The campaigns of Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan will each make stops in Wisconsin in the coming week, which is shaping up to be a key state in the upcoming national election and holds 10 electoral votes.
Biden plans to host a rally at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire this Thursday, while Ryan plans to visit Wisconsin for the third time to go to a town hall meeting in Green Bay this Wednesday.
A representative of Wisconsin’s 1st congressional District since the late 1990s and a native of Janesville, Ryan is expected to have better resonance with the Wisconsin electorate.
According to Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Nathan Conrad, Ryan’s visits through Wisconsin are energizing voters.
“Each and every time that Representative Ryan is travelling throughout the Badger State, our support grows stronger and voters become more engaged and excited about the plan that he and Governor Romney are putting forward to get our nation back on the right track,” Conrad said.
Biden, while not a native of Wisconsin, is expected to resonate with the working families of Wisconsin, including the state’s Labor Union base.
Graeme Zielinski, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said Biden has an edge over Ryan because of his family’s working background.
“One thing about Biden that Ryan doesn’t share is that he has a background of coming from a working family,” Zielinski said. “He’s familiar with the challenges working families face and that helps him here to understand the needs of Wisconsin.”
Since the last presidential election, Wisconsin has shifted politically to the right, but according to recent Public Policy Polling polls, President Obama was solidly ahead of Romney up until he appointed Ryan as his choice for vice-presidential candidate.
The two newest PPP polls done in mid-August show Obama and Romney about even.
Conrad said the Republican Party of Wisconsin has full faith in the “amazing ground game” the party has been working on over the last two years. He also said students should vote Republican this fall.
“The Romney-Ryan ticket is providing Wisconsin’s young voters a vision and a plan for the future that will not only help them get and maintain a job after college, but that will help them build for their future and that of the generations to follow,” he said.
Zielinski, however, said he believes the Democratic platform has more in common with Wisconsin interests.
“The public polling shows that the president is doing well in Wisconsin. At the end of the day, the fact that [Ryan is] from Wisconsin is significant, but more people care about Medicare and education in Wisconsin, and one thing that Paul Ryan won’t do is give specific answers and what and how much they would cut,” Zielinski said. “They have slogans and no plans.”
