February 12, 2017

After all the hard-fought battles to win back a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court...

... the liberals of Wisconsin are letting a conservative Justice run unopposed.

This really has become a red state.

Or is it that the liberal candidates come across as more political and what people want — and think they are getting from a conservative — is a judge who dutifully follows the law?

60 comments:

Tarrou said...

A liberal judge interprets the law to mean whatever the Tumblr crowd think it should mean on any given week. Conservatives are at least slower in their biases. They might hold the same view of the law for decades.

Tregonsee said...

"They might hold the same view of the law for decades." Centuries, even.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Democrats would only enthusiastically support a far left candidate. No far left candidate can win. Besides Kloppenburg, Feingold and Tom Barrett don't want to run.

Otto said...

The most interesting part of the post is "This really has become a red state." It would be interesting if you would give us an analysis of how and why it became a red state.

jimbino said...

Wisconsin will not let the homeowner do his own plumbing. He can do his own electrical wiring, but has to hire a licensed plumber. Wisconsin won't become a red state until it gets rid of this regulatory nonsense.

traditionalguy said...

Maybe the Internet flows of information have educated people to the point that they will no longer fall for Liberal enchantment. They want reality now. But where will they store Lenin's Mummy?

Curious George said...

"jimbino said...
Wisconsin will not let the homeowner do his own plumbing. He can do his own electrical wiring, but has to hire a licensed plumber. Wisconsin won't become a red state until it gets rid of this regulatory nonsense."

Bullshit.

State Law, Ch. 145 says:
“(1)(a) No person may engage in or work at plumbing in the
state unless licensed to do so by the department. A master plumber
may work as a journeyman.

“(4) This section shall not apply to:
(a) Plumbing work done by a property owner in a one-family
building owned and occupied by him or her as his or her home
or farm building, except where such license is required by local
ordinance.

caplight45 said...

If I am not mistaken this Wednesday, February 15, marks the sixth anniversary of the occupation of the Wisconsin state capital building in protest of the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill." That protest would lead to the failed recall of Governor Scott Walker. And let's not talk about the crazy that became the Wisconsin Supreme Cour

In my estimation, the Professor's blogging during that period was second to none in the entire blogosphere and media world. And let us not forget Meade riding shot gun when they even experienced physical intimidation.

If only the occupiers had known that their chants of, "Whose house? Our house!" would come back to bite them as the people of Wisconsin decided over the next few years that it was their house too.

tim maguire said...

We all know the fights over Supreme Court decisions turn on whether the conservative justices will "vote the law" or "vote their politics" while no one ever asks that question about the liberal judges. Ever.

AllenS said...

Curious George beat me to it at 6:48 AM.

jimbino, where did that statement come from? Do you live in WI?

Original Mike said...

"The most interesting part of the post is "This really has become a red state." It would be interesting if you would give us an analysis of how and why it became a red state."

Here's my analysis. Leftism doesn't work. Most people see that. Thus endth the analysis.

Amadeus 48 said...

The career officeholders in the Wisconsin Democratic Party reached their expiration date, but they had killed their young along the way.
No doubt the party will make a comeback over the next ten years, but who could face up to another campaign involving Feingold? Another run by Kloppers for the Supreme Court? Remember the Flee Party? I live in Illinois. What could be more symbolic than a run to this failed state? And Rockford! Who goes to Rockford? People leave Rockford.
And the John Doe investigation made the Milwaukee prosecutors look really bad--like bad people who were carrying out a Soviet-style purge rather than a legitimate legal process.
But there is always Tammy Baldwin and the natural swing of the political pendulum. The Democrats will be back.

jimbino said...

I am building my a house in Wisconsin. I can't install the plumbing myself until I move into it. I can't move into it until the plumbing is installed. I hope Scott Walker gets around to deregulating plumbing in all Wisconsin.

Wilbur said...

Hmmm ... Wilbur looked at that picture of Justice Ziegler and was immediately reminded of Tonya Harding.

jimbino said...

Curious George,

I am building a home in Kenosha. I cannot do my own plumbing, as I could in other states that are truly "red." Furthermore, Wisconsin needs a state law prohibiting local jurisdictions from requiring trade licensing. Maybe Scott Walker can bust the trade unions as he did the teachers' unions.

Tommy Duncan said...

tim maguire said:

We all know the fights over Supreme Court decisions turn on whether the conservative justices will "vote the law" or "vote their politics" while no one ever asks that question about the liberal judges. Ever.

Done properly, voting the law and voting politics have the same result.

Your question is never asked of liberal judges because the premise of their existence is to vote their politics.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"In my estimation, the Professor's blogging during that period was second to none in the entire blogosphere and media world."

