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"The breaking point is the people's attitude toward the president," said Chris Muller, the chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party. "It's a campaign rally. It's not for someone to disrupt the momentum we're trying to build."
One person denied tickets was Andrew Mercil, president of Campus Democrats at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Muller said it was because of Mercil's "attitude and tone of voice" when talking about the president as he stood in line for a ticket, though Mercil denied any wrongdoing.
"This individual was not going to go to the rally with the best intentions in mind, and therefore we decided it would be best if he not attend," Muller said. "He was talking about the current situation in Iraq and types of comments I'm not going to repeat.
"If he wants to protest, there are avenues for protest. It is not within the rally itself."
Mercil countered: "There was never anything negative said about the president while I was waiting in line. They asked me, ‘Do you support the president and are you going to vote for him in the fall?'
"I said, ‘That depends on his performance,' and they flat out refused to give me tickets," Mercil said. "I feel I was rejected on the sole basis that I am a Democrat. I think it's wrong."
Tanya Cooper of Holmen, Wis., said her family was denied access to the rally because she refused to join the Republican Party as a condition of getting tickets, even though she has voted Republican in the past.
"We were told we could not go to see the president unless we paid ($15) to become a member," Cooper said. "This seems to be blackmail and not very American. We are not able to go now since this has become a matter of principle."
Muller said he didn't believe Cooper's claim.
"I don't believe it for a minute," Muller said. "That is not the way we are doing things.
"We haven't been asking peoples' party affiliations when they come in and ask for tickets," he said. "What we are doing, though, people who are belligerent against the president when they stand in line, we ask them to leave.
"I think it is fair," Muller said. "From the beginning, we've made it clear this is a campaign rally, and therefore this is a very partisan thing."
Sharon Hampson, secretary of the La Crosse County Democratic Party, said she was aware of a woman with Democratic ties who was initially denied tickets but given them when another Republican official intervened.
Other local Democrats have had no problem getting tickets, Hampson said.
Peace activists who plan to protest the president received an e-mail Wednesday suggesting Democrats and others obtain tickets but not show up, to reduce the crowd.
Tickets were still available Wednesday night at La Crosse County Republican Headquarters in downtown La Crosse.
"It's looking like we're going to have tickets for at least most of (Thursday)," Muller said.
The Copeland Park baseball stadium, where the president will speak at 5:25 p.m., holds about 2,800 people, though more room is available on the playing field.
La Crosse Mayor John Medinger, a Democrat, will not attend the rally.
"I wasn't invited, and that's fine," Medinger said. "This is a partisan event and a campaign rally for the president."
Medinger said he wasn't aware of anyone having trouble getting tickets, but he understood why that might happen.
"I can see why Democrats are ticked off, but I can see why Republicans say, ‘Why would we give them to you? We only have so much room.'"
Ed Hoskin can be reached at ehoskin@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8226.
