PREVIEW BLOG: Neil Cavuto's Inside Look at His Special Coverage of the Wisconsin Recall Election
Monday and Tuesday, Neil Cavuto's headed to Wisconsin where he'll be covering every angle of the state's recall election for Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Tune in to Your World at 4p ET on Fox News Channel and don't miss Cavuto on Fox Business Network, which starts at a new time on Monday -- 8p ET. Check out Neil’s exclusive look at what he’s got in store!
By Neil Cavuto
Cheese-heads unite!
Because for the next few days, you rule. The only question is whether after next Tuesday, your governor will rule. We’ll ask him. We’ve got a very special one-on-one chat with him. That’s right, Governor Scott Walker himself, with me, in Wisconsin, as well as the folks trying to bring him down and make history in Wisconsin.
Talk about historic. And talk about far-reaching, because no matter how this historic recall goes – only the third of a state governor in history -- the reverberations will be felt far and wide in every state. Not only is Governor Scott Walker’s very job on the line, but perhaps the future of the union movement itself.
Once you think about just the enormity of “that,” no wonder we’re “Green Bay Packing.” It’s that big a news story, and that big a financial story. That’s why we’re doing both my Fox News and Fox Business programs from Wisconsin on Monday and Tuesday. We’re there before the big vote, and for the big vote, and if need be, late into the night, when we finally get the big vote.
Talk about a big kickoff for our new time change for Cavuto on Fox Business! Starting Monday, it moves to 8p ET, from 6p ET. And we’re live in the Badger State for the debut! Talk about a tension convention, and talk about what’s at stake. I mean, there’s no middle ground, or middling response here. Either the governor survives, or he doesn’t. Either unions and their big money depose him, succeed, or they don’t.
There’s no kinda winner and kinda loser here. If Scott Walker survives, it’s clear the unions’ winning streak does not. That would mean the millions of dollars unions from around the country have brought to bear in this state, end up being a waste of money in this state. Further, union members might rightfully rebel, many of whom already were chafing at the sheer expense of this battle, and that it was their union dues going to pay for it. Do those members stick around? Do they head out? Do they just give up?
And nationally, do other union members read into such results and think the same thing. Is this worth it? Pundits will no doubt build on that and wonder whether unions themselves could survive such a defeat.
Conversely, should Governor Walker be voted out, what signal does that send other governors who’ve been trying to rein in public spending, particularly soaring public pension and healthcare costs. If a Republican governor is rejected in Wisconsin for going too far, it doesn’t take an Ivy League pollster to figure other Republican governors trying to do the same thing might not be around too long. Think about John Kasich in Ohio, or Chris Christie in New Jersey, or Rick Scott in Florida. To varying degrees, they’ve all made their mantra taming runaway public pension and benefit costs.
If unions win in Wisconsin, some argue budget austerity is dead everywhere. That might be a stretch, but here’s what’s not. Unions have been on a roll nationally. Helped by a supportive White House and a sympathetic National Labor Relations Board, unions already have won the right to expedite member sign-ups at non-union companies, and have even found ways to circumvent the normal legal process, to land seats right on corporate boards.
Of course, all of this masks the greater reality that unions just aren’t what they were. Membership is down, and in Wisconsin, really down. A lot of that has to do with Governor Walker’s move to allow company workers to opt out of unions, if they so choose. But a lot more has to do with many union members who’ve become depressed by not getting too much bang for their membership bucks.
That’s actually been the wind at Governor Walker’s back of late … the economy in his state has been improving a lot of late. Private sector jobs are up, and a host of other key indicators are up as well. Voters seem to be feeling better about Wisconsin’s future. Now, whether Gov. Walker benefits from that improving sentiment is anyone’s guess. But if he does, it will no doubt embolden him to continue union-taming measures which some union chiefs say all but amount to disemboweling them, but the governor insists are the very concessions he still needs from them.
It is far from a harmonious environment, and we’ll no doubt see that up close and personal when we’re in Wisconsin. I’m even told a lot of union members aren’t big fans of Fox, and aren’t looking too forward to seeing me or my colleagues in the belly of their beast, I guess. But no matter what, we’re there … talking to the governor, talking to the guy challenging him, and the unions targeting him.
Fair and balanced, hot and heady.
I’ve already been getting a lot of concerned email from Wisconsin voters. One even suggested she’d buy me a Green Bay Packers helmet. She wanted to know my size. I told her just buy two, and we can meld them together.
Big head. Big race. Big week. Big shows.
Don’t forget to tune in to Your World — Monday & Tuesday at 4p ET on Fox News Channel and Cavuto on Fox Business Network, Monday & Tuesday at 8p ET.
Talk about hitting the new time slot running … or should I say, tackling.
