The Wisconsin state legislature and several courts overrode the governor’s decisions about postponing the elections or allowing additional time for mail-in ballots. It was a brilliant strategy on the part of the conservatives. Milwaukee was so overridden with corona that 175 of the usual 180 polling stations had to close for lack of staff. This made it extremely difficult to vote in Milwaukee, which is liberal and ethnic. Then the conservatives got a ruling at the 11th hour that mail-in ballots had to be postmarked by election day – even though many people had not yet received the ballots they had requested two weeks in advance!
Meanwhile, voting in the conservative areas upstate was easy and painless.
It was a plan worthy of a Bond villain, and the most important objective (really the only important objective) was to get an ultra-conservative re-elected to the state supreme court.
Only one problem. He lost.
While the GOP puppet masters were focusing on Milwaukee, they turned their backs on Madison, which gave the liberal an astounding 76-24 margin of victory there. Meanwhile, the turnout in Milwaukee was fairly respectable, and the liberal won there 69-31. The state’s other metro area, stretching from Green Bay to Oshkosh (Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago counties), which actually has more voters than Madison, was split quite evenly, but even there it was the liberal with a small advantage.
The Bond villains have to be wondering what went wrong with a plan that seemed foolproof.
It’s a sad commentary on how low our standards and expectations have fallen when we call bald-faced voter suppression “brilliant strategy.” It’s not brilliant — it’s un-democratic and anti-American
These people are not brilliant strategists (in the literal sense as well, given the outcome). They are traitors.
Yes, it’s sad and all, but being treason doesn’t stop a thing from being effective, competent, and yes brilliant.
We’re just so used to the silver lining of Trump’s incompetent treason that we’re spoiled.
Well thought-out treason is all the more important to guard against.
I dunno. How could well thought-out treason possibly work any better than Trump’s incompetent one? At every turn he’s gotten what he wanted, and we’ll likely never know how many billions his family will eventually have taken from the government over the past four years.
On Wisconsin!!
Not often a Buckeye is going to say that.
Why did the plot fail?
It was TOO obvious
Close down half or three-quarters of the polls
Postpone the election, but not too far
Limit mail-in voting but don’t stop it completely
They went full Bond Villain
Everybody knows you never go full Bond Villain
I live in Wisconsin. I never saw one TV or Internet ad supporting the Republican Supreme Court candidate. I only saw ads saying the Democratic candidate was so soft on crime we were probably all going to be murdered if she won. The ads were in black and white, so you know they were serious! They mentioned her name a lot – Jill Karofsky. I have no idea what her opponent’s name was.
I think he’s a Kelly. He’s technically not a Republican candidate. As you probably know, candidates for judgeships are not listed with political affiliations. (Cough.)
Incumbent judges almost never lose in Wisconsin, but voters made an exception for this guy. I have to admit I know nothing about him other than that conservatives really, really wanted him to win and their ads went full Feingold on his opponent.
Remember those?
(Happy music, color footage) Deep voice: “Most Americans love dogs and hate fascists
… but (ominous music, B&W footage) Russ Feingold wants to feed your puppies to Nazis.”
Yeah they spend Sofa King much money on political ads and all those ads ever say is – guy filmed in B&W bad. Look at our guy, he’s in COLOR!
I guess that’s why so many people of color win elections.
Wisconsin voters gave Trump the finger…
That does seem to be the general takeaway.
But it was the best! Just the most beautiful, centrally-located finger ever. Winning.