Nearly half of signatures collected for recall of Wisconsin GOP state senators, Dems say

[ProSense]

Nearly half of signatures collected for recall of Wisconsin GOP state senators, Dems say

By Greg Sargent

In another sign that the Wisconsin GOP’s quick passage of the bill to roll back bargaining rights is only causing the fight to escalate, Dems have now collected over 45 percent of the signatures necessary to hold recall elections for eight GOP state senators, the Wisconsin Democratic Party tells me.

Dems have now collected over 56,000 signatures supporting the recall drives, according to party spokesman Graeme Zielinski, after another surge in organizing activity over the weekend. That’s up from rougly 14,000 after last weekend. This means Dems are well ahead of schedule: In each targeted district, Dems need to amass the required signatures — 25 percent of the number who voted in the last gubernatorial election — by a deadline of 60 days after first filing for recalls, which happened nearly two weeks ago.

In other words, Dems are reporting they are nearly halfway to the finish line, with roughly three-fourths of the alloted time remaining.

Though the national media has largely treated the Wisconsin story as resolved, now that Republicans used a procedural maneuver to pass Scott Walker’s measure, the new signature numbers suggest the GOP’s maneuver may only be giving more momentum to the recall drives. The recall fight has drawn the attention of national Dems, who are keeping attention on the battle in hopes that it will have ramifications in the 2012 Congressional and presidential elections, by galvanizing the Dem base, persuading independents that the GOP has overreached, and reawakening the affection of blue collar whites for unions.

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[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. It's only a matter of time.

Walker Passes The Summer, Fall and Winter

[Blue Owl]

2. Oh we're halfway there...

Scott Walker's livin' on a prayer...

[RainDog]

3. k&r n/t

[Stuart G]

4. K and R nt

[iwishiwas]

5. GO Dems GO.

[Scuba]

6. D = Justice R = Just For Us

[iwishiwas]

7. (Republicans are refusing to reveal the amount of signatures they’ve collected to recall Dems.)

..........Some will insist that these numbers are unreliable, because they are coming from Dems. But if they did cook the numbers, such exaggerations would quickly become apparent if they fell well short of their goals by the deadline. (Republicans are refusing to reveal the amount of signatures they’ve collected to recall Dems.) What’s more, these signatures numbers claimed by Dems mirror other indicators of enthusiasm: Dems and labor continue to raise money for the recall drives at a dizzying clip, and a huge rally amassed in Madison over the weekend.

[Veruca Salt]

8. K&R