A face you want to put your fist into
If I awake on the Wednesday after Election Day to find that Mary Burke will be the next governor of Wisconsin, I'll be satisfied with that. However, if I truly examine my thoughts, follow my gut, and give free reign to my Id-fueled base feelings, I want the Republicans to remain in control in Wisconsin.
I'll explain why over the fold.
You see, there has to be The Example. This reliably has been Mississippi, but Mississippi has been The Example for so long that effect of being so has worn off. People expect Mississippi to be at the bottom of objective measures of state's performance. Kansas is showing promise, but Kansas will turn shortly and hopefully the janitor work will be quick. California is shining example of what happens when you Get Republicans Out Of The Way, but California is far off and will soon have a severe water crisis that will strain the state government to its limit.
No, we need something near, something that is bad yet Should Not Be Bad. If that is Wisconsin, which is Not Where I Live, that'll do.
Wisconsin, by many measures, is a steaming pile of dog poop.
The late, great Molly Ivins put it best (and I paraphrase here): Like a dog that kills chickens, you have to tie the actions of voters (voting for Republicans) to the consequences thereof. If you have a chicken-killing dog, you wire the chicken's corpse to the dog's collar so it stays there until it rots away. The dog won't kill chickens after that.
Same with voting Republican. If you have to live with the consequences of that (rich people packing away more money while you pay more fees, shitty schools, crummy roads, bridges falling into rivers), you're less likely to vote that way again.
Far, far too often, Republican politicians get-out-of-Dodge too soon, with just enough plausible deniability to give them cover for their actions. Walker, to all appearances a Nixonian, Koch-fueled Boss Tweed of equal measure, needs to stay in office so that the effect of his reign cannot be denied nor dispelled. His national ambitions will be crushed as Wisconsin sinks further into the sewer on his watch.
If there's a cathode, there has to be an anode. Otherwise, you're always facing the 'What is this electricity thing you speak of?' question. Just point to it, and say 'Look there'.
As long as it's not where I live.