For the first time since being announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence hit the campaign trail alone at Waukesha Expo Center on Wednesday night. The Waukesha along with the rest of Wisconsin are expected to play a major role in the upcoming presidential election.
It wasn’t a packed house at the Waukesha Expo Center, but hundreds of people showed up to hear Vice Presidential hopeful Mike Pence make the case for a Donald Trump Pence ticket.
“If you want a president who will protect this nation, confront radical Islamic terrorism and rid the world of Isis, if you want a president who will restore law and order to this country, and give law enforcement the support that they deserve, if you want a president who will cut taxes, grow our economy, squeeze every nickel out of the federal bureaucracy and appeal Obama Care lock, stock and barrel, if you want a president that will build strong boarders and …,” Pence says.
Pence says the choice is clear.
Throughout the night, members of the GOP, including Gov. Walker and Pence made the case that Secretary Hillary Clinton is not fit to be president. The crowd chanted lock her up after mention of the Clinton e-mail scandal. On Wednesday, Trump also for the Russians to find out what happened to the tens of thousands of missing e-mails. The Russian government is believed to have hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers. Pence did not mention the Russians, but he did speak directly to the people he says are still reeling from the fallout of the Great Recession.
“I’m sure Democrats are taking to the podium even at this very hour, they’re talking about how good things are. Heard a few excerpts from the president’s speech, and he talked about things being so good in America. But I can tell you down in the Hoosier state and all across this country, they may be telling us it’s the best we can do, but we know better. It’s not the best we can do, it’s just the best they can do. And with Donald Trump as president of the United States, we’re going to get this economy moving and put America back to work,” Pence says.
While Pence was the Republican headliner of the night, several other Wisconsin leaders took to the stage, including DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. She made a special plea to women in the audience on the eve of Clinton becoming the first woman to accept the nomination of a major party to become the next president of the United States. Stepp told women in the audience to stand strong in their beliefs.
“Ladies, I just want to make one more appeal to you. We want to be able to demonstrate that we are equal partners in this election process. That what we care about in our households matters in this election. That this is the time more than ever to really standup and speak for our families that we can show that as women that we care about all the same things that men care about. That we are equal partners in moving this country forward,” Stepp says.
Trump lost the Wisconsin primary to Cruz and Waukesha is a Republican stronghold here. Carrol University Political Science professor Lily Goren says it’s clear why Pence was sent here first.
“He’s a consistent, clear, conservative Republican. And that is what you know again is what was a strong appeal in Ted Cruz,” Goren says.
Goren says in order for Trump to win the presidency, he needs rust belt states such as Wisconsin, and she says it’s no different for Democrats. She points that the first scheduled stop for President Obama on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton was supposed to be in Wisconsin, but had to be rescheduled.
