The Democratic state senators who left Wisconsin to protest Republican legislation to weaken union rights for public workers returned Saturday to thousands of supporters who pledged to continue fighting.Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Hansen choked up as he talked of the stresses of life on the lam and of missing home and family.
Chokes me up, just thinking about their life on the lam. Who paid for their rooms and feeding, I wonder?
The Wisconsin Democratic Central Committee, I've read. In turn they get their money mostly from unions, who get it from their members, who get it from the state. Nice circle of life.
"So people think this is a picnic for us - they're wrong," he said. "We did it for the right reasons. We stood up for our working men and women in the state."
And stepped on the remaining voters, who elected a Republican House.
He said it was difficult to keep all 14 senators united as pressure grew to return to Wisconsin.
Hey, man, not all of us have girlfriends/interns in Illinois!
We're on a high," Hansen said. "We lost the battle, but we're going to win the war. I think we've got the momentum on our side. Every poll I've seen, the people believe in what we're doing. It's about standing up for democracy."
Or running away from it, as the case may be.