Rural Voters Key in Wisconsin

Rural Voters in Wisconsin are key to both McCain and Obama when it comes to winning the state.

Obama has been opening offices in rural areas and sending out party operatives to meet directly with voters, while McCain has relied on mailings and phone calls.

Recent polls show Obama and McCain in a dead heat, but McCain is favored by rural voters, especially since Palin joined the ticket.

Obama's Great Lakes Plan

In an earlier post, I mentioned the Governor of Wisonsin, Jim Doyle's, comment, which said that the next president should make it a priority to preserve the Great Lakes.

On Tuesday, Obama gave a proposal for a Great Lakes restoration program which would give $5 billion over 10 years to protect the lakes. The Obama campaign is hoping this will help pick up some votes in Wisconsin and Ohio.

State Republican Party chairmen from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin on Tuesday issued a response to Obama's plan saying, "John McCain has made his commitment to supporting the Great Lake Compact abundantly clear. He has a long record of working in a bipartisan manner, which is exactly what is needed to bring about real reform and solutions to challenges that we need to address now. Barack Obama's solution, like we've seen before, throws taxpayer money at the problem instead of reaching across party lines and working toward a comprehensive solution."

Obama and McCain Fight for Wisconsin

Both sides are heavily focused on winning Wisconsin and it's 10 electoral votes. As we have just passed the 50 day mark, the Obama and McCain campaigns are stepping it up in Wisconsin, each hoping to become the victor of this state. 

John McCain is increasing his number of offices in Wisconsin from 10 to 18 and paid staff members from 20 to about 30. The race has come much closer, which is a result of the Republican Party in Wisconsin being energized by McCains VP choice, Sarah Palin. The campaign is hoping to make things even closer by becoming more organized in the state. Along with the added offices, McCain and VP candidate Sarah Palin are coming to the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon on Thursday. This is their second stop to Wisconsin since Palin joined the ticket; it was the first place they visited after the convention in Minneapolis. 

Obama is also opening up more offices. He is opening up 4 more offices to make a total of 36 offices across the state. Although McCain is catching up to him, the Obama campaign is not worried. They say that they will just have a much narrower win than they were expecting. Along with opening up new offices, Obama's "Heartland Change Tour II" comes to Waupun today. Campaign staff and supporters will join together to discuss Obama and McCain's records as they relate to rural Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin Governor thinks Great Lakes should be National Priority

This is an interesting article from the Mansfield News Journal. Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, said that the next president should make it a priority to preserve the Great Lakes. He then told reporters that Obama has a stronger record on environmental issues than McCain. I posted the link below.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/UPDATES01/80911015

Race Getting Closer in Wisconsin!

As we near 50 days until the election, the race in Wisconsin still appears too close to call. Current polling indicates that the two candidates are neck in neck. According to Pollster.com, Obama leads with 48.1% over McCain’s 40.4%. However, another survey given on September 5-7 by Strategic Vision (a Public Relations Group), called it even closer. They asked 800 likely voters in Wisconsin if the election for president were held today, would you support the Democratic ticket or the Republican ticket. 46% said they would support Obama while 43% said they would support the McCain. With the +/-3 margin of error, the two could be in a dead heat. Also, McCain seems to be leading in two of the major issues of this election. When asked which candidate would better handle the economy, 48 percent said McCain while 41 percent said Obama. When asked which candidate would best handle the war in Iraq, 45 percent said McCain while 43 percent said Obama. Also interesting is that the people of Wisconsin seem to love Sarah Palin. She has a 55% approval rating, while Joe Biden has a 43% approval rating.
Past elections don’t make it any easer it predict. While the past four elections have all gone democrat, they have done it by a small margin and have been highly contested. The past two have been especially close. The results are as follows:


2004: Kerry: 50%
Bush: 49%

2000: Gore: 49%
Bush 48%

1996: Clinton: 49%
Dole: 39%

1992: Clinton: 41%
Bush: 37%

Two key issues for voters in Wisconsin are the economy and trade. According to the Associated Press, seven in ten voters said international trade has resulted in lost jobs in Wisconsin. Fewer than one in five said trade has created more jobs than it has lost.

Here is an overview of the economy, according to National Journal:

Industry:
Agriculture: 2.8%; Construction: 5.9%; Finance: 6.1%; Information: 2.2%; Manufacturing: 26.7%; Professional: 26.6%; Public Administration: 3.5%; Trade: 14.8%; Other: 11.3%
Work Force:
Work Sector:
Private:81.1%; Govt:12.5%; Self:6.1%; Family:0.3%; Unemployment:4.7%
Median Household Income: $43,791
8.7% are below the poverty line
13.0% less than $15,000
25.9% $15-35,000
18.1% $35-50,000
33.6% $50-100,000
6.4% $100-150,000
3.0% more than $150,000
Median Home Value: $109,900
10.0% less than $50,000
33.8% $50-100,000
43.6% $100-200,000
8.7% $200-300,000
3.0% $300-500,000
1.0% more than $500,000

Wisconsin currently has a Democratic governor, Jim Doyle, and a Republican-controlled state Assembly. Both of their senators, Russell D. Feingold and Herb Kohl, are democrats.

As of right now, the race is too close to call. The democrats have a slight lead, but a lot can happen in 50 days. It will be interesting to see what happens!

Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes.