Outside the Beltway

Wisconsin Democrats To Mount Recall Effort Against Scott Walker?

Doug Mataconis · Friday, June 3, 2011 · 5 comments

The political battleground in Wisconsin doesn’t look to be calming down anytime soon. Today, Greg Sargent reports that Wisconsin Democrats are about to take aim a Governor Scott Walker:

There’s a long way to go, and the goal seems like a very tough one to reach, but Wisconsin Democrats are set to go for it: They will announce at their annual convention later today that they intend to launch an effort to recall the ultimate target — Scott Walker himself.

Mike Tate, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, will reveal the plan in a speech today at the convention in Milwaukee, according to advance excerpts of the speech that were sent my way.

“We will not stand down — and next year, we will recall Scott Walker from office,” Tate will tell the crowd, according to the excerpts. “We will begin to repar the damage done to this state and we will begin a new with a Democratic Governor who will fight for our children, who will fight for our families, our teachers and our firefighters. We will fight for the people — not the powerful.”

While Dems have long been expected to ultimately launch a recall campaign against Walker, this will be the most explicit vow to date from Wisconsin Dems that they will, in fact, take the plunge. And the announcement is likely to make for some good political theater to fire up Wisconsin Democrats and grassroots activists, who are currently in a battle to recall six Wisconsin GOP state senators. It’s still unclear how many Wisconsin Dems will have to face recall elections, pending an official review of GOP signature-gathering.

Elsewhere in his speech, Tate will give himself a bit of wiggle room, by claiming: “Should the people continue to rise up, continue to fight back, and continue to cry out for immediate change, we will recall Scott Walker from office next year.” But a Wisconsin Dem source tells me the wiggle room is mainly intended as a reminder that the decision to try to recall Walker will ultimately be dictated by the people of Wisconsin, not party chiefs.

This would be a huge battle, and even if they did gather the signatures necessary to get the matter on the ballot, it would likely be influenced heavily by the success (or failure) of the recall effort against six Republican State Senators, who will face their own recall elections sometime this summer. Nonetheless, it guarantees that, if nothing else Wisconsin will continue to be a focal point in American politics well into 2012.