Opinion

Wisconsin to unions: Drop dead

Let’s be crystal clear on one point: There wouldn’t have been a recall election in Wisconsin yesterday if organized labor in the Badger State hadn’t lusted to overturn the results of the 2010 general election.

And organized labor in the Badger State got stomped flat.

This has huge significance for those states and localities long held in thrall by public-employee unions and the now-busted myth that they speak for the people.

So no wonder that the White House was quick to declare even before the polls closed that yesterday’s outcome would have no impact on November’s presidential contest.

Dream on.

Indeed, Republican Gov. Scott Walker survived what appeared to be a last-minute pack-the-polls efforts in Democratic bastions like Milwaukee and Madison, the state capital.

The reason is clear enough: Walker promised to cut taxes, reduce a staggeringly high deficit and rein in outsized public-employee benefits. And he delivered for the people of Wisconsin.

Yesterday, the people delivered for him.

The result was clear — and it came in what by all accounts was a record-high voter turnout. In short, a renewal of the mandate Walker won when he was first elected in 2010.

Even union members appear grateful for Walker’s reforms — fleeing union membership in droves once Walker eliminated mandatory dues checkoffs.

Which is probably why the reforms themselves seemed lost in the race — as Democrats focused instead on the Tea Party and Walker’s alleged extremism on unrelated issues.

In the end, it simply didn’t work.

Walker’s historic win can only embolden other trailblazing Republican governors, like New Jersey’s Chris Christie — and hopefully encourage other pols who have been fearful of labor’s backlash.

Turns out the unions’ roar was little more than a pussycat’s meow.