If Wisconsin is close, watch Waukesha County.

[Zynx]

Waukesha County is the third largest county in the state, with a combined vote haul only slightly smaller than Dane County in a general election. It's 2:1 Republican with very conservative leanings even among many of the Democrats. If there is a large vote in Waukesha it could be critical in swaying the state one way or the other. I've heard stories of a large Republican turnout for Obama in Waukesha and if this proves true it is actually more relevant than stories about Madison turnout which was already expected.

As for Hillary, watch Brown and Rock counties closely. Those are heavily working class counties and if she doesn't do well in them that's it for her tonight.

Those were just some tips for watching the results.

[yeswecan2008]

1. exit polls should be coming in a few hours

we'll know lots more then

[cali]

2. a tip of the hat for some actual information

thanks.

[Renew Deal]

15. Hey, you're back!

:hi:

[cali]

17. I yam I yam

:hi:

[Window]

31. Welcome back Cali.

You guys keep up the good work because I've got about 50 people on ignore. LOL!



Peace :thumbsup:

[VolcanoJen]

46. What up, cali!!!

:hi:

[Barack_America]

3. Thanks for the scoop.

But really, what are you hearing?

:shrug:

[gateley]

4. Thanks -

[nomorewhopper]

5. is wisconsin an open primary?

also, does it allow same day registration/party switch?

[Barack_America]

6. Yes and Yes.

:hi:

[nomorewhopper]

9. much thanks

i'll be very interested to see the exit polls

i've seen polls preceding the primary that were showing anywhere from a statistical dead heat to a obama blowout. i don't know wisconsin very well and i like hearing news about the makeup of the electorate.

[Barack_America]

12. I've been too lazy to check the methodologies...

But I suspect the answer is somewhere there. Whether they just surveyed registered Democrats, or Independents and Republicans too, etc.

[elocs]

29. Yes, Wisconsin is an open primary and you get a ballot with everybodys' names on it.

Then you vote for one. Same day registration is easy and you do not have to switch parties because you are not required to declare that you are in any party.

[Iktomiwicasa]

7. What time do your polls close there?

[Drunken Irishman]

11. 9:00 EST.

[Iktomiwicasa]

27. Thanks nt

[ewagner]

8. Good tips

Hillary concentrated on Brown and parts of Marathon counties looking for working class votes....

Obama was in Marathon too but because of security only met with a small academic group.

[LadyVT]

10. thank you! how refreshing!...

a post directed to everybody, without any rudeness, name-calling, blaming, or any other form of verbal abuse.

[carpediem]

13. My husband and I are Waukesha county voters

in a very republican area of the county - the lakes area - and we both voted for Obama this morning! I was the 52nd voter in the 3 wards in my line at 7:35. The biggest surprise for me is that the kids in my daughters classroom (5th grade) are all really excited about Obama, I have to imagine some of this represents parents' feelings. Of course, I also know that my parents are all probably voting for McCain, the earth would have to stop spinning for them to vote for a Democrat.

[ginnyinWI]

23. We're in Waukesha also--

My husband was there at 7 a.m. and was #14. I went in at 1 p.m. and was #333. We are a smaller community. There were only a handful of other people there when I was--but I expect it will be getting busy around now, as school lets out and people come home from work.

Two more votes for Obama here.

[PeaceNikki]

33. I think we're very close neighbors

I am in "Lake Country", too.

:hi:

[Zynx]

40. I used to live in Delafield. How about you? Waukesha Dems are more

common than people think. 74,000 of us in 2004. Without us it is hard to win the state. :-) We need to keep the Republican margin here under control.

[PeaceNikki]

42. I'm just one click north

:hi: from Hartland!

I always get giddy when I see Democratic bumper stickers here. They're not real common, but not unheard of either.

[Zynx]

43. My precinct went 75% for Bush in 2004. How did yours go?

[PeaceNikki]

44. I think about the same.

About 67% for Bush in 2004. This area is as red as it gets. Between Hartland and Chenequa and North Lake and on and on and on... the high income here coupled with Sensenbrenner's home and home district make it tough for Dems. I was quite surprised that Bryan Kennedy got as many votes as he did in 2006. Maybe a sign of hope?

[Renew Deal]

14. Thanks!

I appreciate the info! :toast:

[K Gardner]

16. Thanks !

[jkshaw]

18. Thanks Zynx,

This is information I've been scrolling through DU for!

[Rowdyboy]

19. Damn! Usable information. Thank you very much....look forward to following

the results now because they'll make a little more sense. You local guys know your state best obviously so your words are valued.

[Zynx]

37. I take pride in knowing my home county, Waukesha, very well.

[VolcanoJen]

48. They say turnout is very low in Dane, due to weather

What do you see/hear, Zynx?

[Zynx]

50. I'm trying to crunch some of the turnout numbers by asking friends what voter number they were.

It seems decent, but not overwhelming yet. A lot of students were yet to vote however. Many have late classes on Tuesdays in particular. I've had that several semesters here.

[NJSecularist]

20. Very good tip

Seeing which way Waukesha breaks will be one of the more interesting stories tonight. Both Barack and Hillary spent time in Waukesha over the last week. It was a very clear target county for both of them.

