The Badger State confounds me: an early advocate of LGBT rights, this state has given us Sen. Joe McCarthy and Scott Walker, twice. Tonight is a bad night for its LGBT residents

I like Wisconsin and its residents, having earned my MBA in Madison in the 1980s.  In my experience, Wisconsinites generally are open-minded, hard-working, and down-to-earth.

And Wisconsin has two different sides to its personality: it has sent a series of progressive Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to Washington, including William Proxmire, Russ Feingold, Henry Reuss, and several generations of LaFollettes. And it has elected divisive and fear-mongering politicians like Senator Joe McCarthy and now -- twice -- Governor Scott Walker.

Let's be clear: Scott Walker is radical right-wing ideologue, from the same extreme school of politics as the current anti-gay Tea Party governors of Virginia and Florida. His anti-gay policies include

• A measure to rescind the hospital visitation rights of gay couples, which is clearly mean-spirited.
• A motion to stop the enforcement of the state's ground-breaking domestic partner law.
• A motion to eliminate domestic partner benefits for state employees. 

I don't favor recall elections unless the official has committed a crime or some other significant impropriety. Having said that, it is okay to be sad about the election results from tonight.  This is a loss for the progressive movement.  Right now, voters are frightened after George W. and the financial industry drove off our economy into the ditch in 2008. But in the long-run, I do believe that Wisconsin voters will return to their better senses and vote for a leader who believes that all Wisconsin residents are equal, including the LGBT.

(It is interesting to note that Walker has a history of hiring openly gay staffers in his various political jobs.  But like many Republicans, including Ronald Reagan and George W., just because they know and hire gay people doesn't mean that they won't enact policies that take away the rights of the LGBT.  They invite gay people over to their homes for the weekend, but then work to discriminate against them on Monday.  "Nothing personal, have another croissant but I am taking your rights away.")