Paul Ryan's unexpected decision to not seek the first open Wisconsin senate seat in 24 years took out whatever air was left in the sails of the state's republican shipwreck skippered by the equally polarizing Scott Walker. Walker lit Wisconsin's political landscape on fire igniting huge protests and with further help from legislative arsonists, continued unabated to scorch and feed opposing constituencies at record speed. The enraged middle-class electorate narrowed what was supposed to be an easy 30 point victory for incumbent State Justice David Prosser down to a nail-biting one point victory. Those in Wisconsin politics know that despite Prosser's win, the state GOP had their ass handed to them.
Reeling from sweeping gains by anti-Walker votes at the ballot box, state republicans are now fighting to keep their sold-out hides saddled in government jobs after they rammed through a series of regressive bills and resolutions aimed at centralizing power, breaking down the will of wage earning taxpayers, re-distributing tax revenues upward to wealthy corporate supporters under the guise of job creation and regulating the electorate with a restrictive voter ID permit. Recalls are well beyond the stage of wishful thinking - they are in progress.
After flippantly claiming republicans are "on a roll" at the GOP state convention, Scott Walker had no choice but to tell loyal partisans to forget about the United States Senate seat Ryan lost confidence in winning and instead warned them that they must work to protect six state legislators from being recalled. Their waning support is simply spread too thin to battle on more than one front. Wisconsin Republicans have the momentum alright, the momentum of desperation.
Those obstacles of association proved to Ryan that the fight to win the senate seat would no longer be on his bank-rolled terms but instead a grueling uphill battle against a well-informed and determined population with all the right momentum. And THAT'S without his kill Medicare proposal.
Now too, the Supreme Court election in Wisconsin gave the opposing forces an inkling of each other's strength. Those working diligently to restore hard fought freedoms and democracy in Wisconsin can now make some adjustments and regroup with growing numbers of converts for the next round of elections. Paul Ryan and his Wall Street pollsters know this. After being spoon-fed election victory after victory during the course of his political career, he wanted no part of this sort of unpredictability.
Yet despite showing no confidence in state GOP politics, Ryan had no qualms about telling others in his party "not to start wobbling" after Republicans just lost a seat to Democrat Kathy Hochul in New York's 26th congressional district Tuesday night. Even Bill Clinton acknowledged that Paul Ryan's proposal to privatize and voucherize Medicare played a major role in the GOP's loss in a traditionally Republican district.
Now I'm not suggesting Kohl's senate seat will be a cake walk for democrats to win - not at all. They'll have to earn it. But the trends are beginning to take shape. Walker lit the state on fire and Ryan's deceptive proposal to "save" Medicare by raising future senior's out-of-pocket costs 500% by transforming the government program into a voucherized private insurance subsidy while cutting taxes for the top is the perfect accelerant for a perfect storm.
Similar but Different
Scot Ross What's behind Ryan's Decision
Ezra Klein asks, Why did Senate Republicans vote for Ryan's plan?
For many of them, the risk of NOT voting for Ryan's plan was equivalent to the risk of not voting for Paul Ryan, which is a warning to any GOPer who dares cross the Wall Street linchpin. Newt Gingrich got a taste of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment