OSHKOSH, Wis. — Against a backdrop of conversations and people coming and going from the Winnebago County Republican Party office in downtown Oshkosh, George Bureau said it’s an exciting time.
He’s the campaign chairman for the local party.
“It’s very exciting, but to me, we’re really in the two-minute drill right now. You look back and it’s like, oh my gosh, how did we get down to 25 days? But that’s where we are,” Bureau said. “Each day brings something new in the news cycle that could be beneficial for us, so we’re in continual communication with volunteers. I was over getting some literature out to some volunteers right as you walked in. We try to get the word out there.”
There’s also that sense of excitement and resolve in the neighborhoods of Appleton.
That’s where Kelly Fenton, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Outagamie County, is going door to door talking about candidates and asking if people have a voting plan.
“We’re also still talking to voters who we don’t really know their political persuasion or people who have indicated they’re undecided based on previous canvasses. We’re still in the persuasion game as well,” he said after leaving some literature on a front door. “When we get an undecided voter, we ask them what their issues are and then we have a conversation with them.”
The race for the White House, Congress and local elected positions is coming down to the wire. Wisconsin is one of a handful of key states on the national stage.
Arnold Shober is a professor of government at Lawrence University in Appleton. He said every vote in Wisconsin is prized by both sides — including those in places like Green Bay and the Fox Valley.
“There are still a lot of votes here,” Shober said. “In a close race, you need every vote you can get. They can’t all be from Madison. They can’t all be from the WOW counties around Wisconsin for the Republicans. Every vote matters.”
He said campaigns are using everything from literature dropped off at doorsteps to targeted ads on social media platforms.
“Short of family conversations, the best way to convince someone to turn out to vote and to maybe even change their mind for about whom they’re voting is to have a conversation with them on their porch, because there’s a human connection,” Shober said. “‘I was important enough that someone knocked on my door.’”
Bureau said the work that’s happening at the local level has an impact on what happens nationally.
“Many elections in Wisconsin, particularly on a national basis, have been decided by a little over 20,000 votes. We’re assuming the same here and that’s what we’re working so hard,” he said. “If each person can get one more person to vote, it can make a difference.”
Fenton said the work he and others have been doing for months and weeks is expected to keep going right until the 12th hour of the campaign.
“We actually have a shift at 5 p.m. election night,” he said. “Obama talked about not until those polls close do you stop knocking on those doors because everyone of those counts. We feel that can carry us. We really feel that can be the difference.”