MADISON, Wis., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- An estimated 25,000-30,000 marchers rallied against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's policies and to urge his removal from office, organizers said.
"The governor campaigned on a set of promises and then turned around and implemented a totally different agenda," demonstrator Scott Spoolman told the Milwaukee (Wisc.) Journal-Sentinel. "I don't think he's working for Wisconsin but for a few billionaires."
While Saturday's crowd count in Madison could not be verified, the organizers said enough people showed up to push the number of signatures on the recall petition past 105,000 just four days into the campaign. United Wisconsin needs at least 540,208 valid signatures to put the recall question on the ballot.
A column in The Capital Times in Madison predicted United Wisconsin would pick up steam and succeed in its petition drive. The newspaper noted recent polls showing support for the recall and the high number of people who have downloaded the recall petition.
The Republicans blasted the recall and Saturday's Madison rally, calling it a political stunt engineered by the Democrats. "While Governor Walker and the state Legislature instituted bold reforms to cut wasteful spending, the Democrats and their liberal special interests simply want to increase it in their selfish pursuit to regain political power," Stephan Thompson, executive director of the Republican Party in Wisconsin, said in an e-mailed statement.
