April 4, 2019

Tuesday's Wisconsin Supreme Court election makes national media look again at a state that last fall's election made them think was part of a "blue wall" again.

It must be so annoying for them. I feel the irksomeness leaking through the lines of "Wisconsin, Ground Zero for 2020 Politics, Looks Like a Tossup Again" (in the NYT).

Tony Evers ousted Scott Walker last fall, so that should have meant the state had accepted its blue place. The liberal SCt candidate was presented as way ahead, the conservative was duly smeared as a religious bigot, and then look what happened! How dare the Wisconsin slip away and demand more attention after the Democrats gave Milwaukee the convention!

The NYT article is illustrated with a photo of DNC chairman Tom Perez inking the convention deal while our new governor Tony Evers looks on smiling. The photo represents the hope that the Democratic Party had secured Wisconsin. But yesterday's election showed that Wisconsin is unruly (once you get past Milwaukee and Madison):
In the Supreme Court race, Judge Hagedorn, the conservative, got a major boost in the Green Bay and Wausau markets, enough to overcome a deep deficit in Dane County, which includes Madison, the state’s bluest stronghold.

In the 18 counties in the Green Bay media market, where TV ads linked Judge Hagedorn to Mr. Trump, voters swung by 18 points toward the conservative compared with a State Supreme Court election last year won by a liberal judge....

The Saturday before Election Day, there was no shortage of avid Trump supporters at Roar Off the Shore, a tasting of craft beers and cheeses east of Green Bay in Kewaunee County, which is on the thumb of the Wisconsin mitten. Though the county’s populace is small, Mr. Trump’s ability to run up the score in such places was repeated all across rural America in 2016. He won Kewaunee County, a dairy region, by 28 points compared with Mitt Romney’s six-point margin as the 2012 Republican nominee.

“I’m tired of politicians; he’s not a politician,” said Randy Boor, 57, who works in a factory that makes commercial cookware. He judged Mr. Trump’s chances of carrying the state in 2020 as even better than in 2016.

“We’ve got a guy there that’s delivering,” he said. “He wants to do the frickin’ job. You know how much could get done if he wasn’t being opposed by all these idiots?”

31 comments:

Big Mike said...

“We’ve got a guy there that’s delivering,” he said. “He wants to do the frickin’ job. You know how much could get done if he wasn’t being opposed by all these idiots?”

True that!

rhhardin said...

The recount will show it's a democrat stronghold again.

rehajm said...

We'll move the convention there so the state is ours!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!!!

-Evil Political Strategist/Dumb Political Strategist

traditionalguy said...

Reports of the Bad Orange Man's demise were greatly exaggerated.

Darrell said...

Buttgig should have campaigned for the loser.

Ralph L said...

Turnout is everything. Presumably, there weren't major GOTV efforts for this election. The closeness should warn the Trump people to prepare for Dem vote creation after the vote.

Ann Althouse said...

The NYT only quoted Randy Boor (great name) to top him with a quote from another Wisconsinite: "He’s so bloated in his head that he thinks he’s still going to get his frickin’ wall, when he’s been defeated."

I'm sure NYT readers knew which Wisconsinite to approve of and, also, how to look down on all of us. Apparently, everyone in Wisconsin says "frickin'."

Ignorance is Bliss said...

But yesterday's election showed that Wisconsin is unruly (once you get past Milwaukee and Madison)

Actually, most of Wisconsin is ruly, in terms of appreciating the rule of law. If you want unruly, go to a Madison public school.

Kevin said...

Apparently, everyone in Wisconsin says "frickin'."

If they ever update the iconic view from 9th Avenue cover, that will be included.

Kevin said...

We must stop Trump from getting his wall!

Why?

Because he wants it!

Big Mike said...

A few months can be a very long time in politics, which is why I find these “horse race” sorts of Presidential election articles to be so irritating. The Iowa caucuses won’t be until next February, people!

My take is that in 2017, when Virginia had its off-off-year elections, through last November there was a lot of energy on the left. But pendulums swing, it’s what they do, and this one is coming back hard. Here in Virginia the trio of Northampton, Fairfax, and Herring have seriously damaged the Democrat brand, both with the scandals that have been covered nationally but also with their legislative agenda. Perhaps Tony Evers has done something similar in Wisconsin? When Pelosi caved on the anti-Semitism resolution she also damaged her party’s brand. You cannot damage your brand forever and still win.

