September 5, 2008

McCain and Palin make their first campaign stop as official nominees in Wisconsin.

Hey, they care about Wisconsin! The rally is at 10:30 a.m., at the main intersection in Cedarburg. Look, I mapped it for Madisonians:


View Larger Map

ADDED: If I'd hopped in my car when I wrote this, I could have gotten there in time. Could have taken some photographs. But I didn't. So don't be expecting that. I have obligations in Madison.

38 comments:

MadisonMan said...

So will people go to see McCain, or to see Palin?

Good thing the Marquette interchange is finished in Milwaukee. Makes the drive easier!

Hoosier Daddy said...

So will people go to see McCain, or to see Palin?

Lets see, old man or hot mom. Yeah, that's a real toughie ;-)

But seriously, Palin is the new face of the GOP, young, tough and reform minded. Her attractiveness is simply a bonus. Before she was on the ticket, my vote for McCain was simply a vote against Obama. Now I see a McCain presidency as Palin's pre-season opener for the regular season.

Original Mike said...

Damn this job!

Simon said...

MM, I can't justify driving six or seven hours for it, but I'll certainly show up to anything she does that's closer. I'll drive over to Ohio if she's doing an event there, that's for sure.

TJ said...

See her now, before she disappears until the debates!

link

The Drill SGT said...

Simon,

she'll be all over OH, PA, WI, IA, MN, MI

those small town clinging union voters. Reagan Dems are her natural target there

Simon said...

Trevor, despite the news media's "who she" schtick, Palin has been on the radar for quite some time, and there are a LOT of videos of her doing unscripted Q&A out there, and doing it very well. Is there some reason to think that all of a sudden, she wouldn't perform well at Q&A? I mean, I look at the prospect of her debating Biden, and the tongue-in-cheek advice that he wear a cup seems like a "many a true word spoken in jest" moment.

TJ said...

I'm making no judgments one way or the other whether she would be effective on the stump or in town halls. It's the McCain camp that appears to lack confidence in her abilities right now.

But, we'll see over the next couple weeks if this isn't just spin on the fact that she's got AK governing to tend to.

Original Mike said...

It's the McCain camp that appears to lack confidence in her abilities right now.

Oh, good grief. She's been the nominee for all of 7 days, over which time she's had a few other things to attend to. Why don't you wait until your meme turns out to be right before gleefully pouncing?

Simon said...

Trevor Jackson said...
"But, we'll see over the next couple weeks if this isn't just spin on the fact that she's got AK governing to tend to."

I don't know why anyone would assume anything but that she's going back to Alaska because she has a job to do there, absent very strong evidence to the contrary. It seems by far the most natural conclusion, even if you assume that she has all this catching up and debate prep to do, which could be done anywhere.

Original Mike said...

How long has it been that she's known she was the nominee? A couple of weeks?

Hoosier Daddy said...

I'll certainly show up to anything she does that's closer.

Simon, if they come to Indy, let me know if you show and beers are on me. I know a good Scottish pub downtown with 26,383,999,922 varieties of beer.

Not that I count them or anything.

TJ said...

The only evidence to the contrary is the near-embargo they've established on interviews. You'd think that given her high favorability ratings they'd want to capitalize on that.

I know, I know: That press that is only interested in tearing her down.

Simon said...

HoosierDaddy, sounds good. :)

Trevor, that's not a strong counterpoint. If she's going back to Alaska, there must be some reason for it, and without evidence, the most rational reason to posit is the one that requires her presence there. Arguendo, let's say that the McCain campaign wants to prevent her from being interviewed by journalists while they get her up to speed and run her through murder boards. They don't need to spirit her away to Alaska to accomplish that; they could do that almost anywhere. That tends to rule it out as a reason, to my mind.

TJ said...

Again, I'm dubious too, and I'll wait to see when the press-embargo ends. But per your arguendo, Alaska's a great place to hide out, do her job as governor, and get her Rocky IV-in-the-snow training on. ("BIDEN!!" she'll shout from the mountain.) It also has the added benefit of letting her be at home with her family for as long as possible before the final push.

Sprezzatura said...

She's rereading her speech.

AllenS said...

Is Palin going back to Alaska? I didn't hear about it. I'll bet she went back to get her cheesehead hat, and her can cooler. Maybe some ammo, too.

harold said...

I'm looking forward to the Palin-Biden debate. If Palin can think on her feet, she'll do very well.

I live near Delaware and have followed Joe Biden's career ever since he became a senator. I've never seen any evidence that he can handle an unscripted, adversarial forum. If he sticks to a subject during this biggest event of his life, it will be the first time I've seen it.

vbspurs said...

those small town clinging union voters. Reagan Dems are her natural target there

Drill SGT, I heard last night that she's coming to Miami next week.

