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Gov. Jim Doyle made an appearance at the University of Wisconsin Students for Obama return party Tuesday night, showing his support for students? efforts on behalf of potential Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama.
Doyle arrived at Brocach Pub around 7:30 p.m. and made his way around the bar, shaking hands, signing autographs and greeting members of the large crowd. Before leaving, Doyle made a few positive statements about Obama.
?This is an incredible night for Barack Obama,? Doyle said. ?The turnout is fantastic across the country. I think the message he?s bringing across the country is so important right now.?
Doyle said Obama is the candidate who appeals to younger voters and who will bring change to the nation.
?Maybe it?s time some of us start listening to the younger voters,? Doyle said. ?And by ?younger,? I mean under 60-years-old.?
Doyle, who recently returned from campaigning in Kansas, added Wisconsin is going to be a crucial state in deciding who wins the Democratic nomination for president. He said he is going to be very busy over the coming weeks campaigning across the state.
Doyle said he will be visiting Green Bay and Oshkosh today and Eau Claire and La Crosse after that. He added Obama will most likely be paying a lot of attention to Wisconsin in days leading up to the Feb. 19 primary.
?I have no doubt he?s going to be here on multiple occasions,? Doyle said.
Maggie Raiken, vice-chair of UW Students for Obama, was one of many group members huddled around a laptop computer eagerly watching the Super Tuesday results come in and catching the projections.
?I?m optimistic; it?s the only way you can be,? she said.
Raiken agreed with Doyle?s position about the campaign.
?Wisconsin?s going to matter,? Raiken said. ?I don?t think it?ll be decided after tonight.?
Raiken added the group just recently opened a campaign headquarters at Laundry 101, 437 W. Gilman St. She said it was important to be close to campus so students can show up at any time to help in the efforts. She said mobilizing students was the group?s most important role.
?I feel the student support on any campus is very strong for Obama,? Raiken said. ?All we have to do is get them to the polls, and they?re going to vote.?
Obama supporter says ‘aloha’ to Wisconsin
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, expressed his support for Obama in front an audience of about 40 students at the University of Wisconsin law building Tuesday afternoon.
A congressman and citizen from Hawaii, Abercrombie said he personally knows Obama and his parents. He discussed the social and multicultural environment that shaped Obama?s background.
?Obama was born and raised in Hawaii, where diversity defines us rather than divides us,? Abercrombie said.
Abercrombie, who has been friends with the parents of Obama since they were university students together, described the historical background of Obama?s Kenyan father, Barack Obama Sr., and American mother, Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kan. Abercrombie said Obama Sr. was an outstanding student who received a scholarship to attend the University of Hawaii, where he was a ?popular, vivid, brilliant, dynamic? student well-known across campus.
It was in this academic setting that Obama Sr. met Dunham, who studied economics, anthropology and women?s studies.
UW law student David Bonner said he is impressed with Obama?s rise to popularity.
?Obama was the underdog with no money and no experience. He was unknown, but he got out there with a message about good people to lead good government, and it is energetic and powerful,? Bonner said.
Audience members also raised the issue of ?romanticizing politics,? asking Abercrombie to address how voters can avoid being blinded by personal enthusiasm when supporting a presidential candidate.
Abercrombie responded by discussing the importance of grassroots methods and individualized voting.
?The Obama campaign has taken a delegate-by-delegate strategy ? everybody counts,? he added.
Abercrombie also referred to the presidency as a position that can be a catalyst for change, adding ?Obama never talks about ?I.? It is about ?us.??