August 29, 2004

Battleground Wisconsin

According to a Rasmussen poll, President Bush is head of Sen. John Kerry 48%-45%. We're getting to the point where polls actually start to mean something. This is good news for Bush. He narrowly lost the Badger state in 2000, but it has a few trends going his way. Even though the state has a Democratic governor and two Democratic Senators, Wisconsinites lived under a popular Republican governor, Tommy Thompson, for 16 years. We're not afraid to vote R. Second, recent scandals have helped Republicans. Two years ago, the liberal-dominated (yet non-partisan) Milwaukee County Board approved a budget-busting pension plan for county workers. This caused such firestorm that a number of county supervisors and the county executive were recalled and replaced with Republican or more conservative people. The Democratic State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager was arrested for drunk driving and fined for improper use of a state vehicle.

There's an air of stink around the Democrats, but that won't be enough for strong Bush bashers. Winning Wisconsin will come down to GOTV--Get Out The Vote. In the past the Democrats have played this game extremely well. However, the GOP is mounting their biggest GOTV drive yet. It began last spring with training sessions and calling known Bush supporters. It has continued with finding places for lawn signs and working parades and fairs. The Dems are working hard in Madison and Milwaukee. The Republicans are working in the Milwaukee suburbs and the Fox River Valley to counter the liberal city vote. We'll see if the GOP's 72-hour operation is organized and effective enough to make Wisconsin a red state.

[via Viking Pundit]