Fresh polls showed Democrat John Kerry chipping away at President George W. Bush's lead in their race for the White House but gave mixed signals on the impact of the dominating issue, Iraq (AFP/Luke Frazza)
Posted on 09/25/2004 2:26:42 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WAUWATOSA, Wis. -- As Hank Gramling, the owner of Jake's Fairview Cafe in this Milwaukee suburb, works the griddle, the TV near the counter beams two ads for John Kerry and two for George Bush in the time it takes for a few bites out of a turkey sandwich on rye.
Welcome to Wisconsin, a battleground state.
Wisconsin, in this 2004 election, is everything Illinois is not.
Illinois, seen as a lock for Kerry, has no significant presidential campaign activity: no constant stream of dueling TV or radio ads, no major field organizations mounted by the rival campaigns, no rallies with Bush or Kerry or their wives.
But take Interstate 94 north, and everything instantly changes.
Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes may determine who is the next president. In 2000, Al Gore beat Bush by only 5,708 votes here. That was with Ralph Nader, running as the Green Party candidate, getting more than 90,000 votes. Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to win Wisconsin, and that was in 1984. But five of the last six polls show Bush either taking a lead or running even with Kerry. Nader seems not to be a major factor.
Gramling, 38, whose cafe is a few blocks from the Bush-Cheney Wisconsin headquarters, said he voted for Bush in 2000 but is undecided. "Those ads turn me off," he said. He's going to check things out on the Web when he has time.
The Kerry and Bush campaigns are heavily invested in Wisconsin.
Thursday, first lady Laura Bush stumped at a boys and girls club in Wausau. This afternoon, Bush talks about education in Janesville and stops for a rally in Racine. The Democratic National Committee starting running a new TV ad Thursday that says Bush's signature education No Child Left Behind Act was "leaving Wisconsin children behind."
Starting Sunday, Kerry will be based at the House on the Rock Inn in Spring Green, west of Madison, staying at the resort for a few days to prepare for the first debate with Bush on Sept. 30 in Coral Gables, Fla. Elizabeth Edwards attends church in Milwaukee on Sunday and swings up to Green Bay to talk about jobs in the afternoon.
Kerry made a big gaffe recently in Green Bay. He pronounced the name of the football field where the beloved Green Bay Packers play -- Lambeau Field -- Lambert.
Ouch. You don't mess with the Packers.
Wisconsin voters are being wooed through a heavy television ad war and in a ground campaign. They see everything, negative and positive, from the swift boat spot to the ads this week depicting Kerry as a flip-flopping windsurfer. "Mission not accomplished" says a Dem spot aimed at Bush.
Each campaign -- and allied organizations working independently to elect either Kerry or Bush -- have put together what they say are unprecedented field operations in the state, with more offices and more workers than in 2000.
Democrats are particularly aggressive. Last Saturday, two buses took 102 Illinois canvassers from downtown and Evanston to Wisconsin. "I just feel it's very important," said Mary Stiel, 41, a credit analyst from Uptown, before she boarded a school bus at the Illinois Kerry-Edwards headquarters, 57 W. Grand.
Kerry is also bolstered on the ground by a field operation bankrolled by Americans Coming Together, one of the so-called "527" non-party political organizations. ACT is focusing on black voter turnout. Democrats are worried about GOP-allied groups running ads they say are designed to suppress black voter turnout.
ACT's office is in Milwaukee's historic Third Ward district, across the street from a brewery called the Milwaukee Ale House. Mary Vanackeren, 44, a mechanical engineer, was enjoying a nine-malt stout when I wandered in. She voted for Bush in 2000 and will be for Kerry in November. She has been bombarded with campaigning.
"Nothing in Illinois? You're kidding," she said. "Unreal."
No matter who wins the debates, I'm looking forward to seeing Kerry make a pompus fool out of himself. This is going to be better than watching any contact sport!
At the end of the segment he (fakely IMO) wishes he could be decided, but can't be for reasons he can't state, namely that his paycheck with NPR depends on him staying "undecided". So the charade continues: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3934355
Here's the previous week: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3923397 where he implies the memos might be real and the swift boat vets are liars. Also he sarcastically "praised" the Bush tax cuts.
MODERATOR: Let me just follow up one quick question. When you hear Vice President Gore question your experience, do you read it the same way, that he's talking about policy differences only?
BUSH: Yes. I take him for his word. Look, I fully recognize I'm not of Washington. I'm from Texas. And he's got a lot of experience, but so do I. And I've been the chief executive officer of the second biggest state in the union. I have a proud record of working with both Republicans and Democrats, which is what our nation needs. Somebody that can come to Washington and say let's forget all the finger pointing and get positive things done on Medicare, prescription drugs, Social Security, and so I take him for his word.
A LIBERAL Kerry shill.
Mrs. John Kerry, whom I accuse of taking massive amounts of tranquilizers, will be well-drugged during the debates IMHO. Lurch? Won't he at last be injected full of Botox? I mean for starters.
If Bush continues to do well in the various battleground polls, he ought to spend an entire day campaigning throughout Illinois - just to scare the crap out of Team Kerry.
Kerry led a WGN poll in Illinois by 14 points last month, but a recent Survey USA poll had Kerry up by only 4.
Illinois has 21 electoral votes - that's more than New Hampshire, Nevada, Oregon and Maine combined.
Yea, but the whole Republican party has given up on IL for many years to come.
Author somehow couln't find anybody who claim they will be voting for Bush. Lying A**hole.
I wonder how many dead Illinois voters are going to be bussed up to Wisconsin.
What's up, Wausau?!
"Do they have anything to blunt cocky buffoonery?"
There are few medications for the symptoms of personality disorders. Give him medications and all you'll get is a cocky buffoon who is less anxious and less depressed.
I think Kerry's already taking those.
That would be very presidential!
"I'm asking for your vote."
I bet he'd get a lot.
What a couple of ding-bats!
"I think Kerry's already taking those."
He could try doubling his prozac. Geez, what a sad sack.
Who ever heard of running for president on the platform that says, "Everything's going to hell, I'm depressed, and you should be too?"
Fresh polls showed Democrat John Kerry chipping away at President George W. Bush's lead in their race for the White House but gave mixed signals on the impact of the dominating issue, Iraq (AFP/Luke Frazza)
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