Rain, shine, hurricanes blowing, alligators crossing my path -- I will be there.

As things stood on Wednesday, I was going to be there for Palin. After McCain's speech last night, I'll be there for him too.

My homemade sign will bear out my new confidence in both.

(Just for kicks, maybe I'll add "Althouse" to the homemade sign in case it makes the newswires) ;)

Cheers,
Victoria

MadisonMan said...

Rain, shine, hurricanes blowing, alligators crossing my path -- I will be there.

Good luck avoiding Ike. The forecasts have him near the Keys on Tuesday night, so I doubt a Presidential Candidate will be in s. Florida (in a campaign mode) on Wednesday.

Whether or not Ike hits near Miami or slips through the straits into the Gulf is an open question at the moment.

MadisonMan said...

Oops, I read that Wednesday to mean next Wednesday was when she'd be there.

Need new glasses.

Simon said...

Harold, does your experience with Biden match my impression of him that he can quite easily be goaded into losing his temper?

Headless Blogger said...

Ann - My wife and I arrived after 9:00. We were too late and gave up on the line at 10:30. I think there was another 1-1/2 hour wait to get in.

I'll post my Palin-doo hair shots later today. You inspired me.

J. Cricket said...

See her now, before she disappears until the debates!

Addendum: See her now, before she slinks back to Alaska after the election.

And gee, if there is a long line to get in, they must have found an even smaller forum than the dinky places that McCain has been appearing!

vbspurs said...

Actually, when Bill Clinton visited Homestead (ground zero after Andrew) he got tonnes of votes from them, and other Floridians, in 1992.

Politics is a cynical game, and there are cynical motivations.

If McCain/Palin come to hurricane alley if Ike hits us (and please pray that it doesn't), it'll be seen as a positive by many.

"They care".

MadisonMan said...

Yes -- but I read you comment to mean they'd be there just at landfall. Probably a little too close for the Secret Service people :)

vbspurs said...

Wussies! Besides Hurricane Ike is no match for Hurricane Sarah.

(I'm clinging to my coinage until it catches on. Any moment now. Still waiting)

XWL said...

Isn't the really significant news here that McCain-Palin think they have a chance to pick up Wisconsin?

Given that the Palin pick likely solidifies McCain's support west of the Rockies (coastal elite states, excepted, though I think Oregon might be in play also), if McCain can pick off Upper Midwest states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, then regardless of how the popular vote ends up, this will be an Electoral College landside (my prediction McCain 334, Obama 204).

Asante Samuel said...

What form of municipal government do they have in Cedarburg? Do they have a Mayor, or are they progressive enough to enjoy a Community Organizer as their chief executive?

Asante Samuel said...

And I hope the good people of Cedarburg use the unrepentant college professor/community organizer/Annenberg grant form of payment for their public education. It works so well.

harold said...

"Harold, does your experience with Biden match my impression of him that he can quite easily be goaded into losing his temper?"

He's a bucket full of emotions, but he isn't gutsy enough to show genuine anger. If Palin plants some effective barbs, his frustration will become visible. Without scripted responses, his ego will take over. Watch for lots of inappropriate grinning.

M.E. said...

Headless Blogger, I was there, too! We arrived just before 10 and gave up on the line as it was easily a half-mile long, maybe more. However, we hung around an intersection a block or so from the rally site, and managed to see the motorcade go by.

Yes, XWL, I think McCain has a *chance* at Wisconsin. Without Palin, nothing, but with her ... anything is possible.

However, Bush spent lots of time here in 2000 and 2004 and never got Wisconsin to flip to red. We're blue-purple at best.

We saw license plates from IL; McCain obviously won't waste time campaigning there, so I suppose our IL friends figured this was there best chance at seeing a rally.

MadisonMan said...

Isn't the really significant news here that McCain-Palin think they have a chance to pick up Wisconsin?


Or maybe they went to the closest state that wasn't Minnesota.

J. Cricket said...

The AP reports:

Hundreds of people packed downtown Cedarburg as they waited for McCain and Palin. Many more lined up for blocks as they waited to get through security checkpoints. Police were expecting 5,000 to 8,000 people at the rally.

Wow! Hundreds of people!!

Kris said...

We've got some pictures from the event up here:

http://www.dummocrats.com/archives/001700.php

It was pretty short & frankly disappointing.

Unknown said...

I wonder what the crowds were like for McCain pre-Palin. The same size, smaller...?

Ruth Anne Adams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dean said...

Hockey Dad, ain't the press wonderful? According to two accounts (here and here) folks needed to register to get in and there were 12,500 of those, not to mention the ones who didn't get in. Here's a video report courtesy of YouTube.