The matinee sign of Madison’s old RKO Orpheum Theater / DJ Pangburn
Not only are Wisconsin Democrats dead-set on recalling Scott Walker in 2012, but they already have a timeframe in mind: November 2012.
While Walker is eligible for recall in January, yesterday Wisconsin Democratic Chair Mike Tate told me that the party "would prefer the recall election against Scott Walker to coincide with the 2012 Presidential election." This would likely mean the recall effort would start in late spring of 2012. The idea is to have the biggest turnout, and thus most favorable electorate possible, in order to make sure that Scott Walker gets the boot.
At the same time, Tate also noted that the process was not entirely in the hands of the state party. It's possible that grassroots and community activists will initiate a recall campaign against Scott Walker as soon as it's legally allowed in January.
Either way, the party is entirely behind recalling Scott Walker, and has left itself no wiggle room on this matter. On Friday night at the statewide party "recall" convention, numerous speakers vowed to not only take back the state Senate in 2011, but also to recall Scott Walker in 2012. The party is also now officially supporting the effort by United Wisconsin PAC to get people to pledge to support recalling Scott Walker. As I write this, nearly 200,000 people had taken the pledge.
In closely related news, yesterday a Wisconsin judge granted the Government Accountability Board extra time to review the challenges to the recall petitions filed against three Democratic state Senators. This means that all six recall of the elections against Republican state Senators are now set in stone for July 12, and that no recall elections against Democratic Senators will take place on that day. The recall elections against Democrats, if they happen at all, will take place on July 19 or later.