http://mobile.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSBRE85506A20120606
Walker's win smacks Wisconsin protesters who started recall
Wed, Jun 06 2012
MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Protesters who had besieged the
Wisconsin Capitol in Madison 16 months ago, starting an historic
effort to oust Republican Governor Scott Walker from office, said on
Tuesday they were demoralized he had survived the recall.
The mood in Wisconsin's liberal capital city was a far cry from the
festive atmosphere a year ago when thousands of people marched in cold
to oppose Walker's efforts to curtail public sector union collective
bargaining.
"I think a lot of people are disheartened," said Lorrie Hurckes, who
had supported the Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett,
in Tuesday's race. "Life goes on. But I don't feel real optimistic."
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night at venues near the Capitol
to watch the election results come in.
When the polls closed, the atmosphere was celebratory. All day long,
rumors had swirled among Democratic activists in Madison that voter
turnout in inner Milwaukee, especially in African-American
neighborhoods, had been huge. Milwaukee and Madison are strongholds of
the Democratic party in the state.
The rumors had lifted hopes among Democrats that Barrett, who trailed
Walker in the most recent poll, had closed the gap. Their hopes were
raised further by early television network exit polls showing the race
too close to call.
At the Majestic Theater, disc jockey Nick Nice played records during
the television commercial breaks and the bar sold $4 "democracy shots"
made with blue Curacao liqueur and citrus vodka. Cheers went up when
Barrett or any other well known Democrat was mentioned on TV.
But about an hour after the polls closed, all that changed as one
television network after another declared that Walker had won,
becoming the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall vote.
When MSNBC, the cable network with a strong liberal brand popular in
Madison, joined the chorus, someone at the "We Are Wisconsin" party at
the Concourse Hotel shouted an obscenity at the TV.
"I'm not buying it," said Ryan Lebica "It's too early. You're looking
at what will be one of the closest elections in recent years."
There was also anger directed at the TV networks and other media
outlets that called the race while voters in some parts of Milwaukee
were still standing in line to cast their ballots, according to the
government agency that managers elections.
"People were still voting," said Russell Novkov, who had spent the day
as a volunteer worker at a polling station in the city. "I can't
believe they called the election before everyone got a chance to be
heard."
In fact, Walker won by eight percentage points, a bigger victory than
in 2010 when he was first elected governor.
Novkov, who said he regularly participated in anti-Walker protests
outside the state capitol, vowed to be back on the protest line
Wednesday morning.
But others seemed exhausted by the 16-month-long fight.
"I'm done," said Mary Swenson, a public school teacher in Madison.
Walker's union measures required government workers including teachers
to pay more for their benefits such as pensions and health insurance,
and made paying union dues voluntary. Critics called it "union
busting."
"I'm going home and going to bed," said Swenson. "I'm not looking
forward to seeing my colleagues and kids tomorrow. I'm depressed."
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