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Hillary : Wausau Today, Madison Tonight

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are scheduled to speak in Texas tomorrow, the day Wisconsin voters go to the polls. They each had to cancel events Sunday in Wisconsin due to weather. Hillary did local campaigning at a diner and grocery store while Obama flew to North Carolina to seek John Edwards' endorsement.

Hillary rescheduled her canceled Wausau event for today, and addressed the labor-oriented crowd on issues.

Surrounded by several hundred enthusiastic union members, Hillary Clinton hit strongly populist themes in her second campaign appearance today in Wisconsin.

At the Wausau Labor Temple, the Democratic presidential candidate emphasized economic themes, including what she wanted to do as president to keep jobs in America, revive manufacturing jobs, hold down interest rates on student loans and stem home foreclosures.

She also spoke to a crowd of 500 at St. Norbert College in De Pere. Obama, on the defensive much of today for using Mass. Gov. Duval Patrick's speeches in his own without crediting the usage, will speak in Beloit tonight.

Hillary and Chelsea will be at a rally in Madison tonight. Hillary also offered new policy today. She announced a food safety recall plan, in the wake of this weekend's huge beef recall.

Who will win Wisconsin and by how much? Take our poll below:

< Former President Bush Endorses McCain | What The DNC FL Fiasco Can Cost Us: FL In The GE >

Poll

Who Wins Wisconsin?
Hillary Clinton by a nose 43%
Barack Obama by a nose 17%
Barack Obama by five to ten points 21%
Hillary Clinton by five to ten points 8%
Barack Obama by more than ten points 7%
Hillary Clinton by more than ten points 1%

Votes: 57
Results | Other Polls
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  • Display: Sort:
    Fyi, re the "Clinton came late" (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by Cream City on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 05:33:08 PM EST
    to the state that is being repeated by so many media (just saw it on CNN again) -- it doesn't address that Hillary Clinton has come to Wisconsin many times over many years, that many of us met her long ago and were impressed in a way that still resonates today.  At least a dozen years ago in Milwaukee, an event that was expected to draw a small group drew several hundred.  Similar thing happened with an event in Madison a few years ago.  And I know there have been several other visits by her here -- and on her own, btw, not as First Lady.  (And no, we don't do tea here, either.)

    Her voters may not have the short attention spans of so many media, even those in Wisconsin that covered her earlier visits here but apparently think those will have no impact now.  In contrast, Obama had to introduce himself here -- even though he came from less than a hundred miles away in Chicago, but I don't recall him ever coming to Wisconsin before a week ago.  (And I don't find such an event coming up in local media archives searches.)  They're spending about the same amount of days in the state by now, it seems, since he was gone for several days in between.

    And with her knack so far of getting the late deciders, it seems wise to allocate her days to the end of the campaign, as she is doing now?  I don't really know; I suggest it as contradicting the media meme that candidates have to act early and often, like voters in Chicago. :-)

    What's the absentee situation? (none / 0) (#7)
    by BDB on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 05:42:57 PM EST
    I ask because the weather sounds awful, even by Wisconsin standards.

    Parent
    Also (none / 0) (#8)
    by badger on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 06:12:53 PM EST
    Bill Clinton carried WI by around 5% in '92 and 10% in '96. Kerry and Gore barely managed 0.5%. WI voters have long memories and Bill Clinton was popular in WI.

    Wisconsin turned around primary campaigns for JFK and Carter - neither was expected to win, but did. And the state still has a large number of independent voters who turn out for the open primary. In 2004 Kerry could only manage 0.5%, but Feingold won by 12%.

    I think almost anything could happen tomorrow, but my bet would on Clinton by a nose (or maybe just one nostril).

    Parent

    good to hear (none / 0) (#9)
    by jdj on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 07:11:58 PM EST
    so there will be no excuses if she loses tomorrow. The better canidate will win.

    Parent
    Nah (none / 0) (#10)
    by BDB on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 07:23:15 PM EST
    I expect Obama will win.  

    Although I am looking forward to hearing Obama's victory speech.  I understand when FDR originally gave it, it brought down the house.

    Parent

    Not the point. Attempting discussion (none / 0) (#11)
    by Cream City on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 07:30:16 PM EST
    of strategies and tactics, particularly in a tough state such as Wisconsin with open primary, same-day registration, weather, etc., but also with lots of support for Edwards in past so lots of late deciders.  But you keep wanting to talk horse-race stuff, so enjoy talking to yourself.

    Parent
    you are out of here (none / 0) (#13)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 07:45:20 PM EST
    DJ has been warned to stop chattering. He didn't listen. He is now banned from this site.  There are 65 of his comments from today alone still on the site. I'll be going through them to delete more of them.

