Union Failure in Wisconsin Recall Elections Has National Implications (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The latest political drama to come out of Wisconsin has concluded with the recall elections of six Republican state senators. Despite amble union money and muscle, the attempt by Democrats to retake the Wisconsin state senate has fallen short.

According to Politico, when the dust had settled, Democrats had taken two Republican state senate seats, those held by Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper. Kapanke had been in a heavily Democrat district and was expected to lose. Hopper had been caught up in an adultery scandal and thus lost narrowly. But four Republican state senators -- Robert Cowles, Luther Olsen, Alberta Darling and Sheila Harsdorf -- retained their seats. Thus the Democrats and their union allies fell one short to take back the Wisconsin State Senate.

Two Democratic state senators who had been among those who had fled the state during the fight over Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining reform bill are up for a recall election, providing Republicans opportunities to pad back their control of the state senate.

The recall election represented another epic fail by public sector unions to extract revenge for having their collective bargaining powers curtailed. Previously, an attempt to topple a conservative State Supreme Court justice had failed.

The failures of Democrats and their union allies to exact revenge for Walker's reforms demonstrates the changing nature of Wisconsin politics in the age of Obama. While Walker's approval ratings have suffered a downturn, his reforms have started to bear fruit in a vanished budget deficit and lower taxes for the state.

The results of the recall elections will likely have national effects, emboldening conservative reformers and demoralizing unions who are struggling to maintain their privileges. However the power of public sector unions to extract money and benefits from increasingly cash strapped state and local governments is becoming increasingly tenuous. There is just not enough money to sate union demands.

That will not stop the Wisconsin public sector unions. Next on their agenda will be a recall election for Walker the moment that it is legal, after a year of his being governor. The unions, noting Walker's sagging approval ratings, think they have a shot. However it should be noted that it is a long time between now and January and the chance of a third failure is very real.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110810/us_ac/8942777_union_failure_in_wisconsin_recall_elections_has_national_implications

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