Shepard Smith says turnout is high and exit polls show a deep division. I'm guessing that means it may be too close to call.
You know what I'll be watching. Share your thoughts and observations from watching Fox or other coverage in our comments section.
8:09 PM The way the Foxies are talking, it's looking good for Walker.
8:30 O'Reilly just got through lecturing the Brits that maybe they should rethink the monarchy or at least the Jubilee.
8:32 Fox News ignoring reports of robocalls telling voters who signed recall petition they don't need to vote. (H/T Aria)
8:57 Wisconsin polls close in three minutes.
9:00 Bret Baier saying "it's too early to say" if Walker will win.
9:02 Baier also saying it's soon to call Lt. Gov. race.
9:02 Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch now Hannity's guest.
9:18 Tweet from The Fix:
94% of Republicans votes for Walker; 92% of Democrats voted for Barrett; Walker took won Indies 50%-49% in exits
9:26 Hannity said he expects the race to be called within minutes. Then he said excitedly, this is a very consequential election. So I'm guessing he's seeing exit polling showing Walker winning. Otherwise, he'd be less upbeat about results.
9:32 Hannity said he hopes to make a call within the hour.
9:42 Greta just announced that Sarah Palin will be on with her tonight. Ugh.
9:48 Hannity just said "all indications are Walker's going to pull this out."
10:48 Bobby Jindal talking about how courageous and principled Scott Walker is.
9:51 NBC just projected Walker the winner. Fox will surely do the same soon.
9:56 Fox saying Walker will surive recall.
9:57 Kleefisch survives, too.
10:00 Hugh Hewitt just said, "This is a Barack Obama signed, sealed, delivered special disaster."
10:02 Here's Ms. "I can see Russia" adding her special insights to the outcome. Her incomprehensible suggestion for healing the divide mentions "union thugs" and Walker standing his ground.
10:06 Palin: Obama's goose is cooked.
10:13 I really need to do a separate post to do Palin's "analysis" justice.
10:23 Now to analyze whether WI results are a trend... RNC chair Reince Priebus.
10:24 Will Greta have any Democrats on tonight?
10:32 A Democrat, finally, on Greta, right before another Republican, of course.
10:49 Bobby Jindal gushing over principled and courageous Scott Walker is.
10:54 Greta just called the results "an absolute blow out."
11:04 Joe Trippi coming up after Karl Rove on Bret Baier's special report. Only question is how much Trippi will fold and roll over.
11:14 Trippi not bad.
11:14 Barrett conceding.
11:16 Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley coming up. He's always a good guest on Fox.
11:27 Here comes Walker.
11:30 Instead of graciousness and humility, Walker is shoving his religiosity down our throats.
11:34 Walker pats himself on the back instead of reaching out: Voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions.
11:36 Walker says it's time to move forward and put the election behind Wisconsin. Now he says he's committed to "working together" for "more freedom" and "more prosperity" for all people. Translation: I'll try to be a little smarter about the politics the next time I ram through my right-wing agenda.
11:43 You'd think Walker just won an election rather than stopped a recall effort.
11:49 Fox round table pundit (forget which one) just acknowledged that Walker made a similar "uniting" speech the night he got elected. I rest my case.
11:57 And I rest my blogging for the evening. Good night, all!
Like most of you here Iâm disappointed on last nightâs result, but we have to accept the fact that we lost fair and square, and I appreciate the effort and all the hard work our friends in Wisconsin made. I hope we can all nationwide have the same energy in helping President Obama win a second term.
Funny how they didn’t feel the need to, you know… call the police. 3,000 cases of voter fraud would have made a hell of a headline if they were telling the truth.
“Either way, Walkerâs intentions toward a great national career have been dashed. He wonât be running for President any time soon, and after the inevitable defeat in 2 years, heâll have to turn to Fox News or talk radio to keep his name in the public eye. What he thought was a very clever strategy to disembowel the unions in his state has instead enraged them against him and woken many people up to the real problems collective bargaining faces.”
Exactly… and I wonder how much political capital he really has left in Wisconsin, too. Still, it was disgusting to watch his “victory” speech in which he kept talking about God and prayer and the need for freedom and prosperity. We all know what kind of public policy those are codes for.
Walker’s supporters, most of whom were not Wisconsin voters, flooded his state with more than 3 times the amount of money that his opponents could raise. In short, they swamped the opposition.
Second, the opposition itself would have prevailed in this effort had the recall happened a year ago, when tempers were fresh after Walker’s behavior that triggered this whole mess. But after over a year of additional recalls coupled with a desire to do this in advance of the presidential election, the fatigue set in. As a result, all four of the GOP state senators were able to keep their jobs for now as well, meaning that they will continue to be able to do damage for another 2 years.
Finally, many people expressed their disappointment in the idea of having to deal with a recall of a politician over a disagreement rather than a criminal act. (This may apply in a minute if Walker is indicted, as is expected within the next few weeks.) Now, as I stated before, this belies the GOP’s glee over recalling Governor Gray Davis in California over policy differences, but one presumes that they’ve now turned over a new leaf. But as far as Wisconsin voters go, many simply weren’t willing to vote the man out over this mess. That does not mean that they will vote him back in when his term expires in 2 years.
That next campaign will not see him getting this kind of foxhole support from people around the nation. More likely, he will face a stronger opponent who has more time and a bigger support base to contest him. And the people who have tired of his behavior will take that opportunity to try a new idea.
Either way, Walker’s intentions toward a great national career have been dashed. He won’t be running for President any time soon, and after the inevitable defeat in 2 years, he’ll have to turn to Fox News or talk radio to keep his name in the public eye. What he thought was a very clever strategy to disembowel the unions in his state has instead enraged them against him and woken many people up to the real problems collective bargaining faces.
And we shouldn’t forget the polling showing that Obama continues to lead Romney in Wisconsin – and we haven’t had a single convention or debate yet. If Karl Rove is calling Wisconsin for Romney now, that’s more than premature – it’s practically in Dick Morris fantasyland. (The same fantasyland where Morris imagines Bill Clinton desperately wanting Obama defeated at the same time that the real Clinton is wittily destroying Romney and multiple GOP all-stars in front of crowds on the east coast…)
How much political capital does he really have tomorrow?
The results tonight come as no shock, the polls for the past two weeks always had Walker ahead.