So what’s next?

It’s the question people keep asking. Now that Democrats defeated two incumbent Republican state senators in Wisconsin, while defending all three Democrats, what should we learn from this?

To that, I pose a simple question back to you. WWSWD? Yup, you guessed it, What Would Scott Walker Do? A lot can be learned from Wisconsin’s extremist governor, who has been telegraphing his plays since the day he spilled the beans on that fake call with someone pretending to be one of the Koch Brothers many months ago.

Have you noticed that Scott Walker has been mentioning the word bipartisan every chance he gets lately? Maybe it’s because he’s seeing the same polling everyone else is. Scott Walker is one of the least popular governors in the entire country, and people are tired of the extremist politics.

Now don’t jump to any conclusions just yet.

Scott Walker may have seen the polling, but much like he treats Wisconsin’s pro-labor majority, he’s not listening. Scott Walker’s polling tells him to be more bipartisan.

Enter “doublespeak.”

The book “1984” made the term popular for deliberately ambiguous or evasive language. Pretty soon, Walker will create a Ministry of Truth that will rewrite the very history books we use to teach our kids.

Now, he’s giving bipartisanship lip service every chance he gets. Yet, when it comes right down to it, it’s just doublespeak.

Back in February, he divulged a ploy to try to trick Democrats into returning to Wisconsin to vote on his bill. In March he described Democratic calls to negotiate as “ridiculous.” When he testified under oath before Congress, he even said bipartisanship at times was “not so good.”

But back home, it’s another story these days. He says the word any chance he gets. He even sent his legislative liaison out to meet with Democratic legislators, but that was after the budget passed to try to provide political cover.

At that time, I sent a very direct letter to the governor inviting him to join me at a town hall forum at an elementary school in my district to meet with our shared constituents (yes, I have the dubious honor of representing the Governor’s Mansion). Do you know what I got back in response to my invitation?

Cue the crickets chirping.

So, back to the original question of “what’s next?”

While I think Republicans should recognize that they spent six months passing ultra-conservative rightwing legislation and it cost them two seats in the Wisconsin State Senate, I’m pretty sure they either don’t get it or don’t care.

I’d like to think that the fall floor period in Wisconsin would bring bipartisanship back to the Wisconsin Capitol. However, call me a cynic, but I just don’t see Walker changing his tune. What you are going to hear are words like “working together” and “reaching across the aisle” but I don’t buy it. And luckily, neither do Wisconsinites.

What you will see is that we still live staunchly under the Walker Regime in FitzWalkerstan.

Stay alert. Stay active. And stay tuned, because Act II in Wisconsin is just getting started.

Wisconsin State Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison), who coined the term FitzWalkerstan on the floor of the State Assembly, served three terms on the state’s budget committee, including one as its co-chair. He also served as the vice-chair of the non-partisan National Council on State Legislature’s Budget and Policy committee. Pocan’s Assembly district includes both the State Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion, making Governor Scott Walker his most infamous constituent.