The Battle For Wisconsin

Now that Labor Day is in our rear view mirror, the home stretch of this bizarrely surreal 2020 campaign can officially begin. Wisconsin is in an unusual position. Due to the timing of the call of Wisconsin for Donald Trump in 2016, Wisconsin has been viewed as a critical swing state by many pundits from across the country. Unfortunately for us, Wisconsin is not where this election will be won. This election will be won or lost on the outcomes in Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

I like the attention we are getting here in Wisconsin from both campaigns. It feels good to be wanted, but Wisconsin will be a minor battle in the war of November. Still, both parties are spending a fair amount of resources to take our 10 electoral votes so we need to put on a good show. That, dear reader, is a problem.

Those of us on the right side of the isle have had a pretty hard time of late staying out of our own way. From the Governor Evers recall effort to the reported six figure ad buy by RVAT (Republican Voters Against Trump) to be broadcast during this weekend's Packer game in the Green Bay TV market, there seems to be a segment of Republican leaning voters who want to make Wisconsin as hard of a fight as possible for President Trump to win. They seem to be succeeding.

Today's Emerson College poll puts Joe Biden ahead by 7 points in Wisconsin. While we can debate the methodology and accuracy of that number, digging deeper into the other questions shows that these misguided, borderline crackpot efforts are moving the needle for soft Republican voters. According to Emerson, 21% of voters who usually vote Republican said that they plan to vote Biden in November. Honestly, I know that a fair number of these respondents are what has been called the "shy Trump" voter, but that is still a problem if the president wants to carry Wisconsin in November.

What is the most irritating is that the groundswell of support for Trump and the Republican Party is flying under the radar. People are walking into county GOP offices, making significant donations, and leaving. They don't want to join the party, they just want Trump to win. It is a phenomenon that party insiders have never seen in Wisconsin, and we are tossing it away because of petty temper tantrums.

I am no Trump fan. I have serious concerns about some of his approaches and policies. I do know that he is a far better option than Biden or Harris. I also know that a six figure ad buy against Trump is a six figure ad buy for Biden. President Trump can win a second term without Wisconsin. Thanks to a few that are supposed to be in our tent, he may have to.