How can someone be both Pro-Walker and Pro-Obama?

[pstokely]

Who are these people?

[still_one]

1. It is bullshit. /nt

[shcrane71]

2. Exactly...

I've never met one.

[Mr.Turnip]

3. Id guess most of them are just folks who oppose recalls in general.

[pstokely]

6. If they don't like recalls, why bother showing up at the polls

nt

[tblue]

13. No. That's spin. We were robbed.

People are more likely to want to 'kick the bums out.'

The exit polls don't match the official result. There was a lot of vote suppression and other shenanigans that will never see the light of day.

[okieinpain]

4. maybe it's true that some people didn't like the ideal of a recall. n/t.

[DJ13]

5. Confusedservatives?

[YoungDemCA]

7. People who are mostly liberal but buy the whole "public sector unions get unfair benefits" crap....

At least, that's what I suspect.

[pstokely]

9. liberal as they can keep their $

DLCers, limo liberals

[TBF]

18. Old school union-bashing - the Koch's put a lot of $$$ into that

and it has worked remarkably well the past 30 years.

A little on union busting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_union_busting_in_the_United_States

[cthulu2016]

8. Why did Reagan have a Democratic congress to deal with?

Millions of people voted for Reagan and voted for their Democratic congressperson.

Millions of people voted for Clinton while voting for their Republican congressperson.

There is nothing surprising about it. There is no riddle to solve.

If a person actually read the Wisconsin polls it was very plain. The late poll that had Walker up by 6% had Walker with 51% job approval and Obama with 52% job approval. Romney's favorability was 40%.

It was well known that Wisconsin was favorable to both Walker and Obama.

[pnwmom]

10. I suppose they are Independents. People who pride themselves

on being inconsistent.

[pstokely]

11. By that logic they'll vote for Mittens

nt

[JI7]

12. same Way stupid ass Democrats in California voted for Arnold

there are stupid Democrats also.

but in the case of wisconsin i think it's the independents. who are also stupid and more so than Democrats. the same ones where you see polls always change based on how they feel at the moment.

[pstokely]

14. Gary Coleman also got a lot of votes

and people probably voted for the chimp because they thought would be funny as Will Ferrell impression of him on SNL

[progressoid]

15. I know someone who is pro-union and anti-Obama and anti-Democrat.

So I suppose it's possible.

[StarrMatthieu]

16. How can someone be both Pro-Walker and Pro-Obama?

[IMG][/IMG]Sorry

[dinopipie]

17. They are the Moderates and Conservadems

and THEY are the reason Liberals and Progressives lose
close elections.

[badtoworse]

19. It's not complicated

The people who voted in yesterday's election are the same ones that pay for the salaries and benefits of the Wisconsin public employees. Obama has little influence on the cost of the Wisconsin public employees and his polling would be based on factors unrelated to Walker's polling.

IMO, Wisconsin voters sent a pretty clear message to the public employee unions. It would be unwise for Democrats to ignore the implications of that.

[treestar]

22. True.

It is very lame to believe that people will vote as Obama wants them to based on the amount of attention Obama pays to them and that they will let a President affect them on state policies.

[shcrane71]

24. Are you saying that public employee unions = "Union Thugs"?!?!

Which side are you on? It's not for the Democrats.

[badtoworse]

31. No. I'm saying that people voted with their wallets

Don't you think that voters understand where the money to pay for public employee benefits comes from?

[shcrane71]

35. Ohh... It comes from the private sector... riiiighht.

Here's a little Econ 101. There's this thing called the multiplier effect. When government spends money on public works or local projects, the money is put back into the local economy, and more and more people create wealth from that investment. Govt gives contractor A 100.00 to build a road. Contractor A saves 20% for itself, and uses 80% to build road by hiring workers. Workers save 20% for themselves, and use 80% for goods and services... on and on.

Investment from the private sector have dried up, especially in Wisconsin (hint: they're DEAD LAST in job creation under Walker/Fitzgeraldstan). The Fed has interest rates at near 0%, it can't do much more than that. The only thing that can bring Main Street America out of the Depression is Fiscal Policy. That means spending by the government because the private sector sure isn't going to be investing.

