Wisconsin Votes Today: What a State Supreme Court Election Means for Obama’s Re-election Chances

First off, if you live in Wisconsin and haven’t yet voted to re-elect State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, stop reading this and go vote. Secondly, if you know anyone in Wisconsin and haven’t yet called and urged them to vote for Prosser, stop reading this and go do so now. Put simply, this race is going to come down to who gets their base out and if we lose this one, we’ve not only lost hope for any kind of real reform in Wisconsin, we’ve also given Barack Obama an easier path to re-election in 2012.

Those of you under the misguided notion, that even in the event of a Prosser loss, his 4-to-3 tie-breaking swing vote in favor of judicial restraint will remain on the court long enough to validate Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill, had better think again. The Madison judge, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi, who has pulled every judicial activist trick in the book to block Walker’s bill on an absurd technicality, has no doubt intentionally decided to run out the clock in the hopes liberal activist Joanne Kloppenburg succeeds in unseating Prosser. Sumi’s delayed her next ruling for nearly two months. This allows her to hold on to the case until the end of May or the beginning of June. Prosser’s term would end July 31, which make it very possible the State’s highest court won’t rule until long afterwards.

See how that works?

This isn’t an accident or coincidence. It’s by design. Delaying the enactment of a law over a technicality regarding an Open Meetings rule no serious person thinks was violated, is one thing. Throwing a wrench in the gears in order to slow down the process in the hopes a more favorable appeals court judge will win an election, is something else. The will of the people is being overturned by the worst kind of judicial overreach my former home state has seen in a long time — which brings me to the bigger picture.

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