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With Obama holding a lead, Democratic leaders feared a sense of complacency could set in. But they said McCain’s visit helped revitalize a sense of urgency, county Democratic Party Chairman Fabio Burgos said after an afternoon rally with 100 supporters.
“I think that judging by this crowd, (McCain’s) event is almost energizing us locally,” Burgos said. “Our numbers have been picking up. They have been great but are still picking up over the past few days. I think people on our side ... don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
At the rally, Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, leveled a rare criticism of a fellow senator when he raised doubts about whether McCain’s experience makes him a better candidate.
“If experience doesn’t teach good judgment, then it isn’t worth much,” Kohl said. “I question the kind of judgment (McCain) has demonstrated over the past several years. Supporting every one of Bush’s policies that have brought such harm on our country and done damage to us around the world. ... That’s not the kind of experience people in America want.”
During the 30-minute rally, Kohl, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind and state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, both La Crosse Democrats, hammered McCain for his support of Bush’s policies and claimed McCain offers no hope for change.
“Over the past several years, Senator McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time,” Shilling said. “That’s not a maverick. That’s what I call a sidekick.”
While Obama is leading in most polls, all predictions are the final tally in Wisconsin should be tight.
Which puzzles Kind.
“I don’t understand why this is even close. To me this isn’t even a close call,” Kind said. “We’ve had an administration in Washington the last eight years that has literally driven our economy into the ditch. We have only one candidate out there campaigning for a third Bush-Cheney term. The guy who voted with Bush-Cheney 91 percent of the time.”
With his support of tax cuts for the wealthy, history of deregulation and hands-off approach to the economy, McCain offers nothing new to America, Kind said.
In leveling their criticism of McCain, the party leaders did their best to rally the troops for the final 25 days of the campaign and said they must do everything they can to help Obama carry the state.