And here’s the thing. Historically the Democrats have stood for things. Now all we hear is that they hate Trump so much they would oppose him if he came out in favor of world peace and ending world hunger. “I’m not Donald Trump” is not going to win in the fall of next year.

MayBee said...

You people in Wisconsin are trying to steal Michigan's mitten. Give it up.

Jake said...

They literally found and quoted a Boor as a Trump supporter.

Mr. Forward said...

Is there a Wisconsin word for what we could have got done minus the foot dragging?

Ann Althouse said...

"You people in Wisconsin are trying to steal Michigan's mitten. Give it up."

They can have their mitten. It's the Upper Peninsula that obviously ought to be ours. Look at a map. I agree we're less mitten-looking than they are, but the UP is contiguous. We are the peninsula! Don't Upper us. It's one big Wisconsin peninsula.

Ralph L said...

the UP is contiguous

At the time Michigan was created (a decade before Wisconsin), water travel was many times easier and faster than land. Be glad you didn't lose the whole west coast.

PackerBronco said...

Apparently running on a platform that calls religious people evil bigots is not a winning approach.

Tommy Duncan said...

“We’ve got a guy there that’s delivering,” he said. “He wants to do the frickin’ job. You know how much could get done if he wasn’t being opposed by all these idiots?”

Wisconsinites are practical people. Results matter.

Minnesotans are more starry eyed. They prefer good intentions over results.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

"They can have their mitten. It's the Upper Peninsula that obviously ought to be ours. Look at a map. I agree we're less mitten-looking than they are, but the UP is contiguous. We are the peninsula! Don't Upper us. It's one big Wisconsin peninsula."

Now that is a fight I would like to see!

Caligula said...

It's another election that liberals thought was in the bag, only to discover that it wasn't. So, they're peeved again.

Nonetheless, there's not much here of predictive value regarding Trump vs ??? in 2020. That election will be largely decided by who turns out to vote, and, total turnout in this election was only 1.2 million, or about half what it was in the last presidential election.

Although I suppose it's somehow of interest that these "journalists" no longer even try to hide their partisan cheerleading.

jerpod said...

Peninsula envy.

Anonymous said...

The only downside to the Hagedorn victory is that it warns the Dems that they'll need to double count votes in 2020

Sam L. said...

Serves ya right.

Professional lady said...

Michigan gained the UP as a result of the Toledo War which was a nearly bloodless war with Ohio. Take that you Badgers!

stevew said...

The Purge of the Deplorables remains incomplete.

Seeing Red said...

We’ve got a guy there that’s delivering,” he said. “He wants to do the frickin’ job. You know how much could get done if he wasn’t being opposed by all these idiots?”

That’s why they need to stop him. They want the new normal malaise.

Yancey Ward said...

I ask yesterday- what changed in two weeks' time? I think if the election had been held in the middle of March, the Democratic candidate would have won that election by 10 points. My question is rhetorical, and its answer should be worrying to Democrats because it is the first of what are likely to be many confirming data points.

Alex said...

Aren't the political dynamics of Wisconsin the same as MI & PA? So either Trump wins all 3 or loses all 3, I can't see a mixed result in 2020.

Jim at said...

I was told in these comments - in no uncertain terms - that Walker's defeat meant the end of any chance of Trump winning Wisconsin. And the rest of us were idiots for even questioning such a declaration.

What happened?

Alex said...

Or maybe Wisconsin didn't want to have the same guy as governor for 10+ years? The situation is much more dynamic than 'hurr durr Drumpf brought GOP down in 2018 hurr durr'. I think by 2018 Scott Walker lost steam and that was as much a factor as anything. People like candidates that are energetic and give off the feeling that they are truly plugged into the current issues. I feel Walker lost the plot because of his POTUS run. All the GOP needs is a fresh face in 2022.

Danno said...

As to the UP, Professional lady said...Michigan gained the UP as a result of the Toledo War which was a nearly bloodless war with Ohio.

And I had found that factoid in my own googling of geographic oddities. I recall that the UP was thrown in by the federal government as a compromise for Michigan ceding its southern border so as not to run straight east from the southern tip of Lake Michigan which would have meant Toledo would be a Michigan city.

Althouse had a blog post covering this a while back.