April Showers…

…and a little thunder, too.

All very nice.
Tomorrow…perhaps the most important election in the history of time. We plan to vote early.

Here’s a clip from NYT:

Wisconsin is a microcosm of the country. It is narrowly divided politically, though Democrats have a slight advantage in the popular vote in statewide elections. And, as in Washington, Republicans have structural advantages in the government that give them outsize power.

Conservatives have controlled the state’s Supreme Court since 2008, and Republicans have held a hammerlock on the Legislature since 2011, when the party drew itself an impenetrable majority after taking control in a wave election.

Tomorrow, Wisconsin will hold an election for a seat on its Supreme Court, and it is no exaggeration to call the race, for a 10-year term, the single most important American election of 2023. It is already the most expensive judicial race in the nation’s history. The candidates and the super PACs supporting them have spent nearly three times as much on this race as in any prior court election.

Why is a single state race crucial? Because whichever side prevails will hold a 4-to-3 court majority, and this is the first American election in which the winner will single-handedly determine two big issues: the fate of abortion rights and whether the state has a functional representative democracy. The winner will also set the course for the 2024 presidential election in a state where fewer than 23,000 votes decided four of the last six such races.

If the liberal candidate, Janet Protasiewicz, wins, Wisconsin will almost certainly become the first state to allow abortion again after outlawing it with last summer’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. And because Democrats are likely to challenge the makeup of the state’s legislative districts if the court has a liberal majority, the near supermajorities that Republicans enjoy in the State Legislature would also probably not survive until the 2024 election.

A victory for the conservative candidate, Daniel Kelly, would mean abortion remains illegal, the gerrymandered maps stay in place, and Wisconsin remains a dysfunctional democracy for the foreseeable future.

Spring Arrived Today…

…slowly, and with difficulty. Hard frost at sunrise. Powerful wind; from the south, but still cold. High clouds overpowering the sun’s attempt at warmup. But by 5 p.m. clouds gone, wind softer and warmer, and spring peepers out peeping.

Just about right for a tootle around town.

The little blob is the start point, and the finish point. Twelve point seven kilometers, all told.

Pocket Knife…

…back in pocket, where it, or one of its predecessors, has been for many a decade. Having to leave it behind is one of the drawbacks of flying, and I feel undressed without it.
Today’s flight uneventful. It took longer to get from our hotel (near the airport) to our seats in the plane than it did for the plane to travel from Denver to Milwaukee.

Spring has not advanced noticeably in our week’s absence.

Back Down To Denver

Long drive north from Taos, on alternate route through the high, inter-mountain plain (alto plano) west of the Sangre de Cristos—a fascinating part of the world. Sometimes over 10,000 feet with towering mountains on every side. Crossed the headwaters of Rio Grande and Arkansas and Platte rivers.

Wind Chimes Chiming…

…as March winds are blowing. But, at least, the temperature is more like March than February.

That’s why a race for Wisconsin state Supreme Court — Election Day is April 4 — has extraordinarily high stakes. A Democratic win would deal a big blow to the MAGA movement’s 2024 hopes, underscoring its dramatically weakened hold on must-win territory once dominated by Trump. That outcome would give liberals a 4-3 majority on a court that could thwart any rerun of Trump’s 2020 effort to overturn his loss by legal chicanery.

The conservative candidate for the court seat — Republican lawyer Daniel Kelly — has sterling MAGA credentials. He was reportedly involved in discussions about a “fake electors” scheme to overturn Trump’s loss in the state. Last year, he helped lead “election integrity” events that suggested the state’s 2020 voting was suspect.