As of 8:58 Mountain, with 70% of precincts in, Walker leads Barrett 57% to 42% — Whoopeee!!  Fox, CNN and ABC have called it for Walker and Kleefisch.

Update 9:19 mtn:  All Republican senators up for recall also kicking butt, most getting 60% of more of the vote.  Remember, just a couple of years ago Wisconsin was one of the bluest of blue states. Thank you, Mr. Obama!

Update 9:25 MTN:  With 80% of precincts in Walker still has double-digit lead, about 210,000 votes.  I don’t think Democrats can find that many ballots in car trunks to pull this out.

FINAL:  Walker 53.2%, Barrett 46.3% — Lt. Gov. Kleefisch 53%, Mitchell 47%

I was holding my breath on this.  Wisconsin has been the center of the future of American politics for the last year.  This was the make or break election both for conservatism and for Democrats and their public union buddies.  Walker has taken on the teachers’ unions and beat them almost as badly as Margaret Thatcher beat the coal miners union in Great Britain.  it’s going to be a new day!  Better education for children and sane budgets for school districts — imagine!

The Wisconsin teachers’ unions threw everything they had or could find at Scott Walker over the last 18 months and they now have nothing to show for it.

If this victory had not materialized it would have a tremendous setback for conservatives everywhere.  This is sweet victory for goodness over evil, in my view.

Best tweet of the night:

Dan Rhiel:  Breaking: Union bosses launch petition to recall the population of Wisconsin and replace them with Chicagoans.

Scott Walker is a hero for conservatives everywhere and has shown other governors that they can take on the public unions and survive.

Lesson for Republicans:  It’s Okay, you can grow some backbone now.

Oh, happy day! God Bless America, my home sweet home.

Found this at a blog called American Power:

Progessives Utterly Crushed After Failed Wisconsin Recall

And I really do believe that progressivism died tonight. For the last 18 months we’ve heard leftists proclaim a surge and revival of progressivism, following the first protests against Walker in Madison, and then when the Occupy movement gave fresh hopes to so many more. But when push came to shove in the Badger State, all the left’s forces couldn’t get it done. But note something here: While progressivism as a functional, viable ideology in American politics is dead, the activist left will continue to drone on like a Zombie starved for brains. As Roger Simon noted a couple of weeks back:
Liberalism as an ideology is in its death throes. Only the power trip remains.

I can’t stop dancing.