Imagine for a second you are a Republican state senator in Wisconsin, newly elected in 2010. You spent your entire campaign season listening to the spin that America didn’t like this “hope-y, change-y thing,” the Democratic base wasn’t energized and this was your time. You had the mandate of the people.

Next thing you know, you won! Everything the talking heads predicted came true! You’re being sworn in at the Capitol with the whole party and the people who have given you control of the assembly, the senate and the governorship – life is good.

In the excitement you find yourself agreeing to every single thing Gov. Scott Walker can come up with. It all sounds so good on paper; you are going to make the tough choices to rein in the budget, and this is what America wants.

Then you go after unions, and before you know it, you’re Ron Burgundy saying, “That really escalated quickly.” Before you even have a chance to gauge how your own district feels about this sudden change in labor relationships, you’re under the national news microscope. Under this scrutiny comes a budget bill so hard-line to the right that you have to check outside to make sure you are still working in Wisconsin and not Texas.

Life is no longer so good. You try to reason with the governor, explain to him that Wisconsin is the epitome of a swing state. You point to the polls, to the crucial fact that 68 percent of independents oppose the attack on unions. You try to make Walker understand Wisconsin will always have its strong 40 percent Republican support and strong 40 percent Democratic, but that it is the 20 percent in the middle that won you the last election.

At this, our immovable governor merely laughs. “No, no,” he says. “It’s all out-of-state protesters and liberal media bias; the Democrats will have to come back soon.”

He tells you this on his way to conduct some national interviews, receive an outpouring of praise from Fox News, and generally bask in his newfound fame as the crusader against everything that is wrong with America – teachers, unions, bus transportation, recycling, technical colleges, universities and poor sick people.

This is getting ridiculous, but your leader says, “Don’t panic,” and “Heck, you still have the majority, so what are they going to do about it?” Then the recall papers get filed, and you know if it wasn’t your first year in office that would be your head on the chopping block.

Finally you come to realize compromising is the lesser of two evils here. To back down politically always faces negative repercussions, but these potential problems pale in comparison to the staunch opposition you are faced with every morning when you read the paper.

Now one of your fellow Republican senators, Dale Schultz, appears to be wavering, and the grumblings about the predicament Walker has gotten you all into is slowly escalating. The Democratic senators are eagerly calling for talks of compromise, a compromise that would still appear a nice victory for the right, as giving in on union-busting would ensure the rest of the bill’s safe passage. Maybe you will survive this whole thing, maybe even gain politically a bit.

But your leader, if he ever was, is no longer concerned about your political future. He cares as much about your ability to be reelected in the state of Wisconsin as he does about the teachers of Wisconsin. Because, and here’s the dirty little secret, the “rising star” of the GOP doesn’t care about the future of politics in Wisconsin whatsoever, seeing as how he has no intention of being around for it. No, Walker has big dreams, national dreams, and this is his Reagan-firing-the-air-traffic-controller moment that will turn him into a national conservative icon.

You know this too – you realized it about a week into this thing, with poll numbers sliding while Walker’s national recognition was skyrocketing. You realized the people who have given Walker their “mandate” don’t control your district, or any district in this state. No, the people who control this state stand consistently in the middle, and Walker doesn’t have any interest in steering down the middle.

Where does that leave you? Well, it’s like this, really: Walker piled you all into a big, fancy, corporate-sponsored tour bus and set out to do Big Things. But now, suddenly, you’re going 150 mph towards the goals of Scott Walker – vice president, or president or maybe His Imperial Majesty sounds best to him – with Scottie giggling to himself in the driver’s seat. Only one slight problem for you – your constituents and responsibilities are fading away in the rearview mirror. And the corporate machine only needs Scott Walker; you my poor senator are…expendable.

John Waters ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.