A stand by Wisconsin Republicans against a massive effort to oust them from power could reverberate across the country as the battle over union rights and the conservative revolution heads toward the 2012 presidential race.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday that the RNC is doing all it can to protect incumbent GOP state senators targeted for recall from being "hijacked" by state employee unions.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday that the RNC is doing all it can to protect incumbent GOP state senators targeted for recall from being "hijacked" by state employee unions.

Voters in three Wisconsin State Senate districts went to the polls Tuesday, and the results are more good news for progressives. In a 38-point victory, Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen fought off a recall attempt - while Republicans held primaries in two other districts. But the bigger story here was turnout (compared with the Democratic primaries last week), and it's clear we have a glaring "enthusiasm gap" that has galvanized Democratic voters. Meanwhile, Republicans are so concerned about what will happen on August 9th - when six GOP state senators are subject to recall - that they have gone full speed ahead to pass a hyper-partisan gerrymandered map, while they still control the legislature.

At long last, Republicans have filed recall petitions against Democratic state Senators. They made three filings in total, against Jim Holperin, Dave Hansen, and Robert Wirch. In two weeks, it's possible that Republicans will submit recall petitions against Democratic state Senator Julie Lassa as well.