We'll put money -- a lot of it -- on a bet that Walker was raising funds from corporate lobbyists here in the nation's capital.
Walker is on a national fundraising tour in support of the eight Wisconsin Republican senators facing recall because they voted to end collective bargaining rights for workers. He tried to keep it hush-hush, but when cornered about it, admitted he'd been to Florida. Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
“What I’ve been doing is going around the country and making the case, given my position in Wisconsin, reaching out to folks across the country to say, ‘Help.’”
Walker made the case. For “grassroots activists.” At the Heritage Foundation in Florida. Suurreee.....“I said you’ve got big government union money coming in from Washington. I think grass-roots activists from across the state are needed to be able to counter it. So over the weekend, I made that case.”
Walker isn't expending all of his precious energy making up out-of-state bogeymen, he's too busy traveilng the country, soliciting $8,000 in donations to a Republican anti-recall effort called Frontline Wisconsin. So...he's raising money from out of state while attacking his opponents for being from out of state.
Two Wisconsin senators, randy Randy Hopper and Dan Hanky-Kapanke have already had petitions targeting them for recall filed. More are expected to follow. Best of all, Walker is eligible for recall in 261 days!
All of this is making the senators so nervous that they're working off of Walker’s playbook. They're making phony claims about imaginary out-of-state money. Here’s a great letter to the editor from a volunteer who's working to recall Republican Sheila Harsdorf.. Printed in the Hudson Star-Observer, it says:
A large colorful circular arrived in my mailbox the other day from the Friends of State Senator Sheila Harsdorf telling that special interests from New York and Washing-ton (sic), D.C., are flooding into Wisconsin to conduct a recall campaign against her. I busted out laughing when I saw it. But then I got to thinking how sad it was. If I were Sheila Harsdorf I’d want my friends to know the facts and have them tell the truth.
I’m one of those folks who is volunteering with the Sheila Harsdorf recall committee. I’ve met lots of very nice people who are also volunteering their time and energy in this effort. We’re all volunteers. None of us is paid. I’ve been a resident of Wisconsin since 1977 and I’ve not met a single non-resident helping out with the recall effort. In fact, all of those who are legally signing recall petitions are residents of Wisconsin.
One recall volunteer told me he considers Senator Harsdorf one of his friends and has always voted for her but believes she’s stepped over the line when she voted in favor of Governor Walker’s plan to sabotage public employee unions.
We are exercising a legal right afforded us in the Wisconsin State Constitution. We’re not bad people representing special interests. We love Wisconsin and we want justice and prosperity for all, not just the few.Amen.
