WI Senate: Madison Awaits Feingold's Efforts to Awaken Base

[book_worm]

MADISON, Wis. -- On a sunny and mild Sunday this weekend, there was no political paraphernalia to be seen and no campaign volunteers to be found along State Street, the main drag of this liberal-leaning college town.

Progressive young residents milling around the area expressed concerns that the energy they saw in 2008 was lacking this year, and Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has not done enough to get their like-minded peers engaged in his race against self-funding Republican Ron Johnson.

"Russ Feingold is one of our biggest progressive heroes in the Senate, and people know his record and know that he's a straight shooter," said Kaja Rebane, a 32-year-old environmental studies graduate student at the University of Wisconsin who volunteered for President Obama's 2008 campaign. "But a lot of people still don't realize that he's in a lot of trouble because they haven't been paying attention."

Further down State Street at the 40th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival, Jacob Weigandt echoed that sentiment.

"There is less enthusiasm," Weigandt said. "All my friends who are voting are concerned."

Weigandt volunteered to help with logistics for Obama's speech on campus Tuesday, but he never made it in to see it. His friends were not electrified by the speech, but they said it accomplished what it needed to - sparking motivation.

"It was one of his common speeches," Weigandt's friend, Ellen Jordan, said of the president's remarks. "It was well done, but it was something you'd expect to hear him say."

Jordan, an affable blonde in jeans and a bright tie-dyed t-shirt who was sporting a sticker supporting the legalization of medical marijuana, added, "I still think it helped. It gave everyone a boost."

Up the street, Jenny Grado, 24, sipped coffee at the Espresso Royale Caffe with her friend Chelsea Mannebach, 23. Both women voted for Obama in 2008 and attended the president's rally last week.

"I really liked his speech, actually," said Grado, a Wisconsin graduate who works in information technology for the university. "I know a lot of people really didn't."

Grado and Mannebach explained that most of their friends left this week's speech complaining that it was rife with talking points and that Obama hasn't accomplished what he said he would, but the duo said the speech did the job.

They conceded that fewer people will vote in the midterms, but Mannebach thought the fixation on voter apathy in Madison has been overblown.

"A lot of people are still going to vote," she said.

Nevertheless, neither Grado nor Mannebach said they had been contacted yet by Feingold's campaign.

"Someone came to my door and gave me an Obama sticker," Grado remembered.

Feingold spokesman John Kraus dismissed the lack of visibility on State Street on Sunday afternoon, explaining that it was anathema in the Badger State to campaign during Green Bay Packers games. Feingold was in Green Bay on Sunday, instead, for a tailgating rally with steelworkers.

Kraus said the Feingold campaign's Madison efforts for the day included volunteer recruitment calls and "Get Out The Vote" preparation.

He added that 18 canvassers knocked on 481 doors in Madison, Fitchburg, Stoughton and Cottage Grove; 10 people made 553 persuasion calls; and staffers handed out about 50 yard signs.

"Early voting starts this week, and Russ is doing a kick-off in Racine and then events on campus in Appleton, Oshkosh and Madison this week," Kraus said. He added that polling shows Feingold running strong in Madison with young voters and that public polling under represents the demographic.

"Russ will be spending a lot of time campaigning on campuses the next month," Kraus said. "It's a huge base of support for us."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/10/04/madison_awaits_feingolds_efforts_to_awaken_his_base_107421.html

[saltpoint]

1. I wish Feingold were not the underdog in this race and

that his opponent was not as well funded.

Even so, I think the arithmetic is closer than polling suggests.

Also even so, I think Russ could afford to crank it up a bit.

We can't afford to lose a class act like Russell Feingold.