America’s political eyes remain riveted on Wisconsin. It’s the only state that will hold a presidential primary on Tuesday – so the five presidential candidates have been barnstorming nearly every region to sway voter momentum.
The climax will arrive with Tuesday’s vote. Then, we may begin to learn whether Wisconsin will make a difference.
The past week has been packed with candidates appearances. Democrat Hillary Clinton held one of the first in Wisconsin - a rally on Milwaukee’s north side. Republican Donald Trump drew a crowd in Janesville.
The other hopefuls – Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich and Democrat Bernie Sanders crisscrossed the state as well – packing a few large venues this past weekend. And a gaggle of national media followed.
Mike McCabe heads the government watchdog group, Blue Jean Nation. He says Wisconsin played a prominent role in fostering political change in the past.
“The GOP itself was born amongst political turmoil, and it started in a little one room schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin and a generation or so later you saw the birth of the Progressive movement which had its roots in Wisconsin as well, so Wisconsin has a long history of being at the forefront of political change and I wouldn’t doubt if that would be the case again this time,” McCabe says.
McCabe notes the fireworks that played out during the past week, especially on the Republican side. Conservative talk radio hosts here pummeled Donald Trump, then Gov. Walker endorsed – Ted Cruz. To top things off, the new Marquette Law School poll showed Cruz leading Trump in the state by ten points.
Christopher Murray of Marquette University’s Les Aspin Center thinks the chain of events might have signaled a turning point in the race.
“What a lot of people are going to be looking at on Tuesday is, is Wisconsin the place where this anti-Trump movement was finally able to get some traction, because up until this point it really hasn’t,” Murray says.
Another person watching developments here is Republican strategist Brandon Scholz. He says it remains to be seen if Cruz’s support in Wisconsin will make a difference in the long run.
“I think that solely depends on whether Ted Cruz can take advantage of his expected win here and take it to the next state and I don’t know if he replicates it but he takes that momentum and he moves forward. He will need to win three more states in order to be on the Republican ballot at the convention,” Scholz says.
Scholz notes the next states to hold primaries after Wisconsin are friendlier territory for Trump: New York and Pennsylvania. The country may then be able to put Wisconsin into better perspective.
