[media-credit name=’PATRICK STATZ-BOYER/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., rallied in Madison Thursday, telling roughly 200 Republican supporters that Wisconsin is in need of change and that he will get the state "moving again."

Conservative Madison radio host Vicki McKenna and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said there was "hope on the horizon for Wisconsin to be great again" and introduced Green to the excited crowd at the Best Western Inn on the Park hotel on the Capitol Square.

Green appeared with his wife, Sue, saying the people of Wisconsin have all the tools to change the course of history in the state.

"You and I know we don't have a people problem in Wisconsin, we have a leadership problem," Green said, referring to his opponent Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who he faces in Tuesday's election.

Green addressed a number of his major campaign issues, criticizing Doyle's four-year record of losing jobs, failing to reduce property taxes and raising tuition in the University of Wisconsin System.

Before a crowd that included a group of UW-Madison students, Green said tuition at UW-Madison has gone up 53 percent in the last four years, with tuition increasing 6.8 percent for in-state students this past year, while out-of-state students saw a $2,000 cut.

"We're approaching a time at the University of Wisconsin where anyone can go except if you come from Wisconsin," he said.

Concluding, Green compared Green Bay Packers great Bart Starr to the people of Wisconsin, referencing how Starr had to wait until Vince Lombardi became coach before getting his chance to play.
"I believe the people of this state have everything it takes — all the character, the vision, the talent, the energy, the leadership — everything it takes to make this state great again to lead us to victory," Green said. "Bart Starr needed a new coach; Wisconsin needs a new coach."

At the same time Green was in Dane County crossing what he called "enemy lines," Doyle visited the traditionally conservative regions of Waukesha County and the Fox Valley. There, Doyle asked for the support of voters repelled by Green's "extreme" views.

According to Anne Lupardus, deputy press secretary for Doyle's campaign, though Green is attempting to appear moderate, his extremism was showcased as he "marched" alongside President George W. Bush 90 percent of the time and sided with the extreme right wing of his party.

"It's extreme for Mark Green to want to shut down life-saving stem-cell research; it's extreme for him not to support abortions for victims of rape or incest or when the health of the mother is in danger; it's extreme for him to cut $2 billion for financial aid but make billion-dollar giveaways to big oil and drug companies," she said.

And though comparing the plethora of polls this election has shown discrepancies throughout the race — the latest poll shows Doyle with a slight lead — the candidates are not troubling themselves much over the unofficial results.

"I think viewers and readers are suffering from death by 10,000 polls," Green said after the rally. "The polls basically all say the same thing: It's a close race."