I'll also be interested to see how Dane County breaks. Hillary breaking even in Dane could signal an upset win.

[durtee librul]

21. We have friends in Columbia County and it's evenly split

among them between BO and HRC...if you can beleive the bar talk! LOL!!!

All kidding aside, Columbia County could also be very telling for results. Being a grad of UWM, I'd vote for Barack since JRE isn't in it anymore.

However, I do have some 'friends' who will only vote for HRC becuase of her name and they want Bill's influence back in the WH and foreign policy to restore some semblance of respect again.

Go Cheezers - show some fightin' Bob spirit!

[NJSecularist]

24. That's good news for Barack if true...

Columbia, Waupaca, Grant, Chippewaw, Sauk... those are all counties that Obama would like to break even in, because Hillary is betting on these "smaller" counties to help her give enough margins to win the state.

[LiveLiberally]

22. Another key district -- Third District/Chippewa Valley

Another key district is the 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the Chippewa Valley/greater Eau Claire region. (total pop about 150k) This is key swing district; it's gone increasingly democratic in the past decade and is widely credited with WI going Blue (barely) in 2004. Re: Clinton v. Obama, this is a true toss-up district.

On the one hand, there is UW-Eau Claire (10,500 students) and the smaller nearby UW-Stout. Obama held a rally for 3500+ at UW-Eau Claire last Saturday, while Clinton was forced to cancel 2 planned visits. (Chelsea did visit Eau Claire last week however) The campus Obama chapter is very active and even created "Eau-Bama" tee-shirts for sale at the rally. There is also a decent telecom/computer industry around Eau Claire (supercomputer inventor Seymour Cray was born and built his company in Chippewa Falls just north of Eau Claire). These demographics favor Obama.

On the other hand, the greater Eau Claire region has an average household income amongst the lowest in the state. Outside of the greater Eau Claire urban area, there remains lots of dairy farms and other agricultural enterprises. This probably favors Clinton.

Finally, our democratic congressman, Ron Kind, announced that his super delegate vote will be cast for whomever wins his district.

[elocs]

30. La Crosse is a rather large city in the 3rd district to forget about.

Ron Kind is from La Crosse. Our population is 52,000 plus many students. UW-La Crosse has nearly 10,00 students and Viterbo University here has an additional 2700 students. Kerry won in La Crosse in 2004. Last night Michelle Obama was here.

Damn, how can you talk about Wisconsin's third congressional district without mentioning La Crosse?

[LiveLiberally]

36. My Apologies -- didn't mean to slight La Crosse....

I wrote about what I know -- glad you could add to it.....

[elocs]

38. No problem, I was just tweaking you.

On edit, I heard on the local news here that at 1 p.m. there were 50 people in line to vote at UW-L and that many of the students were registering at the polls.

[rodeodance]

34. recall that Chelsea was at UW-eau-claire.

[sjdnb]

25. For Hillary, Kenosha is big too ... but, I think Fox Valley will be interesting

as well as certain areas of and around Madison.

In case you didn't see these, I posted region specific news links for WI here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4662337&mesg_id=4662337

I found the election/primary blogs particularly interesting.

[NJSecularist]

26. Did Barack go to Kenosha?

I remember Hillary making a campaign stop at the Brat Shop. As far as I know, Obama didn't.

[sjdnb]

32. Don't know

didn't follow the stop schedules much.

[rodeodance]

35. he was following Doyle around that area--

[Zynx]

39. Marathon county in the north is also interesting. A relatively big vote haul up there.

[I Vote In Pittsburgh]

28. Anyone have a website where we can check the county by county results? n/t

[Zynx]

41. You can watch it on CNN.

[goodgd_yall]

49. I got this one from another thread

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=719365

[VolcanoJen]

45. Love the Inside Baseball from Wisconsin!

Keep it coming, Zynx. Thank you!

[goodgd_yall]

47. Thanks for the insider tips n/t

[eileen_d]

51. kick

:kick:

[I Vote In Pittsburgh]

52. So far Waukesha going for Obama

Waukesha: 46.85% Clinton, 52.46% Obama
Brown: 43.56% Clinton, 55.38% Obama
Rock: Results not in yet

[jasmine621]

53. Republican cross over. Not surprising. nt

[no name no slogan]

54. Wow. You must be psychic

or something

[goodgd_yall]

55. So what can you say about Douglas, Burnett, and Adams counties?

I notice Hillary won handily in those counties. What are the demographics in those counties?

[ginnyinWI]

56. I think all of those are in the north

all white, lower income, rural...

[goodgd_yall]

58. Thanks---I was curious. n/t

[XemaSab]

57. 53/46 Obama

not that big a spread. :shrug:

[goodgd_yall]

59. Well, it's not 60/40

I'm a Hillary supporter, but can't resist.

I see the writing on the wall.

[Zynx]

60. My guess is that the Democrats in Waukesha went heavily for her.

It seems not that many Republicans crossed over after all. Democrats in Waukesha tend to be quite establishmentarian and conservative. That's not a huge surprise. I think the Republican vote probably went for Obama. He stomped in the most Democratic regions of the state. The Republican counties like Waukesha and Washington were closer.