It’s hard to deny that Walker is doing pretty much exactly what he promised to stop. But that doesn’t mean the pork projects and policy items included in his budget are bad ideas.

When it comes to thinking and writing and money and politics, the public and press often take too simplistic a view.

By now, it’s well known that massive sums were poured into Wisconsin’s recall elections, from the candidates, parties and outside groups. But little attention has been paid to where this money went.

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. In retrospect, the effort by state Democrats to unseat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a recall election by running Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the same candidate who lost to him in November 2010, might fit this bill.

As the dust settles on Wisconsin’s tumultuous recall elections, let’s acknowledge some of the winners and losers with appropriate commendations.

Here’s an archive of our live blog from election night.
View a collection of election night photos on our Facebook page.
Recall election news sources:
Associated Press county vote results
New York Times lives updates and analysis
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel homepage and All Politics Blog
Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times homepage and Live Blog
WisPolitics Election Blog
POLITICO Election Central and Charlie Mahtesian’s blog
WisconsinWatch.org [...]

By Bill Lueders
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Advocates of open government often quiz candidates for public office on their level of support for official transparency. The candidates, when asked, always tout their commitment.
That doesn’t mean they always deliver.
Both Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, have fielded many requests for public [...]

Some say the real target of political television ads — and mailings, emails and robo-calls — is the vanishingly small segment of the population that has yet to decide whether it stands with Republican Gov. Scott Walker or backs Democratic challenger Tom Barrett.