Thank God for John Kerry. What would we do without him? I don’t think we, as Madison residents, could have gotten through our daily affirmation without him here on Tuesday. I hope my sarcasm isn’t too overt, but it’s for good reason.
A rather large crowd gathered on Tuesday to listen to the former Democratic presidential nominee speak on behalf of Barack Obama. Even Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz came out to throw their support in Mr. Obama’s corner. It must have been a glorious spectacle; a bunch of typical Madison liberals rubbing each other’s backs, chanting “Yes we can!”
Don’t be fooled — Barack Obama’s got my vote, and I also fall into that “Madison liberal” demographic. But what no one seems to be addressing is the fact that this election is less than a month away and the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign are putting on a show in one of the most Democratic-leaning cities in the Midwest. It’s crunch time for the Democrats, so wouldn’t Kerry’s presence, a resource in itself, be of greater value somewhere else?
The issue has nothing to do with the good-natured intentions of the Democrats and their push to put Obama in the big chair of the Oval Office; it’s their thought process I question. With only 18 days until the election and major battleground states still wavering between blue and red, why would Madison, of all places, need to have its troops rallied?
In the 2004 presidential election, 66 percent of Dane County residents voted for the Democratic nominee John Kerry, according to City-data.com. The percentage of Madison residents voting for Kerry was likely even higher than that. In addition, there were over 141,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary this year in Dane County compared to fewer than 25,000 in the Republican primary, according to the New York Times. It’s disgustingly obvious that Madison will vote Democratic on Nov. 4, and that’s why I’m disappointed in the Democrats’ efforts to get Barack Obama elected.
John Kerry is one of the most visible surrogates available to the Obama campaign, and they’re sending him to places they know they’re going to win? Many could make the argument that Obama needs his base reaffirmed to make sure his vocal supporters become active supporters by voting, but why not send Kerry on a monthlong tour through Ohio, Florida or Colorado? These are the states where Obama needs the most support from his surrogates, not one of the most liberal cities in the entire country.
John McCain might have had a better chance leaving the Hanoi Hilton unharmed than leaving Wisconsin with its electoral votes in tow. Wisconsin hasn’t voted Republican in a presidential election in 24 years, when the state voted for the Republican deity Ronald Reagan. According to the most recent poll, Obama leads McCain by 17 points in the Badger State, and that lead isn’t likely to falter with less than 3 weeks left.
The Obama campaign and the DNC should be focusing their time and energy into clearly defining the principles that made Obama the Democratic nominee to voters in states that could go either way on Election Day. Obama is a well-spoken, eloquent intellectual who has a firm grasp on the issues concerning our country currently and has made an enormous effort to convey his ideals and plans to the country. So why now, when we are so close to the zero hour, is his campaign sending prominent surrogates out to areas he’s got in the bag?
The outcome of this election likely will not come down to who sent which supporter where, but that being said, the Democratic Party has a notorious history of losing elections due to a lack of unity. So now, just when it seems the party is as one and they’ve got all their major figures in line, they’re out preaching to the choir about how great they are and how bad John McCain is. Seems like a waste when the choir already read the sermon.
Ben Patterson ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.
