Barack Obama Campaigns in Madison with Tim Walz

MADISON – On a day that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris took a respite from campaigning, former president Barack Obama campaigned in Madison with Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate.

“It’s always great to have him in the state because he’s been the most effective messenger for the Democratic Party,” Mandela Barnes told Media Milwaukee. “He’s somebody who got me off the bench to run for office but also to organize, working to help others get elected.”

The former president arrived slightly late due to issues with his plane.

“The pilot came in and said, ‘Sir, there’s a pile of oil leaking out the back of the plane,'” recalled Obama. “I do not know anything about planes, except for the fact that it should not leak oil. So we had a nice road trip instead.”

In-person early voting opened in the state on Tuesday, a fact the speakers highlighted throughout the day. Tuesday’s lineup included Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Gov. Tony Evers, actor Bradley Whitford and Rep. Mark Pocan among others.

Attacks on Trump Continue from Democrats

In his 41-minute speech, Obama supported early voting, informing the audience he cast his vote for Harris on Monday in his home state of Illinois.

“What I cannot understand,” said Obama, “is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that’s good. I do not understand, because there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself. Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he came down that golden escalator nine years ago.”

Added Whitford: “[He’s] a malignant narcissist with a pathological need to tell people how good-looking he is.”

The attacks carried beyond Trump to those at his side in campaigning. At one point Walz called Elon Musk “his running mate.”

“Elon’s on that stage, jumping around, skipping like a dips***,” said Walz. “He’s spending millions of dollars to help Donald Trump buy an election.”

Musk recently announced an initiative to give $1 million cash handouts to people who support his political organization’s petition.

“The Harris Campaign will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more than the Trump campaign will,” said Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming in an interview in response to Tuesday’s event. “They used to scream about campaign finance all the time, and they have now decided they love big money.”

Data from the FEC reports the Harris campaign has spent $715 million, while Trump has spent just $256 million since Jan. 1, 2023.

Within the first few minutes of the speech, Obama noted Trump’s propensity to post on social media platforms and sell merchandise – gold sneakers and watches among other products.

“My favorite is the Trump Bible,” said Obama. “It’s embossed – his name right there, Donald Trump, right next to Matthew and Luke. And I’ll give you one guess where those Bibles are made.

“He’s Mr. Tough Guy on China, except when it comes to making a few bucks.”

The politicians hoped to connect their middle-class upbringings with union workers, allowing them in prominent placements adjacent to and behind the stage at the Alliant Energy Center on Tuesday.

“Both of us [Walz and Harris] grew up in middle class families,” said Walz. “We didn’t start out with $400 million and we’re not the richest people in the world. They said I might be the poorest person that’s ever run for vice president.”

Walz’s background as a military member, teacher and coach was widely emphasized throughout the event, and has been during the campaign. He spent 24 years in the Army National Guard and led Mankato West High School to their first football state championship before election as a U.S. representative and later governor of Minnesota.

“Having someone with upper-Midwestern values and a former teacher in Washington will be a great thing for Wisconsin and America,” said U.S. representative Mark Pocan, who represents the district based in Madison.

Early Voting Urged with Wisconsin as “The Tipping Point”

“Elections in Wisconsin are decided by one or two votes per ward,” said Rhodes-Conway.

Wisconsin, which holds 10 of the 538 electoral votes in the country, was one of five states that flipped from Republican to Democrat in the 2020 presidential election.

“The pathway to the presidency and control of the United States Senate runs directly through the Midwest,” said Baldwin, who’s opposing Eric Hovde for one of Wisconsin’s two senatorial seats. “It runs directly through Wisconsin because we are the battleground state. Wisconsin is likely to decide who our next president is.”

Wisconsin was perhaps the most important state in deciding the 2020 presidential election, according to ABC News.

Voters Say Economy Is the Most Important Issue

Some 40% of registered voters identify the economy as the most important issue in this year’s election, according to the Oct. 17 Marquette Law Poll.

“America has seen 15 years of unprecedented growth,” said Barnes, referring to the period coinciding with Obama’s initial election. “He [Trump] would be better for his own economy, for the economy of his family and other billionaires.”

51% of registered voters in the poll say that Trump will be better for the economy, compared to just 36% in favor of Harris.

“Inflation is finally slowed,” said Obama, referring to the 2.4% inflation rate in September, lowest since Feb. 2021. “But the price of everything from healthcare to housing to groceries is still too high, and it hurts.”

On the Republican side, Trump has promised to bring back and further the tax cuts introduced in 2017 for both individuals and corporations.

“People are hurting,” said Schimming. “Personal debt is up, take-home income is down over 3.5% [during Biden’s presidency].”

Democrats Address Big Non-Economic Issues at the Ballot

Abortion policy, health care and Medicare and Social Security are also among the most important issues from voters according to the Marquette Law poll.

“This election is about so many things,” said Walz, “but it’s about that simple, fundamental principle of autonomy over the bodies and all the women who are out there.”

Walz added that the next president may have the chance to appoint three new Supreme Court justices. Clarence Thomas is the oldest active justice at 75 years old, followed by Samuel Alito at 74 and Sonia Sotomayor at 70.

Thomas and Alito were both appointed by Republican administrations. Sotomayor was an Obama appointee. The Supreme Court controversially struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending the constitutional right to abortion.

Walz said under their administration, Medicare will cover in-home care for seniors, as well as vision and hearing aids.

As for healthcare, both Obama and Baldwin herself said she the senator was the lawmaker who wrote the provision that extended children’s ability to stay on their parents’ health care to 26 years old, part of the Affordable Care Act.

The event came less than a week after Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris visited UW-Milwaukee. Former president Trump will campaign in Wisconsin “very soon” according to Schimming in an interview last week.

“Together we will keep building a country that is more fair,” said Obama, “more just, more equal and more free.”

Obama hopes that fairness, justice, equality and freedom comes from the Harris-Walz administration.

“At the end of the Obama administration,” said Schimming, “people believed the country was more divided than it was at the start of his administration. I’m not sure Barack Obama is well qualified to talk about that.”

Trump now leads Harris in polling by two points nationwide in the latest Wall Street Journal poll, 47 to 45.

“This election is going to be tight in Wisconsin,” said Obama. “It’s going to be tight all across the country.”