Try to find ONE Wisconsin Republican this fired up. (Darren Hauck / Reuters)
I speculated a bit ago that Republican recall efforts to recall Democratic state senators in Wisconsin were running into problems, and I attributed it to lack of energy on their (in addition to a lack of solid Democratic targets). Well, here's some confirmation:
While the Wisconsin Democratic Party, with major assists from progressive groups and unions, has harnessed resentment towards the governor into a full-throttled effort to recall eight GOP Senators, neither the enthusiasm nor organizational acumen exists on the Republican side of the aisle.
“It's clear that Democrats and liberal organizations are engaging in an attempt to make recall more than a mere hypothetical possibility for some Wisconsin Republicans,” said Liz Mair, Vice President of Hynes Communications and former RNC Online Communications Director, who has worked closely with officials on the ground in Wisconsin. “Even though Governor Walker acted to end the impasse, Republicans and conservatives should not be acting like this is done and dusted.”
A conservative activist working inside the state on recall efforts was even more explicitly distraught. The Wisconsin Republican Party, the operative said, was not lending resources to the recall campaign groups had launched against Democratic Senators, in turn causing those groups to narrow their target list down from eight lawmakers to just three.
This is also interesting:
Reid Magney, a spokesman for the non-partisan Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, described the recall efforts by Democrats against Republican state Senators as more organized than their counterparts. Whereas GOP-run recalls registered at different times and originated from a random spattering of groups--a Utah-based conservative organization was forced to find a partner inside Wisconsin to make its petitions legally acceptable--all of the Democratic activity has run through the state party.
Utah Republicans have to scramble to find locals to file the proper recall paperwork, while Democrats are united and working toward a common purpose. Those Utah Republicans have to narrow their list of targeted Democrats, while Democrats have no such problems. And those Utah Republicans have to beg for money and attention from conservative heavy hitters, while the netroots alone has pumped in $2 million into the Wisconsin Demorats, with MoveOn, DFA, and DCCC looking to spend much more on paid media in support of the recall effort.
There should be no doubt that the Roves and Kochs will engage, but they'll likely do so in defense of their incumbent Republicans. There is a reason why Republicans have refused to give updates on signatures gathered -- they just don't have the juice to make it happen.