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As Wisconsin becomes an increasingly important win for the presidential candidates in the upcoming election, both campaigns are spending time in Wisconsin in an effort to increase voter turnout.
Despite cancelling several scheduled stops as a result of Superstorm Sandy, both presidential candidates will be making stops across the state. President Barack Obama is set to be in Green Bay on Thursday morning and Milwaukee on Saturday. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney will be speaking at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis on Friday.
The vice presidential candidates will also be coming to the state, with Vice President Joe Biden making stops in Superior and Beloit on Friday. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin native, has been making and will continue to make stops around the state this week, as well.
Former President Bill Clinton will also speak in Waukesha on Thursday.
These visits come after a Wednesday Marquette Law School Poll that put Obama above Romney 51 to 43 percent in a presidential election that poll director Charles Franklin said could come down to turnout. An earlier poll had found the presidential race tied on Oct. 17.
“Among all likely voters Obama leads by eight points, but among those who are both likely to vote and also follow politics most closely, the margin is just two points, 48-46 percent,” poll director Charles Franklin said in a statement. “It works to Obama’s advantage if the less interested voters turn out, while it improves Romney’s chances if they stay home. This shows how get out the vote efforts of both parties can affect the results.”
Jeff Snow, chair of the UW College Republicans, said he is excited to see his party’s candidates back in Wisconsin, where he admitted the race is very close.
He said Obama won the state four years ago by 14 points, but that his lead is not as large this time. Obama’s constant trips to the state, he added, show that Obama needs to win Wisconsin.
“Wisconsin is a swing state,” Snow said. “Both are doing what they can to gain support from their constituents. The state is necessary for both, but it is more necessary for Obama.”
The “conservative momentum” in the state is a large reason why the state is becoming closer, he said, adding that the support for Republican Gov. Scott Walker has the Obama campaign worried they could lose the state.
As for the eight-point lead the Marquette poll showed, Snow said he is skeptical of Obama having that large of a lead, as both campaigns would not be here if the lead was so large, calling the results “pretty ridiculous.”
UW College Democrats Chair Chris Hoffman said the Marquette poll is accurate, as it predicted the results of the June 5 recall election “on the nose.”
The reason why Obama has the lead in the state, Hoffman said, is because his message is especially appealing to the majority of Wisconsinites.
“Obama appeals to the middle class and students,” Hoffman said. “They believe the economy should grow from the middle up and student loans should stop going up. The president is here to fortify his opinion. Romney is here as a last ditch effort to win Wisconsin.”
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