Wisconsin is Ground Zero for American politics this week. Big Labor and liberals are trying to recall Governor Scott Walker, a Republican. That election is this Tuesday. If the polls and pundits are right, I might get to write another schadenfreude article, at Big Labor’s and Big Liberalism’s expense, on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Tucson becomes the next Ground Zero for American politics. For one whole week, the CD8 special election becomes the biggest thing on the national political scene.

When it’s crunch time in election season, liberals and Democratic Party supporters can do some pretty crazy things. Remember the “White Bread” mailer that CD7 constituents received in 2008? (Ruth McClung is white…white bread…she was running in a heavily Hispanic district…mmmm hmmmm.)

If you thought that was crazy, check out the mailer that “The Greater Wisconsin Political Fund” is sending out in Wisconsin this weekend. If you go to the website of the Fund’s parent, the Greater Wisconsin Committee, you’ll see that the committee promotes a progressive policy agenda, thinks very little of Scott Walker and takes money from labor organizations.

Just what is the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund doing with that money they’re getting from labor and other progressive organizations? Reminding Wisconsin voters that they are being watched.

Dear Registered Voter

Who votes is public record!

Why do so many people fail to vote? We’ve been talking about the problem for years, but it only seems to get worse. This year, we’re taking a new approach. We’re sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote.

We need to all pull together. The chart shows the name of some of your neighbors, showing which have voted in the past.

After the June 5th election, public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn’t.

Do your civic duty. Vote.

The mailer then lists which of your neighbors voted recently, their addresses, and the elections in which they cast ballots. Here’s a scanned copy of the mailer:

Sends a chill down your spine, doesn’t it? Public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn’t. And now, Wisconsin voters know that progressive and union activists will be checking those records, making lists, and then…

There’s even an academic study that discusses the impact on voter turnout, if the voter’s neighbors are made aware of who voted and when. The study calls this (I am not making this up) “the surveillance effect.”

Public records already tell you how much money people contribute to political campaigns. The late Andrew Breitbart recounted how conservatives in the TV and film industries fear contributing to GOP candidates, because FEC database searches could reveal their political leanings to a liberal (and vindictive) Hollywood. Supporters of Proposition 8, the pro-gay-marriage amendment in California, searched FEC records to identify people who contributed to groups that opposed the proposition. Many of these people were then harassed at their homes and workplaces. (Example: a cashier at a Hollywood restaurant contributed to Prop 8 opponents; Prop 8 supporters retaliated by targeting the entire restaurant, in order to pressure her bosses into firing her.)

Surely the federal government didn’t intend public records to be used as tools for harassment and intimidation. Unfortunately, that’s just what the Left is doing. They are quite good at it. We saw it in California, now we see it in Wisconsin…will we see it here next week?

Based on what the polls and pundits are saying, Wisconsin isn’t looking good for Big Labor and liberals right now. On Wednesday, there could be lots of liberal activists and labor bosses with egg on their faces, looking for someplace, anyplace where they can score some sort of victory.

Those pictures of white bread sound pretty tame right about now.

(Graphic downloaded from the blog of Ann Althouse, a University of Wisconsin law professor. http://althouse.blogspot.com. Many of the reference links in this article are from Professor Althouse’s blog postings on this subject.)