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"Wisconsin is an important state. We lost by only 5,700 votes in 2000," said Merrill Hughes Smith, the Bush-Cheney campaign's Midwest spokeswoman.
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Heidi Green, a La Crosse native currently living in Madison, Wis., volunteers painting signs Thursday night at rebublican headquarters in La Crosse in preperation for the Presidents visit.
PETER THOMSON photo |
"Listen, you've got to work hard to turn out the vote, and that's what we call grassroots," Bush said at a rally Tuesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio. "I'm here to fertilize the grassroots today. I'm here to ask you to grow."
Republican activist Sue Lynch of West Salem, who has met the president and Mrs. Bush several times, said a visit is very important for the many grassroots volunteers who often don't get those kinds of opportunities.
"It gets the juices flowing," Lynch said. "The grassroots will make all the difference in November when we re-elect President Bush."
Smith said Mrs. Bush will be traveling with the president, and has been introducing him at some events.
La Crosse County Republican Party Chairman Chris Muller called the visit "an enormous rush of energy."
"Republicans from all over the state will be here, sharing their different views for the state and federal government," Muller said.
"They've been telling us the election will be won in western Wisconsin," Muller said of the Bush campaign's leaders. "Wisconsin is one of the battleground states, and with just a little more focus they can win this state. The majority of people here have the same values as the president."
The importance of Wisconsin isn't lost on Sen. John Kerry's campaign as the presumptive Democratic nominee, either.
"Wisconsin is a vital state for Sen. Kerry to win," said George Twigg, Kerry's Wisconsin spokesman.
"The election will be very close and Wisconsin will be among a small number of battleground states," Twigg said.
"Wisconsin is a state Sen. Kerry should do well in because of his plans for job creation, health care and protecting the environment," Twigg said. "Those are issues that President Bush has, frankly, done a terrible job on."
Rally-goers lined up for admittance to Copeland Park today can expect to be sitting ducks for Republican politicians looking for votes.
Russ Darrow, one of four candidates for the hotly contested GOP nomination for U.S. Senate against incumbent Russ Feingold, said he plans to be working the line.
"I did that in Appleton when the president was there and got an excellent response," said Darrow, who owns several automobile dealerships in the eastern part of the state but isn't well known around here.
Bush "just lost by whiskers" in the state in 2000, Darrow said, calling western Wisconsin "a pivotal part of the state."
Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.
