Salon: Scott Walker’s Wisconsin: How a once-liberal state became a political battlefield

Salon ^ | David A. Schultz

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Full Title: The twisted metamorphosis of Scott Walker’s Wisconsin: How a once-liberal state became a political battlefield

How do you explain Wisconsin? Once the home to progressive liberal politics and politicians, such as governors Gaylord Nelson, Patrick Lucey and Anthony Earl, Wisconsin now produces the likes of union-busting Gov. Scott Walker, and a GOP-controlled legislature enacting voter ID, onerous abortion regulations, and anti-union right-to-work rules.

The state now even has a polarized and partisan Supreme Court with a constitutional crisis on its hands: Voters have just adopted a ballot initiative that would dislodge Shirley Abrahamson, the court’s liberal chief justice, from the position she has held since 1996, and turn it over to the Republicans on the bench.

(Abrahamson was elected by voters in 2009 to a new 10-year term; she is now suing to retain her position.)

How has Wisconsin turned into the partisan battleground it is today? Part of the answer lies in factors idiosyncratic to Wisconsin, but part also speaks to the relative narratives both Republicans and Democrats use both in-state and nationwide to win elections.

For example, partisans like to contrast Wisconsin with the neighboring Minnesota — two states identical in many ways — pointing to their divergent paths under the governorships of Republican Scott Walker and Democrat Mark Dayton. These observers reference the states’ contrasting policies on economics, taxes and education to explain the differing paths the states are on when it comes to jobs and growth. Recent reports, such as one by the Pew Research Center, depict a state marred by deteriorating job growth whose middle class has declined more than almost any other state in the nation. (Minnesota, meanwhile, comes out near the top in terms of unemployment, median family incomes, and economic growth.) But such references give too much credit, and too much blame, to recently enacted policies in explaining the economic paths of the two states. Nor do they address a far more fundamental question: Why has Wisconsin turned to the right?

The roots of Wisconsin’s change reside in three forces. The first is that, while Wisconsin has a progressive streak of the sort that once put socialists in office, there is a history of conservatism and reactionary politics to the state that Joe McCarthy of all people called home. Wisconsin has a nativist culture, born of homogeneous white northern European immigration patterns, that is still fearful of outsiders, suspicious of change.

Second, Wisconsin is politically complex: It has its strong liberal pockets, Dane County (home to Madison and the state university) and Milwaukee; but there is also a growing conservative population as well. While the liberal centers once dominated the state in terms of population, that is no longer the case: More people live in the suburbs, or in its small, rural communities, creating a strong political base for Republicans.

Third, the economic landscape of Wisconsin has altered dramatically over the past several decades, as it has transitioned from an industrial and agricultural economy in the ’70s to a post-industrial world. Wisconsin has not fared as well as neighboring Minnesota, which has become a hub for bio-technology. It was never the home to as many Fortune 500 companies as Minnesota was, and its industries proved more vulnerable to global competition. The state made a series of bad choices or missteps when it came to how it responded to economic challenges as it emerged from its industrial past. A partial list of policy decisions with negative ramifications include: The gradual disinvestment in higher education under Thompson, weakening public schools, especially in Milwaukee; not providing funds to welfare recipients in the ’90s to get job training or education; along with a lack of investment to upgrade infrastructure. Wisconsin for many decades was heavily dependent on manufacturing, and it was hit particularly hard in the ’80s — and then again during the Great Recession – but did little to provide resources to help transition the state in a new direction. As a result, Wisconsin has lost economic ground over the last two generations, and the world economy has left it behind.

These three factors set the foundation first for Republican Tommy Thompson’s election to governor in the 1986, the Democratic loss of the legislature, and then Russ Feingold’s defeat in the Senate in 2010, along with Walker’s era-defining gubernatorial victory. Since 1987, Republicans have controlled the governorship for 20 of the last 28 years; and since 1995, except for a brief period, they have controlled one or both houses of the legislature. Walker and other Republicans have successfully exploited white middle and working class anxieties, as work has dried up, incomes have decreased, and the state has racially diversified. Walker, and before him Thompson, offered simple solutions for why things have gone wrong: Lazy welfare recipients, unions, gays, college students, intellectuals, Democrats, and government. (It is a variation of Thomas Franks’ “What’s the Matter with Kansas” thesis.)

But there’s more to the situation than simply appealing to social issues, fear, and prejudice to acquire votes. The state’s Republican lawmakers have also cynically adopted policies that not only do little to help their new constituencies, but are meant also to perpetuate and magnify exactly those same anxieties and make sure their base continues to vote Republican. Walker has been successful not only in exploiting political prejudices; his policies have actively encouraged and nourished them.

During Walker’s 2012 recall election, signs across Wisconsin signs declared, “It’s beginning to work,” referencing claims that the economic policies of Walker were finally going to produce the 250,000 jobs his 2010 election promised. Those jobs never materialized, yet Walker retains the support of so many of those whom his policies have hurt.

In so exploiting and nurturing these attitudes, Walker and Republicans have been successful in flipping Wisconsin. They have used a narrative of blaming others, decrying them, Democrats, and government for the reasons why the middle and working class are struggling. Democrats conversely have failed to articulate a narrative to why this is wrong and their policies are right. This is why Wisconsin is flipping, why Walker is successful, and how that state is a case study and prelude to the Republican 2016 presidential campaign strategy.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"David Schultz is a professor in the Hamline University Department of Political Science where he teaches classes in American politics, public policy and administration, and ethics. Professor Schultz also holds an appointment at the University of Minnesota law school where he teaches election law, state constitutional law, and professional responsibility (legal ethics).