Ok, what other RW failed policies and talking points are you going to throw at me?

[badtoworse]

37. More Econ 101: Benefits represent a pure cost, both in the public and private sector.

In any case, if the taxpayer pays less in taxes, he can spend that money just as easily as the public employee receiving the benefit. As I see it, it's a zero sum game with the voters saying that they'd rather keep the money and spend it themselves, than give to the public employee so they can spend it.

[shcrane71]

38. Straight out of the Wingnuts handbook.

How much are you getting paid to come here and spread your failed econ policies? Next, you'll say how giving millionaires and billionaires a tax break will boost the economy.

Who are you voting for in 2012?

[badtoworse]

39. The question was about WI voters being pro-Obama and pro-Walker at the same time.

I think my theory is plausible and as good as any other explanation I've seen. Let's dismiss the blather about a stolen election until some evidence is presented. Assuming the WI vote is accurate, why do you think voters supported Walker over the public employee unions?

[shcrane71]

40. Nice diversion tactic. I DON'T believe voters supported Walker. nt

[badtoworse]

42. Reread the OP...

and then explain how he won by about 200,000 votes.

[unreadierLizard]

34. Someone posted something brilliant

on one of the Walker threads:

"But it has to be said that the average punter isn't exactly thrilled to bits with the public sector unions. When you're on $5.50 an hour with no benefits its a bit hard to get excited about a bunch of people complaining that they only get $60,000 a year or so in salary and benefits."

[Shrek]

20. Some commentary from TNR on this

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/103904/electionate-live-blogs-the-wisconsin-recall

11:26PM: I'm observing quite a bit of effort devoted to explaining the Obama-Walker phenomenon.

My advice: remember that independent voters support candidates of exceptionally different ideological perspectives all the time. Many independent voters are independent precisely because they are less invested in the ideological battles that dominate partisan politics, so we can't be surprised that they're willing to cast ballots for candidates with seemingly contradictory ideological positions.

The simplest explanation might be the best: a majority of independents like both Walker and Obama. A pre-election Marquette Poll showed Walker up 7 and Obama up 8, with both candidates sporting favorability numbers over 50%. In contrast, Barrett and Romney were mired at 41 and 40%. For independent voters unswayed by contemporary ideological clashes, likability might just be the decisive factor.

[treestar]

21. State politics can be different

Think of your own state.

There are Republicans in my state who are somewhat OK and popular even though the state is basically blue. Some people might vote for the person rather than the party. It all depends on the local politics.

The big oversimplification people suffer from here is that the nation is uniform when it comes to Democrats vs. Republicans. My states has moderate Republicans. Some states have conservative Democrats.

[lynne]

23. My father always voted one party in Fed. elections -

- and another party in state elections. Said you didn't want to "have all your eggs in one basket". Agree that politics on the state level are very different.

That being said, I'm not sure why anyone would believe anything that came out of those exit polls yesterday. They weren't accurate about the governor's race, doubt they're accurate about this.

[GarroHorus]

25. The exit polling showed 60% beleived recall elections should only happen for misconduct

So there's your answer. People put principle over policies.

[nanabugg]

27. So after the indictment, they will vote for recall again? nt

[HERVEPA]

41. Only one recall election allowed by law there.

[Odin2005]

26. A lot of otherwise liberal people hate public sector unions

They are OK with private sector unions, but see something wrong with public sector unions. The latter are seen as screwing the taxpayer.

[badtoworse]

32. I think you are correct about that

FDR was strongly opposed to unionized public workers.

There is an inherent conflict of interest created when public employee unions can contribute to the political campaigns of the politicians with whom they negotiate labor contracts. Conflict of interest is never a good thing.

[mmonk]

28. The smaller government concept.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. Probably

the same way that 2008 Indiana voters put Barack Obama in the WH and gave Bush II former budget director Mitch Daniels a second term as Indiana Governor?

[tsuki]

30. Yes. nt

[lonestarnot]

33. Nutfuckery right there.

[Freddie Stubbs]

36. Apparently some people voted for Walker because they though that the recall was overboard