With State Assembly Dems lining up against 3 different GOP recall candidates, the tea party activists and county board supervisors that have so far announced they will run against recall-eligible Dems should have a much harder time turning seats (which is not to say it will be easy for Dems).
One candidate who jumps out as especially bad in these races is Northwoods Patriots tea-party group leader Kim Simac. Simac is a children's book author and mother of nine who helped to organize the recall efforts against Senator Jim Holperin. Her husband Butch owns Great Northern Water, a company that provides plumbing and water services and takes in between $500,000 and $1m a year, according to tax documents. While she may have the money, she doesn't appear to have the campaign experience - she's still got no website, 5 days after announcing, and she's never run for office in the past.
The real worry for her should be message - while there are many in Wisconsin who are angry that the 14 Democratic Senators left the state for a prolonged period, railing against this action is not likely to win the election for an extremist like Simac with no elected experience. These recall elections will be a referendum on Scott Walker and his action against public employees and collective bargaining, not a debate on whether or not the senators should have fled to Illinois. In that environment, I don't see any possible message Simac might try to convey really breaking through to an electorate.
Below, see some examples of Kimac in the public spotlight in recent years.
Discussing home-schooling and the separation of church and state:
Featured on Glenn Beck:
Speaking in Madison on the day of the tea-party rally:
Edit: Illusory Tenant has a post on Simac up at his (her?) informative blog.
