Recall elections in Wisconsin a nationwide test for both parties

By Michael A. Fletcher,
WashPost
Published: July 15

Wisconsin voters head to the polls next week in a series of recall elections that could alter the balance of power in state government and test the appeal of the policies and messages of both political parties in a crucial presidential battleground and beyond.

The elections were triggered by outrage over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s move to curb collective-bargaining rights for public employees, but analysts say they have morphed into high-stakes contests between the competing views of government held by Republicans and Democrats.

Many of the policies pushed by Walker — including cutting Medicaid, requiring voters to show identification at the polls, slashing state education aid and refusing to raise any taxes, even in the face of large budget gaps — have been championed by Republicans in states including Ohio, New Jersey, Florida and Minnesota, as well as in Washington.

Those issues are likely to resonate in the 2012 presidential race, and the recall elections in Wisconsin will be an early test of whether the hard line taken by Republicans in the states and in Congress is seen as extreme or consistent with voter sentiment.

(More here.)