In reality, Citizens United had nothing to do with the outcome in Wisconsin. Yes, Scott Walker outspent his opponent, Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, by a margin of roughly 8 to 1. This wasn’t the handiwork of the highest court in the land. A provision in Wisconsin law going back to 1987 gives the target of a recall a window to raise unlimited funds. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the provision arose when Democratic state senators fighting recalls needed to raise more money for legal expenses, and it passed with bipartisan support.

If the organizers of the recall had done more thinking and less shouting into bullhorns, they might have realized that Walker would have a period of free and easy fundraising not available to his eventual Democratic opponent; that he could marshal his resources while Democrats might have to fight it out in a primary until a month before the recall vote; that their assault on Walker had elevated his national profile such that he could raise money from all around the country.

In other words, they might have realized Walker had natural advantages that had nothing to do with Citizens United or any other bogeyman. Sure enough, Walker garnered millions in donations from rich people living outside Wisconsin. Is there something wrong with out-of-state money? Certainly not in such a nationalized race. The whole world was watching, remember?