Governor finally does the right thing, but for the wrong reasons

Finally, a victory for democracy in Wisconsin. It wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t pretty, but Governor Scott Walker has finally done the right thing. After refusing to call a special election to fill two seats in the legislature vacant since the start of the year, Walker has relented and agreed to hold special elections in June. Walker was under pressure from the public and the courts to order the elections. But he dug in his heels, saying the elections would be too expensive or even confusing for voters. He was ordered by a judge to schedule the elections, but worked as hard as he could to circumvent that. He wanted lawmakers to come back to work in a special session to rewrite the rules that say such special elections must be scheduled promptly to get around the judge’s ruling. When that didn’t work, he went to the appeals court, and they gave him the same schooling in how democracy is supposed to work. Finally he gave up the fight and scheduled the elections. But he didn’t do it because it was the right thing to do. If that was the case, he would have ordered the elections months ago. He only relented because he was painted into a political corner. His refusal was becoming harder and harder to defend. So finally, Walker has done the right thing and followed the law, even if he did so for all the wrong reasons.