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Media And Democrats Dishonest About Reasons Behind Wisconsin Recall Election Results

Posted by: Scott Schaefer in 2012 Election, Featured Articles, Media Bias

The liberal media and dishonest Democrats are portraying Scott Walker’s Recall Election victory as one of big money, claiming Walker spent seven dollars to every one for Barrett is dishonest.

The left and the mainstream media have seemingly come up with their collective spin to explain the results of their Wisconsin recall election failure. Not surprisingly, the left and the media have again teamed up with a predictable and wholly dishonest position. Their explanation for Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) victory in the Wisconsin Gubernatorial recall election is big money.

The left along with their liberal media brethren are claiming that Walker outspent his opponent, Democrat Tom Barrett 7 to 1. The lineup of liberal media trumpeting the Big Money spin includes Politico, Salon.com. Media Matters, the Washington Post, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, to name but a few. The problem with this allegation is that it’s dishonest.

Claims by the left of a seven to one spending advantage by Walker fall apart when you do the math. The left claims that Walker spent $30 million to defeat the recall. This is largely accurate, but that’s where the truth ends for the left. Their assertion that only $4 million was spent by Democrat Tom Barrett is disingenuous and dishonest. En toto, more than $63 million was spent by both sides in the recall effort. The left only accounts for $34 million of spending on the Wisconsin Recall Election because they deliberately fail to report the more than $21 million spent by unions against Walker. Campaign contributions tell only part of the story.

National unions kept Tom Barrett’s campaign afloat by funding outside groups dedicated to defeating Walker. More than a year since Walker limited collective bargaining rights for most public employees, the nation’s three largest public unions – the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – have channeled more than $2 million from their coffers and super PACs to two Wisconsin-based independent expenditure groups.

Even correcting the lies about spending doesn’t tell the whole story because it still fails to account for the labor expended against Walker by the organized and mandatory ground game of the unions. In fact, the union ground game for Democrats in Wisconsin is, essentially, a permanent infrastructure. In that Walker and the Republicans countered with a ground game that they had to build from the ground up is a testament to the fact that Walker is a good governor. Which is why he won.

About Scott Schaefer

Scott Schaefer is a political writer and the publisher of Intelligent US Politics. Schaefer is a self described constitutional conservative and patriot who writes extensively on the subject of American politics. In addition to Intelligent US Politics, Schaefer also publishes the American Politics Wiki and writes for many other blogs and websites. Much of his writing is syndicated by Technorati Media. Schaefer, who was a home builder and real estate developer for 25 years, now heads Lexington Development, a boutique web design and Internet marketing firm in Texas that specializes in developing high performance solutions for small businesses and start ups that integrate website design, search engine optimization (SEO), Internet marketing and content development services. His background in American politics began in 1974 when he was enlisted by his father as a political campaign volunteer at the age of 10. Though more conscript than volunteer in that first political campaign, Schaefer found he had a passion for politics. He volunteered for his second political campaign two years later working for a slate of four independent candidates against a network of entrenched incumbents. His passion and energy were reflected in the results as the entire slate was elected. Schaefer's father, John Schaefer, was one of those candidates, and the man from whom he inherited his political zeal. His father's political victory bolstered Schaefer's dedication to politics and significantly expanded his skill set. He then took the next logical step and moved to the national stage in 1980, working for Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, both of whom were elected by landslide. His passion for politics was was soon fueled by a strong sense of patriotic duty. Having closely observed the malaise caused by Jimmy Carter and the contrasting, upbeat solutions offered by Ronald Reagan, Schaefer found himself dedicated to the principal of American Exceptionalism. Schaefer entered the political arena as a candidate himself in 1981. Successful in his first candidacy, he was elected state President of the Arizona Teen Age Republicans, serving one term. In 1984, Schaefer again returned to politics and worked tirelessly on Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign, the result of which was the greatest political landslide in American history. Taking time away from politics, Schaefer focused on a private sector career, starting a small business in 1984, which he ran successfully until founding Intelligent US Politics in 2009. Many of Schaefer's political articles are syndicated by Technorati Media. In syndication, his political articles have been republished on more than 36,000 websites and blogs worldwide.