Photo from SEIU's Flickr stream
More dramatic developments in Wisconsin over the weekend. For those of you who missed it:
Protesters hold state Capitol building in defiance of Walker's order
Last night, around 600 protesters slept in the Capitol building. Although hundreds of people had been sleeping in the Capitol every night since the demonstrations began almost two weeks ago, this was particularly significant because Scott Walker had ordered the building cleared at 4pm Sunday. Ostensibly, Walker ordered the building cleared in order to clean it, but in reality it was meant to deliver a powerful symbolic blow against the protests. For now however, he failed to deliver that blow:
In a major victory for the protesters at the Wisconsin state Capitol -- who were supposed to clear out at 4 p.m. CT today, but have remained inside in the hundreds -- Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs has announced that those protesters still in the building will be able to stay the night.
Protesters will be able to sleep on the ground floor, as cleaning is done of the upper floors. Tubbs said there had been no decisions made yet on what the policy would be for successive nights.
"There will be no arrests, as we said before, there will be no use of force," Tubbs said. "We want the people to continue to cooperate and work within the guidelines and the laws of the state of Wisconsin. So there'll be no one asked to leave the Capitol tonight."
Tubbs said that various rules will remain in force: People who leave the building at night will not be able to get back in; sleeping bags and backpacks cannot be brought in during regular hours tomorrow; and food will only be brought in through an arrangement with representatives of union groups and other organizers to deliver it to the entrances.
With ongoing restrictions about food and sleeping materials entering the building, and with no long-term deal in place to maintain the occupation, the situation is far from settled. Still, in background talks I had with people involved in the organizing, almost no one was expecting to be able to retain the space last night. Further, the Capitol Police making a deal with protesters and union personnel rather than simply carrying out Governor Scott Walker's orders, is a huge symbolic victory. In short, the protesters continue to defy expectations while Walker is unable meet them.
Unconfirmed reports of a Republican Senator defecting
Rumors are still raging that Republican Senator Dale Schultz will vote “no” on Walker's budget. Citing sources within the local AFL-CIO, Andrew Kroll of Mother Jones first reported that Schultz would flip. An hour later, Kroll tweeted that he was still seeking confirmation and was hearing conflicting information.
Schultz should not be considered a “no” until his office confirms it, which has not happened yet. Conflicting information continues to spread this morning.
Three Republican defections are needed for the bill to be defeated. If Schultz does flip at some point, he would be a huge boost of momentum in the campaign to defeat the bill. This is not only because he would be one of the three needed votes, but because he is not one of the eight GOP Senators currently eligible for recall. With a Schultz flip, only two Senators would need to be defeated, or scared, by a recall to stop Walker's attempt to bust Wisconsin's public sector unions. For an overview of the electoral dynamics of all 33 Wisconsin state Senate districts, check out this post at Swing State Project.
Protests reach new highs on Saturday
In addition to the momentum from maintaining the occupation of the Capitol building and Dale Schultz's possible flip, the size of the protests in Madison on Saturday reached new highs. Despite heavy snow, police reports estimate over 100,000 people were in the streets:
Madison Police told AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale that they estimated the crowd at 100,000 30 minutes before the 3pm rally.
Around the country, according to emails from MoveOn.org, the estimated 100,000 in Madison were joined by 50,000 people at solidarity rallies in all 50 state capitals and many large cities. For rallies organized on such short notice, 50,000 people is a good place to start.
The fight shows no sign of ending. If anything, momentum remains on the side of the protesters.