Yes. That's when I discovered Althouse and I came here regularly for information I was not getting from the utterly useless Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel or the local or cable broadcasts. Althouse did great work.

todd galle said...

Amadeus - I actually went to Rockford, to the Clock Tower. To be fair, it was only to catch a ride to a museum conservation workshop.

Curious George said...

"jimbino said...
Curious George,

I am building a home in Kenosha. I cannot do my own plumbing, as I could in other states that are truly "red." Furthermore, Wisconsin needs a state law prohibiting local jurisdictions from requiring trade licensing. Maybe Scott Walker can bust the trade unions as he did the teachers' unions."

I'm guessing it won't happen on either level because the majority of people hire stuff out and don't care, or may even like the law as is. But I agree that most local licensing requirements are crap and permitting is about the revenue.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

This really has become a red state.

Or is it that the liberal candidates come across as more political and what people want — and think they are getting from a conservative — is a judge who dutifully follows the law?


I'm not sure what the word or is doing in there.

Curious George said...

Well, to be fair, they can't run Kloppenburg again because she thinks she already won.

Kloppenburg:

“We owe Justice Prosser our gratitude for his more than 30 years of public service. Wisconsin voters have spoken and I am grateful for, and humbled by, their confidence and trust. I will be independent and impartial and I will decide cases based on the facts and the law. As I have traveled the State, people tell me they believe partisan politics do not belong in our Courts. I look forward to bringing new blood to the Supreme Court and focusing my energy on the important work Wisconsin residents elect Supreme Court justices to do.”

Curious George said...

By the way, when the WisDems lose garage...

Humperdink said...

Pennsylvania became temporarily red because ..... Trump. Overcoming Philly and the 'Burgh on a regular basis is a tall order. Hoping Trump can show the way.

Getting rid of Senator Dud (Casey the Younger) is a start. Casey just arose from his 10 year coma within the past few weeks.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Curious George, goodness, I had forgotten about Kloppie's rambling, disjointed acceptance speech after she thought she had won. That was one of the comedic high points of the saga, along with the hapless lefty Thistle and the crying "Democracy is dead" boy.

Birkel said...

Most people, if pressed on the most important issue to them, simply wish to be left to their own devices. We mostly want to be left alone. We want to choose the people with whom we interact to the greatest extent possible. We are uninterested in having some other person dictate our relationship with other people -- including those people who work for a thing called government.

It seems Wisconsinites are part of the "masses yearning to breathe free".

Guildofcannonballs said...

I know many laugh at my smallness of thought and substance, but my dream is my own.

It is to open Gym Rockford in, you guessed it, Rockford, IL.

I want to change the entire attitude to one of supreme gratitude.

Bay Area Guy said...

Surely, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become much less contentious since Justice Abrahamson lost her bid to sue her way back to the position of Chief Justice. And don't call her, Shirley.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Prior to the November election, Mark Steyn made a grim point about how the GOP establishment has ceded vast tracts of real estate to the Democrats over the past 25 years. The outstanding example is California, which would never elect a Reagan today. At one time, Colorado and Virginia and New Mexico were solidly GOP. We know the reasons for that - what Steyn was noting was that the GOPe was letting these states go from red to blue without a fight.

What November proved is that the movement doesn't just go in one direction. And I think their successes in cementing California and other states in the Democrat column blinded the Dems who didn't look past the the big blue patches on the electoral map to consider their underlying weaknesses at the state and local level. In retrospect, it's like admiring the fine finish of an old wooden table which looks beautiful, but its legs have been hollowed out by termites. Everything looks fine until you lean on it and the whole thing comes crashing down.

Birkel said...

exiledonmainstreet:

The other part of the problem is that by securing donations from California, you become beholden to those who write the checks. As the Leftism of those donors has become less tethered to middle America the inclination is for politicians to reflect donor values.

California's electoral votes are not free. Nothing in life is free. The opportunity cost of winning California by fantastic margins is to appeal to fewer people elsewhere.

But just try threading that particular needle! Which Democrat could say, and be elected, that we should not destroy the fossil fuel industry because it will leave the country without reliable power sources? Or that multiculturalism comes with costs too? Or that unfettered immigration is not the only thing in the world without an opportunity cost?

Trump has likely made promises that will be thwarted by the Deep State. But the promises themselves were not impossible. (Overlooking the alleged utility of the various promises.)

Ann Althouse said...

""The most interesting part of the post is "This really has become a red state." It would be interesting if you would give us an analysis of how and why it became a red state.""

Sorry, I can't accept such time-consuming assignments. But I think a key phrase is "public sector unions."

David said...

Liberal money mongers are tired of throwing money at bad candidates. This tells me is that they could not find any good candidates.

buwaya said...

It seems odd that they coudnt find candidates. Surely there are dozens of serving lower judges who could make plausible candidates? That is unless the lower reaches of the judiciary have been purged somehow.

