin. Gov. Walker has shown that citizens and taxpayers can fight back — and prevail — against runaway government costs imposed by labor unions.”
(Just what the state of the Wisconsin economy is remains unclear. U.S. government reports are expected to make that picture clearer later this month.)
Labor leaders offer different take
Not surprisingly, labor leaders were trying to see something different in Walker’s victory.
Elliot Seide, director of Minnesota’s public employee union, AFSCME Council 5, expressed disappointment about the outcome but also said Wisconsin remains something of a rallying cry for labor.
“It’s hard to imagine how America would be today without the brave workers of Wisconsin,” Seide said in his statement. “We restored worker freedom in Ohio, stopped so-called right to work legislation in Minnesota and New Hampshire. … American workers across the country have beaten back the odds, and we have the spirit of Wisconsin to thank.”
One Minnesota progressive group even used the outcome of the Wisconsin election as an appeal for donations.
Saying that “big business supporters’’ meant that Walker was able to outspend Barrett by 78 to 1, the labor-supportive Alliance for a Better Minnesota asked its supporters to make a contribution.
“We can’t let one setback stop us from fighting for a middle class majority in Minnesota,” the Alliance said in a message to its supporters.
Everyone is trying to get something from the outcome. All of which means that peace is not on the Wisconsin political agenda.
“What we’ve had here is going to go right into the presidential election,’’ said Debbie Koehn, an election judge here.
Raw wounds in Spooner
Spooner, a town of about 2,600 in Washburn County, is located about 120 miles north and east of the Twin Cities. Despite the county’s unemployment rate (a tick over 8 percent) being higher than the state’s 6.8 rate, the support for the governor ran strong Tuesday. Walker won by a 57-42 margin in the typically Republican county.
But a one-sided showing won’t return the community to a more tranquil place any time soon.
Jean Hobard, a retired school teacher and a Barrett supporter, predicted after she voted Tuesday afternoon that it would take at least two years for normalcy to return to the town she’s always called home.
“There have been harsh words between people who have been friends for years,’’ she said. “I’d like to hope it would become more peaceful but it’s going to take a long time.’’
Hobard spoke of how personal politics becomes in small towns. She said that the owners of a couple of significant retailers in the community were high-profile Walker boosters. That means she and many others no longer will do business at those establishments.
The passion runs so deep, Hobard said, because unlike former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, Walker has gone out of his way to vilify public employees, “especially teachers. He’s made teachers a scapegoat for everything.”
She said the governor has made Wisconsin a place where many “resent teachers. … Over the years, we gave up raises to keep health insurance, but nobody wants to hear that.”
But she also indicated that some people who worked hard for Barrett may have a difficult time putting much energy into President Obama’s Wisconsin campaign.
“I know a lot of people who are upset because he didn’t step foot in Wisconsin during this,” she said. “Maybe, in the back of his mind, he didn’t want to associate himself with this in case of a loss. But not showing up at all?”
As Hobard was talking about her belief that Walker’s take-no-prisoners approach has created long-lasting hard feelings, a Walker supporter joined the conversation.
“He [Walker] has absolutely taken the state in the right direction,” said Greg Webb, who admits he’s lost a few relationships because of his ardent support of the governor.
“I’ve got an uncle I’ll never speak to again,” Webb said.
With the retired teacher still present, Webb started lambasting teachers.
“What he did had to be done,” Webb said. “This country is being destroyed by the government spending our money. My neighbor’s a teacher. She whines all the time because she has to pay more into her health insurance or more into her pension.”
At this point, Hobard excused herself from the conversation.
As it happens, the 55-year-old Webb, who said he was injured years ago while working at a wood products plant, lives on a Social Security disability check he collects from the government. He also receives health care insurance through the government because of his injury.
Is there any contradiction between his attitudes toward big government and the government support he receives?
“I haven’t gotten a cost-of-living raise in three years,” said Webb, who changed the subject to how “crucial” a Walker victory was.
“It’ll send a message to the rest of the country,” said Webb.
The message in Wisconsin: The election is over — the campaigns have just begun.