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How Deep the Cracks? Wisconsin May Give an Indication.
Well, I just voted after dropping our youngest off at school. Voting in our precinct was pretty brisk; I voted proudly for Ted Cruz. But there is another statewide race for Supreme Court Justice that may indicate how deep the party fractures are and whether we can unite at the state and local level regardless of what happens at top of ticket.
Judge Rebecca Bradley has been promoted rather quickly (have to be honest, maybe too quickly) through the judicial ranks to the State Supreme Court by Governor Walker after the death opened a position on the court. The perennial Progressive/Liberal/Commie JoAnne Kloppenburg has yet again dusted off the lawn signs (behind the Prius in the garage, I’m sure) and would help bolster the leftist balance of the court if elected. If Bradley wins, the reforms enacted by Walker and GOP State Assembly and Senate will be further cemented and the climate here will continue to improve.
I’m looking to see if Bradley’s statewide totals approximate the totals of Cruz, Trump, and Kasich added together, and if this is an indication of if we can come together this fall. It may also show how Trump’s newfound supporters will vote on other down-ticket elections. I realize one’s favorite is still on this ballot and may not be in the fall, so this is just a theory.
Have any of you had similar local or statewide candidates or referendums that would indicate the depth of the acrimony or evidence of unity? Can we read anything in these tea leaves?
Published in General
The interesting thing in Texas primaries was how well incumbent Congressman that are the ultimate establishment players.
Yes, there is one and Pete Sessions is the poster boy for the rabble.
Ted Cruz won easily here. This year both Johnson and Sessions had very credible primary opponents that lost by large margins.
The right is not going to unite in the fall, and even if it does, it will not bring in enough of the center to win. Long term, Trump has proven to many that the ugly stereotype the left has been promoting for so long about the true nature of the GOP is even more true than they thought. The right in this country is in utter disarray and as a brand is utterly toxic. I don’t know how conservatism reinvents itself and sheds the ugly image it has somehow happily embraced, but something dramatic will have to happen in order for conservatism to have any political relevance in the foreseeable future.
TL;DR? “And the GOP would have gotten away with it too, if not for you meddling wackobirds!”
Sound experiment and theory. I think the crack in it may be that people will come out for their candidate today, who have vowed not to vote in November. We don’t always know what that means. Are they not voting at all? Not voting for Trump or not Trump? etc.
I’m in the never-Trump crowd (no offense to those who do support him), but I do plan on voting down the rest of the ticket even if Trump is at the top.
Bernie Sanders says hi.
I’m with you here in WI. I voted early for Cruz and Bradley last week. The early indications of heavy turnout in the conservative “WOW” counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington) probably reflects well for Bradley. I think a higher percentage of motivated conservatives have Bradley on their radar than the percentage of Bernie/Hillary voters rushing to find Kloppenburg on their ballot. It’ll be close for sure, especially with voters swayed by the negative ads in the supreme court race.
I fear for a Kloppenburg victory. I will be checking the results to see it my thoughts get confirmed with a healthy percentage of Kloppenburg votes (over Bradley) that comes close to the difference between Cruz and Trump percentage. If it lines up, as I think it will, it proves to me the left is crossing the lines in the primary, just to keep Trump in the race. This should be a pretty easy measurement to calculate from county to county.
Remember “any means to an end”, when you know Hillary doesn’t really need the votes, because she has the Super Delegates in her pocket.
I was thinking they might cross over too but thought they wouldn’t pass up chance to vote for “True Change Agent -Bernie”, thought that would negate that angle
Thanks, WI Con, for doing your part with your vote to make America great again.
as of 9:18 central Kloppenburg is getting Klopped so far, by Bradley. Keep your fingers cross.
Thanks Eustace, all the Cheeseheads are doing their part.
Just checked WISN – Bradley is up over 5 points with 60% reporting.
The Wisconsin State Journal has called it for Bradley. I’m not sure how authoritative they are. With 78% in Bradley leads 53-47.
Great job, Badgers! — from a Buckeye.
Somebody tweeted tonight that Mormons and Wisconsinites are the designated drivers for the nation. Sounds about right.
I don’t know. That implies that Wisconsinites are the ones who haven’t been drinking.
I heard on the way in to work this morning if everyone that cast a democrat ballot for Bernie or Hillary, and also voted for Kloppenburg , she still wouldn’t have enough to beat Bradley.
That would be lie. The Cheeseheads will be the navigators and the Mormons can take the wheel.
I was looking at the vote totals. It looks like the Right/GOP/Trump supporters hung together for the Bradley win.
There’s hope for November.
No, there is not.
In the event that Trump isn’t the nominee I’d be interested to see which way his supporters here break. Those I’ve talked to or overheard I would generally expect to vote Democrat, so it’s possible they go back to their traditional allegiances.
At work last night it sounded that most were in favor of Sanders, but the talk was similar to that which Trump supporters would use. I’ll grant the likelihood of a Sanders/not-Trump race is pretty low, but it would be an interesting scene.
Is too, is too!