I suspect the real problem is lack of funds and organizers. Other political battles have and probably still are sucking up these resources. Perhaps this is yet more of the Trump effect, where the left is mesmerized by Trump and co., attracting all their attention, ignoring all other fronts.

harkin said...

No wonder the lefties went so insane over Scott Walker and the earlier judge, they knew the jig was up.

Walker exposed the secret union-run insurance scam, teachers started withholding their union dues. Trump took the state.

Maybe reality really has returned to WI.
\
If the DEFCON 1 level of derangement we're seeing now nationally results in same that would be great.......but I'd rather Walker than Trump.

Amadeus 48 said...

Birkel--Right you are. Plus, you can only win California once, and it doesn't matter whether you win by five votes or five million votes.
I notice in Illinois, and it must be true in CA too, that the state Republican Party is terrible. They have been fighting worthless fights and losing for years, and they don't offer much beyond "we're not the Democrats". Gov. Rauner has failed to make the sale to the public that his proposed business law reforms are necessary or would be effective, so there is no momentum behind him. The Democrats will be returned to power until the whole thing collapses, at which point the remaining people with substantial financial resources are going to abandon ship by changing their tax domicile. It'already happening, although the politicians are in denial.
Sad story.

Gusty Winds said...

The 2011 Prosser - Kloppenburg fight showed everyone the left fully intended to use the court as a political tool to overturn Act 10. Helped turn Wisconsin even more red.

The only people who pretend the courts aren't political are liberals.

They pretend the MSM isn't political as well. Complete dishonesty.

buwaya said...

I dont know about Wisconsin politics at this level.
Is it the case that a candidate organizes a campaign, or does the political machine, with the permanent staff and fundraisers, hunt for candidates?
In CA its mostly the latter.
If the second this situation is interesting. Your WI Dem machine nay be broken.

Curious George said...

"Bay Area Guy said...
Surely, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become much less contentious since Justice Abrahamson lost her bid to sue her way back to the position of Chief Justice."

Actually is has. Prosser has seen the need to choke out anyone. ;-0

Curious George said...

"Sorry, I can't accept such time-consuming assignments. But I think a key phrase is "public sector unions."
And local smelly hippies.

Gusty Winds said...

It is also an off year. I don't think the liberals can count on getting the inner city Milwaukee vote mobilized for a Supreme Court election.

The WOW counties will vote.

It would be wasted money. Big battles in 2018 for Tammy Baldwin's Senate seat, and a Supreme Court seat. Guess they are saving resources till then.

Vermiculite said...

Hmmm. A little perspective... P. Ryan is conservative to Madison. P. Ryan is a moderate neocon in Waukesha county (not including the city of Waukesha) with liberal progressive overtones. W,O,W counties do not make Wisconsin red (Bucky makes Wisconsin red).

Wisconsin truly is a strange beast. The national stage absolutely has an effect on Wisconsinites' perceptions of themselves. Recently she's appeared to have shaded red. But, how can that last when [for example] more and more school districts in traditionally conservative counties are voted the authority to sell their taxpayers into indentured servitude? Maybe as a state we're more sensitive to public shaming? How long is that going to last?

Birkel said...

Vermiculite: "But, how can that last when [for example] more and more school districts in traditionally conservative counties are voted the authority to sell their taxpayers into indentured servitude? Maybe as a state we're more sensitive to public shaming? How long is that going to last?"

Can anybody interpret this into standard English? I have no idea what assumptions are unwritten. It's as if an entire conversation happened inside the author's head to which I am not privileged.

wildswan said...

Wisconsin has become a red state.

Too bad. Millions upon millions in political campaign ads poured in over the last ten years while Wisconsin was a battle ground state and these millions supported print media. Our media didn't feel the pain others felt from increasing irrelevancy. Now that that's gone, the Journal Sentinel and papers elsewhere will realize they've become addicted while on their legal painkiller - paid political ads and fake news clickbait. They've gotta have it but the Dems won't write "prescriptions", i.e. campaign checks, anymore. What will they do? Turn to the heroin of more fake news, more hysteria? What about fake polls showing Wisconsin IS a battle ground state? along with fake news stories showing that the Democratic strategy of better messaging of the same old, same old, that this strategy is working in Wisconsin.

Pictures of Democrats gutting a deer, for example, as was suggested at the DNC strategy review. That should get the black voters in Milwaukee back to the polls. Ignore the issues: school choice and ignore Trump's building plans which he has said will be sure to include black workers. Ignore farm issues. Have Burly Shirley gut a deer for the rube vote. Run the picture in every paper in Wisconsin. It will be popular - the deer hunters will get a laugh over how it will be done; the left can have their daily hysteria outburst over cruelty - oh wait, Democrat, which means not cruelty, but Bambi, but good cruelty, but but but. Maybe the cognitive dissonance will cause them to burst their own guts.

