It isn’t just labor that’s energized. The protests in Wisconsin have lit a fire under the broader progressive movement. As of Tuesday morning, online activists had raised $350,000 for the Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee — an unprecedented sum for a state-level political committee. Meanwhile, 60-70,000 protesters have camped out in Madison for days, while a Koch family effort to bus in counter-protesters for a single day fizzled at around 2,000.
Conservatives were energized in 2009 by the healthcare debate and rise of the Tea Party, and they rode that energy to big gains in 2010. Thanks to Walker and his cohorts, we’re seeing a reversal of those dynamics, while giving Republican-leaning union members an urgent reason to vote their economic self-interest.
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