Thanks ya’ll! There are seriously few things that will get me up before 5am, but this is one of them. Honestly though, the real thanks goes to the people here in Wisconsin- I saw more than one person spend quite a bit of time trying to find documentation so they could register this morning. Many people had complex residency situations because of recent moves and they were all patient ly dedicated to figuring out how they could vote. It was very cool to see!
From your good friends at Daily Kos: Wisconsin Turnout Through The Roof
YEEEEE-haawww! America! Fuck, yeah!
Are you near UW? I’ve been curious since it was announced months ago that the election would be in June how the student population would figure in voting. I don’t even know if it’s better now when a lot of in-state students are home and can go to their local polling place rather than file absentee ballots, or if it’s worse because Madison may be out of sight, out of mind, and some would lose enthusiasm for this.
The polling station I worked at is on the near east side of Madison has a significant UW population (my guess based on living nearby). It has more grad students (who tend to stick around during the summer), but I was surprised by the large number of student-aged turnout. Several other people mentioned that as well. I don’t know if that means that more people were around to vote or they just had extremely low expectations because of what’s been covered in the media. Don’t forget- Wisconsin also has early voting, which people were constantly complaining about the lines being extremely long over the last few weeks. Our absentee list was pretty substantial although I don’t recall the exact number.
I’d like to say thank you as well. My husband and I both went UW, and he stayed for his Master’s and medical school. We lived in Verona and participated in the protests last year, but he was matched in Chicago for residency so we didn’t even get to sign the recall petition before we had to move. I am with you in spirit today though, and obsessively following the live blogging at the Cap Times for polling updates!
I see a lot of confidence here that Barrett is going to win.
To those who genuinely believe this, I would observe that you can make a whole lot of money betting your convictions over at Intrade, where you can currently sell shares of Walker winning at about $9.25 for $10.00. IOW, you get $9.25 a share regardless, and you pay $10 if Walker wins and nothing otherwise. Works out to be about 12.5 to 1 odds. Sounds like a good deal, if you really believe.
http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=759686
I think everyone in this thread realizes that Walker is a strong favorite based on all the recent polling numbers. Don’t mistake hopeful enthusiasm for confidence in a Barrett victory.
I’m pretty confident that Walker will win- that doesn’t mean I don’t have hope (feeble that it is) that he won’t.
Not me, I’m a pessimist. Nine times out of ten, money talks, money votes, money wins. And if there’s one thing the Forces of Darkness got in buttloads, its money. Being a pessimist means you don’t get many surprises. But when you do, its a beaut!
To be sure, the second enemy of progress is Republicans.
Even if Walker wins, it’s still nice to see such a huge turnout, especially for an off-cycle election. We should petition to recall all 50 governers every year!
Actually I notice in the time since my first post, Walker shares have dropped to $8.82. So maybe people are rushing over to bet their convictions …
Well, yes, that could be it. There is, of course, an alternative explanation…
FWIW, Drudge is claiming that exit polls show Walker winning by 5 points.
OTOH, “FWIW” is not a whole lot. Drudge’s exit poll reports have a poor track record in predicting the outcomes, from my experience.
My bad, n/m
If you live in Madison, it’s difficult to believe that anyone in the state supports Walker. If you drive an hour outside of Madison to a state park in Waukesha County (the governor’s home turf where I hiked this weekend), signs for Barrett are few and far between. It’s pretty amazing how almost exactly at county line between Dane County and Jefferson County (next county over) is where the Walker signs first show up.
Right now, I’m sitting on my front porch on East Johnson street (main thoroughfare out of the city heading northeast) and people are honking and honking in support of Barrett as they head home from work. It’s neat to hear people so engaged, but the lack of evidence of any real support for Walker in the city shows how deep the challenges run in our state in terms of creating unity after this (regardless of what happens).
Yeah aw, all right! Walker’s gonna win! Yeeehaw!
I can certainly understand your enthusiasm, Walker is your kind of guy.
My daughter worked at a ward on the NE side of Madison from 6AM to 1:30PM.
The voter list was about 1,500 at the beginning of the day and by 1:30 about 670 people had voted with about 20 new registrations.
This right here shows all you ever need to know about Bricker.