Hey, have you heard? Gov. Scott Walker is probably on his way to facing a Democrat in a recall election. After a year of governing Wisconsin more controversially than anyone in recent memory, Wisconsin liberals appear to be on their way to forcing Walker into an election. Surprise!

Do not listen to pundits, or Badger Herald columnists for that matter, who claim Democrats are too unorganized and lack in adequate candidates going into the election. Although it’s true that liberal leaders in Wisconsin probably suffer from a lack of name recognition in major cities that do not begin with the letter “M,” name recognition has been relatively inconsequential in recent gubernatorial elections.

My good friends and Badger Herald colleagues Alex Brousseau and Jake Begun have tried to argue that without a big star like Russ Feingold running against Walker in a recall, Democrats will be doomed, and the huge risk and opportunity of the recall election will fizzle into a huge setback for liberals in Wisconsin. They say big names in left-wing circles, like Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, and former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk are simply not well-known enough to succeed on the same level as His Excellency Russ Feingold.

But where were Walker and Democratic candidate Tom Barrett before they faced off in the 2010 election? Barrett was Milwaukee’s mayor, most well-known for literally having taken a serious beating after trying to help a citizen in need at the Wisconsin State Fair. Aside from Feingold, Barrett probably has the best name recognition outside of Madison and Milwaukee, but is often labelled as too weak to challenge someone on Walker’s level.

Walker, however, was arguably less well-known than Barrett before his successful campaign in 2010. Although he had served stints in the Assembly and run for governor before, these distinctions made him no less qualified to be governor in the eyes of the electorate than Falk, whom Brousseau argues is “not well known outside of Dane County.”

That does not matter. Yes, it is true that Madison liberals often live in a political bubble that ignores folks north of Interstate 94, but Falk has the same, if not more, history in statewide politics than Walker and Barrett.

The same goes for Barca and Erpenbach, who received more state and national media coverage than any other politician in last winter’s budget repair bill uproar.

Of all candidates, Barca is the most viable for this reason.

Barca became a moral authority in the Democratic party and impressed Wisconsinites with his stern scoldings on the Assembly floor. Seriously, his Assembly floor speeches could have won him a starring role in a 1980s after-school special as a dad discovering his children were smoking weed.

With or without Feingold, the deck is stacked against Walker. His name recognition may be high, but even in the most remote corners of the state, I suspect much of that name recognition is negative. Throughout the year, polls have proven that almost every Wisconsin resident has an opinion of Walker, and hypothetical rematches between Walker and Barrett have previously indicated support for Barrett.

Add to that the unprecedented amount of emotional politicking that has gone into the battle over collective bargaining, and Walker finds himself in a perfect storm of negatives where he could be framed as draconian and emotionless figure compared to a less rigid candidate that appears more compassionate to families. Democrats can choose Erpenbach, Barca, Feingold or even Falk as candidates who satisfy the requirement for an emotionally literate foil to Walker.

This reasoning excludes oft-mentioned possible candidates like retiring Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. Dave Obey, who frankly are too associated with the old guard to be successful next year. Mahlon Mitchell, a promising young politician who has a future a couple of years down the road, is similarly associated with the new guard in Democratic politics. And sorry, Cory Mason, it’s not your time yet either.

The most worrisome factor of the Democratic “candidate problem” is the inevitability of a primary challenge against a mainstream candidate from a far-left progressive in the same league as perma-protesters like Jeremy Ryan. Such a candidate would never win the primary but would aid in furthering dividing voters – especially East Side Madison liberals disenchanted with the Democratic Party.

Feingold would provide the most ironclad “unity ticket” defense against this dilemma, but his candidacy is unlikely. Without him, Democrats can choose between camera-loving Erpenbach, disappointed father figure Barca or consistent Falk.

These three are the key candidates that could successfully weather both a primary and general election challenge. If Democrats do not run them, Brousseau’s predictions about the biggest progressive failure in Wisconsin history will likely come true.

But with them, Walker should start to worry, if he hasn’t already done so.

Ryan Rainey ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and Latin American studies.