Pro-Walker ad misinforms and distorts the recall movement

Ad ignores the realities that have plagued the state

The second commercial spot put out by the campaign to defend Gov. Scott Walker against a recall is a powerful ad, one that puts a schoolteacher on the side of Walker -- an ironic move since the teachers of this state have been largely against the ideas the governor has implemented. It's also an ad that marginalizes the recall campaign's reasoning behind why a recall against Walker is necessary.



Let's assess a little deeper what Kristi is saying.

"I'm not big on recalls..."

OK, let's stop there. The very man Kristi now supports benefited from a recall campaign to win the County Executive position he held before the governorship. He did so due to a scandal that the county was facing at that time, but even under the standards that some GOP lawmakers in our state are trying to force on us, the recall would never have happened. So if someone is against the recall because they don't LIKE recalls, they're clearly unaware of Gov. Walker's pro-recall history.

"...and I think that at this point in my opinion, and I'm only speaking from the 'I,' um, it feels a little like 'sour grapes.'"

As a schoolteacher, Kristi should know that the moral of "The Fox and the Grapes" isn't what she's describing it as. What Kristi is describing is a group of people upset with the outcome of an election. The moral of "sour grapes," however, is wanting something, not getting it, and then feeling as though you're better off for not getting it anyway. If we were to retell the classic fable the way Kristi the schoolteacher is trying to describe recall proponents, it'd be the fox upset with the outcome and then getting a ladder -- not making up some excuse about the grapes themselves, and walking away.

"It's, you know, 'we didn't get our way, and so we want to, to change the outcome.'"

This is the major concern with the commercial I have. Changing the outcome of an election -- it's quite an assertion to make. Yet the call to recall the governor didn't come until he made a drastic move, one that was NEVER campaigned upon. The governor never promised to remove workers' rights, never said he would gut education or state health care by billions of dollars (while simultaneously handing out billions to corporations in tax breaks). And he definitely campaigned on balancing the budget in a way better, not worse, than his predecessor (certainly not in a way that left us with a larger deficit than what we began the year with).

"The person that I'm going to stand behind and that is going to get my vote is the man or the woman that says what they mean, and means what they say..."

Again, Gov. Walker had a pretty big omission during his campaign last year. And if Walker means what he says, and says what he means, did he mean that he really thought about placing troublemakers within crowds of protesters earlier this year, intending to discredit the movement against his policies?

"...and it's not about being popular, you know, it's not about getting the votes."

Actually, it is. When you lose the confidence of your voters, you lose their respect and confidence in you. In Wisconsin, a recall exists so that voters can vote you out, if they so wish to do so. This entire ad portrays recall proponents as in the minority, as against what the people want -- when in fact, they are the majority.

"It's, this is what's right. Scott Walker said from the beginning, 'I'm going to do what's right for Wisconsin,' and he did. He did."

But in reality, he didn't. Walker's reforms and initiatives have failed to lower taxes for the average Wisconsinite (1, 2), have created a worse situation for our schools, have failed to increase our state's job totals (which have actually decreased by nearly 30,000 since his budget passed), and have restricted the voices of thousands of state workers who wanted nothing more than negotiation when it comes to their contracts. (Oh, and as I already mentioned, by his own accounting standards during the campaign in 2010 he failed to balance the budget.)

That isn't principled leadership. That isn't even good governance. That's failure beyond what anyone, even a schoolteacher like Kristi, can ignore.