Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Money talks, people vote

_{Visual source: Newseum}

Congratulations to the Wisconsinites who worked their tails off and took back the State Senate.

Walker, Scott (inc, R)   1,331,076    53%
Barrett, Tom (D)      1,158,337    46%

Lehman, John (D)            36,255    51%
Wanggaard, Van (inc, R)    35,476    49%

Democracy is defined by people voting. And in WI, that they did. Walker remains Governor through 2014. But note the important things we learned from exit polling (no, not who would win... that's not what exit polls are for. For that, see:)

The poll that nailed the WI recall? It called cell phones, let "likely voters" self select & was most transparent. Way to go @PollsAndVotes!
' @MysteryPollster via Tweetbot for iOS That was Marquette Law School and Charles Franklin (52-45), .pdf, who also had Obama up over Romney 52-43, with similar numbers in the exit polls. Clearly, Badgers are willing to split their votes.

But last night, I noted a takeaway [exit poll] graph from the WaPo polling team:

If 60% felt that only misconduct should spark a recall, policy disagreement (not matter how deeply felt) wasn't going to reverse the election.

Greg Sargent:

Scott Walker's victory in tonight's recall battle is a major wake-up call for the left, Democrats, and unions about the true nature of the new, post-Citizens United political landscape, and it should force a major reckoning among liberals and Democrats about what this means for the future.

EJ Dionne:

I'm in the camp of those who thinks that Walker, reflecting the current right-wing tilt of contemporary conservatism, really has put a winner-take-all approach above the quest for consensus. His move against collective bargaining, along with the enactment of laws designed to make it harder for poorer and younger Wisconsin residents to vote, was destined to provoke outrage. He was trying to rig the laws to weaken his political opposition.

This is very different from streamlining government. Many governors have made cuts without provoking such rage. And, in fact, all the deep cuts in state and local governments across the country have made our economic problems worse. Austerity at a time when we are struggling to undo the impact of a deep recession is a bad idea.

Fortune:

Part of Mitt Romney's pushback against President Obama's Bain Capital attacks has been to highlight Solyndra, the California-based solar panel maker that went bust after blowing through a $535 million Department of Energy loan (plus far more in private equity funding). Basically something along the lines of: "I'm not the only one with some bad investments on his resume, and it's better to squander private equity than public equity."

So last Thursday Romney held a surprise press conference at Solyndra's shuttered headquarters. During his prepared statement, Romney said:

    "An independent inspector general looked at this investment and concluded that the Administration had steered money to friends and family and campaign contributors."

Romney then repeated the claim later in the press conference.

Small problem: No inspector general ever "concluded" such a thing, at least not based on any written reports or public statements.

The hallmark of the Romney campaign is lying. Note it.

Robert Kuttner:

Why don't those in power listen to economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman?

Or Mann and Ornstein, for that matter.

Pack it in, Unions. It's over.
' @BrettDoster via web

Brett Doster is "Florida Senior Advisor, Romney for President".

John Sides:

Here are a couple graphs for the next time you hear that the 'independents are the largest group of American voters' and some species of 'to appeal to this vast number of independents you have to take moderate positions.'  Graphs are courtesy of the new Pew Center report (p.28 and 98 of the pdf):