James Pawlak said...

I am surprised! At what? That there are still sane Democrats as understand that "throwing good money after bad" is very, very, stupid.

Meremortal said...

Wisconsin has gone red because too many citizens have been left behind economically for too long. Bill Clinton knew and tried to warn Hillary she was ignoring that part of the country. The Reagan democrats are back.

While the left worries about which bathroom to use, normal people worry about being able to lead productive lives and support their families.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Ann Althouse said...

Sorry, I can't accept such time-consuming assignments. But I think a key phrase is "public sector unions."

I contend that you voluntarily accepted the assignment a decade or more ago. You've been doing the work, one day at a time, ever since.

Big Mike said...

Didn't Russ Feingold say it wasn't over until he says it's over?

I guess he's admitting that it's over.

From a thousand miles away I'd say that the problem for Wisconsin Dumbocrats is that they're trying to fly using only the extreme tip of their left wing.

Sammy Finkelman said...

It's the money. This is happening more and more.

The last time he ran for re-election, Senator Jeff Sessions was unopposed both in the Republican primary and the general election. Butthis sort of thing, thought, on;y happened in a few states.

Wisconsin I suppose also doesn't have third parties (because they can't cross-emdorse)

Birkel said...

Sammy Finkleman: "Butthis (sic) sort of thing, thought (sic), on;y (sic) happened in a few states.
Wisconsin I suppose also doesn't have third parties (because they can't cross-emdorse [sic] )"


Dude. Look in a mirror and make sure both sides of your mouth are smiling.

Rusty said...

jimbino said...
Curious George,

I am building a home in Kenosha. I cannot do my own plumbing, as I could in other states that are truly "red." Furthermore, Wisconsin needs a state law prohibiting local jurisdictions from requiring trade licensing. Maybe Scott Walker can bust the trade unions as he did the teachers' unions.

Hmm. Even here in the Peoples Republic of Illinois you can do anything above grade as long as a licensed plummer signs off on it. Same thing with electric. This is for new construction.

Michael K said...

"While the left worries about which bathroom to use, normal people worry about being able to lead productive lives and support their families."

Yup. If the Democrats lose their lock on the black vote it will go very hard with them. Maybe not in Illinois but there are places where it will count.

Black churches are the battleground for the future.

That is why the opposition to DeVos is so furious. If she makes a difference for black school children, it will be huge.

walter said...

" I think a key phrase is "public sector unions."
And.."Too much cowbell"

h said...

A can't miss plan: "write in Hillary Clinton".

JZadok10 said...

Doesn't seem to be what's happening in Wisconsin, but in New York, it was generally the norm for the two parties to agree not to challenge each other's incumbent judges. In the days when judges to New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, were popularly elected, judges had to run in contested elections the first time round, but after that initial contest were safe from challenges from the opposition party.

At least some of this practice seems to have stemmed from the belief among political and legal elites that it was unseemly for sitting judges to have to run partisan campaigns involving fund-raising, campaign promises, and pandering to voters and interest groups.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Interesting that economic populism can turn a state red these days.

Birkel said...

@The Cracker Emcee

I wonder if it is economic populism to point out that public sector unions should be forced to collect their own dues from the people those unions claim to positively represent. Or, that if those people not witnessing the positive representation should provide feedback to the unions about the nature of their relationship by withholding the requested dues.

The popular definitions I see online allow that it might be economic populism. But then that forces the other side to defend its position that centralized planning by the self-selected elite is preferable. I would like to read a defense of that proposition that could get wide support outside of those who would exercise dominion.

Achilles said...

Wisconsin is just one of 30ish states that will have 2 republican senators soon.

chickelit said...

Acerbic wit -- rather than caustic base -- turns the litmus paper red these days. But the state is never far from a pH inflection. Purple is cruel neutrality and it's no secret that purple is an Althouse favorite color.

n.n said...

People are denying their twilight faith, rejecting the Pro-Choice quasi-religion, and leaving the twilight zone. A schism in the Church was inevitable.

rcocean said...

"I notice in Illinois, and it must be true in CA too, that the state Republican Party is terrible."

CA is somewhat different. The CA Republicans committed suicide by failing to oppose illegal immigration in the 1990s. There stated reason was that Mexicans and other immigrants were "natural conservatives" the real reason was $$$. The farmers loved the cheap labor and the real estate industry loved the population growth.

Now, its gotten to the point where the CA Republicans can only get elected if the Democrats do something so incompetent or horrible that 51% of the voters can't take it and vote "R". In fact, they've now changed the election system, so that you often have two Democrats running in the general election.

Unknown said...

Voter ID.