Wisconsin Dems Vow Recall Vote for Walker

Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders have dug in for a protracted battle against governor Scott Walker, vowing ballot box revenge for his anti-union law, the Chicago Tribune reports. The new law is protected by GOP majorities in the state's Senate and Assembly, but Democrats think they can use the anger over it to force a recall vote against Walker himself. "They may have won the battle, but I guarantee you they've lost the war," said one Democratic assemblyman.

By state law, even a recall petition isn't possible until January 3, 2012, at which point Walker will have been in office for the minimum of one year. But 149,000 voters have pledged online to sign the petition then; they'll need 540,000 to force a vote. "You do not understand," Assembly minority leader Pete Barca said this weekend, at a protest attended by about 100,000. "Rights die hard in America." Meanwhile, teachers and other public-sector workers raced to get new deals in place before the law strips their right to negotiate them.