I was speaking with some friends who live outside Madison today who have worked at the university for 33 and 43 years respectively. Neither are teachers but are part of the union. They have been married for 37 or 38 years. They are the parents of a close friend of mine.
They are an interesting couple. She is a classic conservative Republican...watches Fox News and is concerned most heavily by "values" (anti-choice, anti- gay marriage...the whole kit and kaboodle) and her economic views have been molded by politicians and pundits who espouse said views.
The husband is the classic Mid Western moderate Democrat. Not much more to say.
I wanted to check in with them to hear their take on on the rallies over the weekend.
Some really interesting stuff came out that I wanted to share and see what you thought about political attitudes being shifted and retirements....
First thing is that they both said that Madison is electric and that everybody is talking about politics and everybody they have talked to feels the same way - Walker has to go and this whole action is an affront.
Admittedly she is a religious woman but she said "This whole thing is like the scales falling from my eyes. In the last three weeks I have been completely rethinking my political ideology. I have stopped watching Fox and trying to learn as much as I can. But now it is so obvious what Republicans care about and have always cared about. I think I have become a sort of radical. Rachel Maddow is teaching me so much. I think I have to be a Democrat now."
A former Fox News watching older housewife has become politically radicalized by Scott Walker? Ditto on a moderate Democrat?
Amazing. They are convinced that the recalls are going to happen.
But what troubled them and what they said is troubling many of their friends who work at the university in particular who have worked there for as long as they have is that they now feel totally exposed.
A few weeks ago they thought "we'll ride this out...Walkers plan will never go through"
That long in the system gave them a pretty good sum of money to deal with future healthcare needs. But that lump sum was imperiled by Walker's grab if they were still employed.
So they have both retired effectively immediately as of Friday. They say that huge swaths of long time employees are doing the same or are about to do so as well as in other parts of the state college system.
They both said that they are worried for the short term health of the university because so much institutional memory will be going out the door.
This is obviously only one data point and it is anecdotal but does anyone else have a sense if this is a wider trend and some of the implications of mass retirements in the university system statewide?