[WS:] The way you posed these questions indicates the crux of the problem - namely that the left has become reactive rather than proactive and merely reacts to the initiatives of the right.
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Rather than talk in ideological terms, I've tried the social psychology track.
For Joshua, Bryan et al. I suspect Madison did what it could given its public service employee unions and generally liberal base. It went for recalls because in some general sense, it was the law abiding liberal thing to do.
In the fight-flight they were in a fighting mood and that was good.
For Wojtek. It's not news that FDR liberalism has been dying for a long time and there is little or no political institutional knowledge of such in a very long time. I got to see both the legislative design and the on the ground results of such liberalism and that is a rare thing. It is still there in some small corner of the Democrats with representatives Lee and selected others in the black and progressive caucuses in the House.
The country is in somekind of deep fear complex, due to the economy, the wars, and natural forces that seem unleashed on various parts of the country aggrevated by climate change. These fears are breaking down the government and various economic institutions and policies.
Politically, locally, I am fighting with the NGO public-private partnership mentality, trying my best to get this generation of local community org bosses, to get out of this mentality and back to the quasi FDR liberal thinking I remember from OEO days.
I need to do more research and get back on this later...
The people in Madison will discover other social spaces now that the recall failed and keep at it. I'd suggest one probably overlooked.
In Berkeley of yore, various local churches were politically active in some phase of civil rights and anti-war movements. The First Congregational up the street was very active and there were others, like the Methodist a few blocks south. They were part of the CO movement, since that legislation was based on religious objections to war. Since I had no religion, I had to wing it.
The whitewing uses churchs and a blend of weido theology and reactionary politics. This morning Democracy Now interview with Shara Posner. Listen carefully to Bachmann's history who has a law degree from Oral Roberts:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/15/bachmanns_iowa_straw_poll_win_signals The ideology attempts to realign the position of church and state. God issues human rights/values and the church and state play various roles. This is something like what the Zionists did as I followed it in Strauss.
Meanwhile the liberal mirror of this is found in the black liberation theology that Rev Wright got tossed for.
CG