    Parent
    Can (none / 0) (#12)
    by hvs on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 07:31:21 PM EST
    I hear from someone who knows better than I why, from a Hillary supporters' point of view, she shouldn't have been expected to win WI?  Lots of white folks, plenty of blue-collar folks, not overwhelmingly African American folks, a primary... (Heck, as I write it, the more expect it to be very close.)

    Is it was a case of the Clinton team not expecting the fight to last this long? They didn't set up a good ground operation? They decided to make their stand in TX?

    Some of those possibilities suggest some of the folks running the campaign aren't that together; others suggest a bit of a risky strategy.

    Parent

    No (none / 0) (#16)
    by hvs on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 10:07:11 PM EST
    offense or sarcasm intended.

    Parent
    No, I'm not ready to ban him (none / 0) (#17)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 10:21:36 PM EST
    Sorry, Latina, he's not bannable at this stage but now that I don't have to spend so much time on jdr, I'll keep an eye on his comments.

    You are safe to post here without ridicule. But, it's also good to get both points of view.

    Parent

    Jeralyn, (none / 0) (#18)
    by hvs on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 06:45:15 AM EST
    if you will point out how I am close to violating your comment policy at this stage I'll be more than happy to make changes immediately.

    I hope that a review of my posts shows that I've never remotely ridiculed anybody, called names, even come close to levelling charges "hypocrisy," "foolishness," etc. etc. which can't be said of everybody.

    I think you'll find that I make good-faith efforts to answer the questions posted and engage in honest discussions.

    But again, let me know and I'll make changes right now.

    Parent

    Great resistance to women here (none / 0) (#19)
    by Cream City on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 10:26:04 AM EST
    where women are below national norms in education, income, reproductive rights -- and political office.  Wisconsin is not (and never really was) a progressive state for women or minorities.

    And crazy as campaigns always are, and great as the local volunteers and their coordinators are, the ground game has been hard; I think Wisconsin got the impact of the switch in campaign management at the top.  The focus probably was on putting the best people into Ohio and Texas, understandably.  If that is so, and if Clinton can pull through here sufficiently, it was a good decision.

    But the biggest factor may have been the bad weather over the weekend, as rescheduling other events meant the planned rally in Milwaukee didn't happen.  And the cold weather today will hurt turnout, undeniably.  That's not good for her.

    Parent

    Minor cx: Wausau is not Kenosha (none / 0) (#1)
    by Cream City on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 04:50:24 PM EST
    and they're a couple of hundred miles apart.  She held her Kenosha event a couple of days ago -- kenoshamarge wrote about it her -- but it was Wausau that was scheduled for yesterday, when Clinton flew there but the plane couldn't land due to weather.

    And btw, Chelsea Clinton also is doing a last-minute event in Milwaukee tonight before heading to Madison (they're only 75 miles apart, so it can be done).

    Also, AAs from the Congressional Black Caucus have come to Wisconsin for Clinton, angered by the Obama campaign's tactics.  Most recently, they included Rep. Corinne Brown of Florida and then today, Rep. Greg Meeks of New York.  (This might be uncomfortable for Wisconsin's only AA member of Congress, who endorsed Obama eons ago, Gwen Moore.)

    hit the post button too early (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 04:52:51 PM EST
    while I was working on the poll, the post button got pushed before I finished and re-checked the post. I caught the Kenosha and Wasau error and corrected it.

    Thanks for being vigilant though and I always appreciate readers pointing out errors.

    Parent

    No deal, very minor -- and I know about (none / 0) (#4)
    by Cream City on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 05:06:09 PM EST
    those keyboard buttons that just jump up and push themselves without permission.  You're doing a great job on covering Wisconsin from afar, far better than many media here.  Their confusion over place names here, especially so many from the many Native nations still here, is providing entertainment in Wisconsin, as usual.  Most fun was seeing a reporter who couldn't translate the local dialect, either, and needed "Mwokee" repeated three times.  (We don't pronounce l's in the middle of words.  Long story about reasons for that, according to linguists here.)

    Parent
    Don't think she can do it.. (none / 0) (#3)
    by Meurs on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 05:05:22 PM EST
    She'll lose WI and TX and then that's that.  I think that's why they've been so desperate the last few days--death throes.

    WI will go to Obama, by a good margin 5% to 10% (none / 0) (#5)
    by jdj on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 05:25:25 PM EST
    TX will be close I think. Who knows.

    I would like to see some decisive wins though, so the message to drop out is clear either way.


    Parent

    Glad (none / 0) (#15)
    by tek on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 08:52:57 PM EST
    to see Hillary is sooo on top of events in this country. I was just thinking today that the government needs to get involved in making sure all people can get affordable quality food. I say on Travel Channel that chefs have started an organization to try to make natural, organic, local food available to everyone at affordable prices. If they can do it, the government can.