Tomorrow at 12:01 AM CT, the recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch will officially begin:
"We are going to be filing online (with the state) just after midnight that will allow us to start collecting the signatures," Meagan Mahaffey, executive director of United Wisconsin, said. "There are some midnight collection events around the state. People are ready to go and want to start as soon as possible."
The deadline for turning in recall signatures is Jan. 17. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin currently lists 290 events on its webpage as part of the recall launch, including rallies, canvasser trainings and petition circulations. There will also be a large rally at the state capitol on Saturday.
In addition to Walker and Kleefisch, three Republican state senators will face recalls in this second wave. After successful recalls netted two pickups this summer, Democrats only need one more to take control of the state senate. Given the nature of the districts they are targeting this time out, they have a very good chance to pull it off:
Chart of Wisconsin Republican state senators who either already have, or likely will, face recall elections. Blue indicates recalls which Democrats won, green indicates recalls which Democrats are about to launch, and red indicates recalls which Republicans won.
All of the Republicans targeted this time (shown in green) were first elected in 2010 and won by only single digits in what was a very good year for Republicans. Further, President Obama performed better in these three districts than he did in all but one of the districts which featured recalls against Republicans over the summer.
With a good playing field for Democrats, expect the worst from Republicans:
Meanwhile, the state Republican Party has set up an online "recall integrity center" to help build evidence of fraud. [...]
For their part, Democrats have raised concerns that some Republicans may gather signatures for a Walker recall, tell people not to sign other petitions, and then destroy the signatures they gather. Some people who have commented on United Wisconsin's website have said they intend to do just that, though it is impossible to know if they actually intend to follow through on those threats.
Already today, there was a denial of service attack against United Wisconsin, which briefly took their website offline. Also, right-wingers are planning some pretty crazy stalking of recall volunteers.
Everything is on the line, so don't expect Republicans to hold anything back. Please, contribute $5 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which is organizing this new round of Wisconsin recalls.
