Newsmakers: ''New'' Wisconsin Politics
In an April 13 Newsmakers, UW-Madison political science professors Kathy Cramer Walsh and Barry Burden said the intensity of Capitol-based protests between mid-February and mid-March over collective bargaining changes pushed by new Republican Gov. Scott Walker, and adopted by GOP majorities in the Legislature, surprised them. They also predicted that there will be a serious effort to recall Walker early next year, since Wisconsin law says no elected official can be recalled until they have been in office for one year. Walsh and Burden also said the surprising closeness of the State Supreme Court election — which may be decided by only about 7,000 votes out of 1.5 million cast — was a measure of anti-Walker sentiment, especially in Dane County.