[snip of his many, many, many academic degrees]

In 2007 Professor Schultz was a Fulbright Scholar teaching election law at the American University in Yerevan, Armenia, and in 2009 he was a Fulbright Scholar at Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary. David has also taught and lectured in Russia (Moscow State University), Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

In 2008 Professor Schultz was asked by the United States State Department to serve as an independent scholar to cover the Republican National Convention in St. Paul and meet with the foreign press and media reporting on it. He was also sent during the fall, 2008, to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland to meet with reporters, students, and the public to discuss the American elections.

David is editor in chief for JPAE, The Journal of Public Affairs Education [EPA linked] , and he sits on the editoral (sic) boards of The Journal of Public Integrity and Social Sciences Studies. [Also EPA LINKED]

In addition to teaching, Professor Schultz was president of Common Cause Minnesota from 1994-1999, served as their lobbyist, and twice as the interim executive director. He has served as vice-president of the Minnesota and Texas chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, and he has also been on the board of directors for numerous non-profit organizations. Previously he served on the National Civic League's model cities charter revision committee (helping to write the new 8th edition of the Model Cities Charter), the Urban Coalition Board of Directors, and the Ramsey County Home Rule Charter Commission (2000 - 2004).

Prior to teaching, David was a city administrator and director of code enforcement in New York State, where he enforced city and state housing codes as well as authored housing codes. He also was a housing and economic planner and a community organizer for a community action agency.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

2011 Wisconsin Protests [With 392 Source References]

[Berlin_Freeper]

the Eloi and the Morlocks.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"......yet Walker retains the support of so many of those whom his policies have hurt....."

Academia can't compute - brain explodes.

Top:

Forward, the state motto
A badger, the state animal

Center, the state shield:

Top left: A plow, representing agriculture
Top right: A pick and shovel, representing mining
Bottom left: An arm and hammer, representing manufacturing
Bottom right: An anchor, representing navigation
Center: The U.S. coat of arms, including the motto E Pluribus Unum
The shield is supported by a sailor and a yeoman (usually considered a miner), representing labor on water and land

Bottom:

A cornucopia, representing prosperity and abundance
13 lead ingots, representing mineral wealth and the 13 original United States

The state seal emphasizes mining and shipping because at the time of Wisconsin's founding in 1848 the mining of lead and iron and shipping (via the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River) were major industries." Source

[Cincinatus' Wife]

: )

[NTHockey]

Wow, what projection! If he changed names, it would be a litany of wrongs committed by the regime.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

No kidding.

[T-Bird45]

GMTA - Here's an example from the closing paragraph:

They have used a narrative of blaming others, decrying them, Democrats Republicans, and government for the reasons why the middle and working class are struggling.

[Cowboy Bob]

Maybe people have finally wised up and rejected Liberalism.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Democratic%E2%80%93Farmer%E2%80%93Labor_Party

This is the author’s politics and party.

[exDemMom]

They have used a narrative of blaming others, decrying them, Democrats, and government for the reasons why the middle and working class are struggling. Democrats conversely have failed to articulate a narrative to why this is wrong and their policies are right.

That narrative works because Democrat policies fail, and it is easy to point to example after example of their failure. OTOH, where do you point to say that Democrat policies succeed? The only place I can think of is Maryland (the state with the highest median income), but MD is a special case. It's where many of the government workers live, so is insulated from the consequences of liberal policies.

[Paladin2]

Community Organizing.....

[kearnyirish2]

“It’s where many of the government workers live, so is insulated from the consequences of liberal policies.”

I beg to differ; it is FUNDED BY liberal policies. Those government workers are simply drawing incomes from 49 other states and spending it in Maryland.

[kearnyirish2]

NJ was one place where such a shift could have happened (despite many FReepers’ assertions to the contrary, Chris Christie is an absolute right-winger for the northeast, with all the right enemies on the left); however, the continued economic stagnation has caused many Americans to flee the state. The illegals and other imports aren’t conservative voters, so the homeowners employed in the private sector (Chris Christie’s core constituency) aren’t gaining strength.

[ez]

Fifty years of trying to install socialism have finally been noticed by the people. They were boiling the frog just fine until Obama showed up and cranked up the burner. I sense a major backlash forming against the left. Hillary! Should be the recipient of it. Delish.

[WashingtonSource]

Leftist professor lives in imaginary world where up is down and all good things come from his God, Big Government.

[exDemMom]

I beg to differ; it is FUNDED BY liberal policies. Those government workers are simply drawing incomes from 49 other states and spending it in Maryland.

I would argue that being funded by liberal policies is different than being subject to the effects of liberal policies.

I only have to look back at my home state of CA to see the effects of liberal policies. They are driving the state into the ground. When I retire from my government job, I may not go back to CA...

[driftless2]

What the professor ignores is that Wisconsin, a state I've lived in all my life, is not quite as blue as he'd like to believe. Bush II lost by Wisconsin by less that five thousand votes in both elections out of two or three million cast in each one. That's les than one percent. Tommy Thompson was a popular three term governor. Conservative Ron Johnson is a senator

Yes, there are definite uber-liberal areas like Madison. But for the most part most Wisconsinites are the same. The majority of citizens agree on many social issues.

But many men will vote for Dems because of union issues and many Dem females vote that way because of abortion "rights." But the state is not Madison. Even many residents of Madison are not radical leftists. It's just that the latter seem to have the loudest voice much of the time.

[HamiltonJay]

The grotesque overplay by the left in the recalls and the flight to another state rather than doing their elected jobs ensured Wisconsin will not vote republican in local/state matters for a good long time. Unless the state level republicans screw up royal.

[junta]

Such a realignment will happen when the entrenched powers become thuggish in their turf protection racket. In this case the crooks of the public unions and the social activists who read their own press releases and believed in their divinity.