Both major party candidates in this year’s election have said they don’t expect it to be Wisconsin redux. Collective bargaining for public employee unions and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker didn’t figure at all in yesterday’s debate in Spokane, sponsored by the Association of Washington Business and Greater Spokane, Inc.

In my column this morning, I suggest that the issues decided in Wisconsin will resonate with Washington voters. As the recession has taken hold, as public pension obligations squeeze out funding for other important services, and as the unsustainable trajectory threatens to balloon costs further in the coming decade, the debate played out in Wisconsin defies easy ideological or partisan characterization.

Democratic mayors like Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel and Democratic governors like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo seek union concessions, often facing stiff opposition. In Wisconsin, 38 percent of union voters supported Walker in the recall election.

Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson recently offered a good analysis of the meaning of the Wisconsin election.

In lean times … the interests of union Democrats and progressive Democrats have diverged, forcing politicians to choose. In Wisconsin, Barrett took the side of the system, struggling to defend its prerogatives. San Jose’s Democratic Mayor Chuck Reed, in contrast, took the side of the services and pushed for pension reform. Both are progressives. Only one was pursuing the common good.

Mickey Kaus, expanding on a theme he introduced at the Research Council’s annual dinner, explains why sometimes seeking compromise is the wrong way to achieve change.

The anti-polarizers’ fallacy is that progress is always achieved in the center. Sometimes that’s true (e.g., the 1983 Social Security fix). But equally often progress comes when one side convinces voters and defeats the other side.

It’s a provocative argument, well worth the short read.

Candidates here may prefer to avoid the stark contrasts this year. But, eventually, the debate cannot be avoided.

UPDATE  Stateline reports on civil service and collective bargaining policy changes across the country.