Recall Musings

I’m going to miss all the fun. 

On Tuesday morning, while I’m wedged in a middle seat near the back of Delta flight 4359 to Detroit, thousands of feet below me Wisconsinites will be picking their new boss (who will likely be the same as the old boss). 

Gov. Scott Walker has been leading in recent polls, but I’m not ready to call it for Scottie just yet. Turnout is expected to be huge and it’s just as likely the Badger-state wakes up on Wednesday to realize it’s swapped a former Milwaukee county executive for a current Milwaukee mayor. 

Say what you will about this (public) union busting, women’s equal wage disdaining, chubby kid from “Up” impersonator - Scott Walker knows how to make things interesting. 

For the last few weeks, I’ve felt like the new kid in school, the one everybody is trying to size up. The knee jerk amiability that I’ve grown accustomed to from my small town’s residents now has a quizzical undercurrent. I could list several examples but I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves. 

I’ll admit it. I do it too. 

While to each other’s faces we may spout platitudes about weather (“been beautiful lately”) or the Brewers (“so many injuries this year”), it’s all Walker underneath. Most folks seem to want to know which team you’re on, but is most cases, they’re too polite to ask. 

And that’s okay. 

Because while I might not personally like, agree with, or even vote for Walker, I do love a good political fight, and the last few weeks have shown me I’m not alone in this.  

To add another platitude to the mix, disagreement is at the heart of a vibrant democracy. It snaps us awake like a ruler to the knuckles. It shakes us out of complacency and it demands of us to take stock of the things we cherish. And hopefully we remember the way we felt when the next election rolls around. Wisconsin is awake this summer and that’s the way it should be. 

See you when I land.