So How Bad Was the Democrat Defeat in Wisconsin Last Tuesday?

Actually, pretty bad.  Yes, they won two of six recall races, but when you read what David Freddoso has written about the election you'll realize they failed in a pretty big way:

An energized Democratic base was supposed to turn out yesterday. It was supposed to pry away from Republicans their total control of Wisconsin's state legislature. Republicans had gone after the state's public employee unions, and this was supposed to be an overreach that would cost them dearly in yesterday's recall elections. If Democrats could pick up three of the six seats under recall, they could win back the state Senate and block Gov. Scott Walker's agenda.

Every Republican I spoke to before the election expressed pessimism. The expectations were clearly in favor of a Democratic takeover -- so much so that Republicans in Wisconsin's legislature took the extraordinary step of passing an early redistricting bill.

And then...it just didn't work out the way the unions had hoped.

In the end, the union-backed Democrats picked up only two state Senate seats in Wisconsin last night, at a staggering cost in time, effort, and of course money. One of the seats was solidly Democratic, held by a Republican due to an apparent fluke of nature. The other was held by an alleged adulterer who had moved outside his district to live with his young mistress, and whose wife was supporting his recall.

As for the other four Republican incumbents the unions tried to recall, they didn't end up coming very close. And remember -- these weren't just any Republican incumbents. These were the ones that the unions judged most vulnerable, which is why they collected petition signatures against them.

And next Tuesday two of the Fleebagger Democrats will face their own recall elections, and will have a dispirited Democrat party that's less likely to turn out to support them. One of the candidates looks particularly vulnerable, so it's quite possible Democrats will lose one of the seats they gained on Tuesday, leaving them with a one seat net gain at a cost of more than $30,000,000. Pretty dismal performance.

And while the angry union left will continue with plans to try and recall Gov. Walker, this election made it clear that Walker's support is significantly stronger than the unions thought. With cities and school districts all over Wisconsin benefiting from Walker's union reform bill, it will be hard for the Democrats to make the case that Wisconsin is worse off because of his tenure in office.