On Wisconsin and hailing rides to Michigan
Thursday, Oct 17, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico…
Gov. JB Pritzker will campaign in Nevada on Saturday for Kamala Harris, then head to Lake County on Sunday for Illinois Democrats’ “Weekend of Action.”
Illinois Atty. Gen Kwame Raoul has been enlisted by the Harris campaign to travel to Miami and its Little Haiti neighborhood to campaign. Raoul is Haitian American and is working to dispel misinformation that’s been amplified by Donald Trump’s campaign about Haitian immigrants.
The Illinois Harris-Walz campaign team is organizing a thousand volunteers to canvas over the weekend in Michigan and Wisconsin, two of the swing states that the presidential candidates are hoping to win. […]
Other Dems on the stump: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton will campaign in Michigan. Comptroller Susana Mendoza is set to lead a bus tour to Grand Rapids, Mich., along with state Reps. Kam Buckner and Camille Lilly and state Sen. Natalie Toro. And state Rep. Bob Morgan will also join a group of volunteers in Michigan.
* From Operation Swing State…
Operation Swing State, a grassroots coalition of 64 Democratic, labor, and allied organizations, will launch a field organizing canvass operation, sending Illinois volunteers to Michigan to knock doors and mobilize voters for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on Saturday.
Operation Swing State is launching canvasses to Michigan and Wisconsin from staging locations in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs every weekend through Election Day, and has already led 2,500+ volunteer shifts with 60,000 doors knocked.
Operation Swing State also hosts virtual phone banks every week.
More info about upcoming Wisconsin and Michigan canvasses can be found here. Senate President Don Harmon’s township committee is helping send folks to Michigan, as are Personal PAC and the 40th and 45th Ward Democrats. House Speaker Chris Welch’s township committee is helping get people up to Wisconsin, as are Rep. Theresa Mah and the 47th Ward Democrats. Upcoming phone banks include one on the city’s South Side and another in Champaign sponsored by College Democrats of Illinois. A list of partners is here.
* More stops for Rep. Buckner…
* Illinoisans from both parties are involved in Wisconsin politics…
[Wisconsin] Republicans engineered the [2015 campaign finance law] rewrite that allowed donations of any size to political parties and legislative caucuses, plus unlimited transfers to candidates.
That paved the way for donations such as the $6.3 million that Diane Hendricks and Liz Uihlein combined to give the Assembly and Senate GOP caucuses over the past two months.
Hendricks also gave the state GOP $1.1 million over that period, while the state Dem Party’s own megadonors came through again with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman giving $2.25 million over the past month and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker chipping in $2 million.
- Gravitas - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:17 pm:
Michigan may be slipping out of reach. Wisconsin is a true battleground state. The big question is how will the surrogates be received? Some Wisconsinites can be more than a trifle parochial and resent outsiders telling them what to do. It is not simply a “Chicago” thing. In northwestern Wisconsin, the resentment was directed at Minnesotans from the Twin Cities.
- City Zen - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:42 pm:
==Senate President Don Harmon’s township committee is helping send folks to Michigan==
Maybe they can explain why their township has only one town.
- TJ - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:43 pm:
== Michigan may be slipping out of reach. ==
[citation needed]
But Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are going to decide the election. Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina are all important battlegrounds for sure, but the first four are really going to be the ones that pick the next president, and you’d hope that Illinois surrogates and especially Pritzker would play well in at least three of them.
- clec dcn - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:02 pm:
Hopefully the places these Illinois officials go will send them back to Illinois with sour faces. Shows how desperate Harris is the big push. Grassroots of Illinois has shown much work to be done in Illinois. They are afraid they might have to deal with Trump. Granted he will not be there friend but a good thing for sure.
- Lakeview Looker - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:02 pm:
===Michigan may be slipping out of reach===
In what world is this true? There is a Democratic trifecta in the state, and the polls all give Harris an edge over Trump.
===The big question is how will the surrogates be received===
I don’t know about you, but when I canvass I don’t typically give the people I’m talking to my zip code. The priority is on getting the word out.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:32 pm:
===Shows how desperate Harris is===
IL Dems did the same thing (and more) for Obama in ‘08, both the primary and the general.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:54 pm:
=More info about upcoming Michigan canvasses=
Word to the wise - do not wear any Illini gear.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 4:13 pm:
“Shows how desperate Harris is the big push.”
Nothing indicates a campaign’s desperation quite as much as campaigning during a campaign, huh?
– MrJM
- Wisco Expat - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 4:27 pm:
When I did door-knocking and phone banking in ‘18 and ‘20, the biggest complaint I heard was that WisDems/the Clinton campaign were a hot mess in Wisconsin and that’s partially why she lost. I’m not sure how true that may be, but since 2016 WisDems and other campaigns have been on top of it, fearing a repeat of 2016.
Pro tip for those planning to volunteer: do not, under any circumstances, try to knock doors or call phones during the Packers games.
- Frida's Boss - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 7:20 pm:
The move to enhance and encourage other states’ Democrats is a smart move. Illinois is solidly blue, and as long as any bubble candidate in local races has all they need, it is smart to move into other close locales.
Wisconsin Dem party is working hard and needs manpower. These next three weekends will be very helpful to that effort. Illinois is superior at ground game compared to other states efforts.
By the way, I have never heard anyone complain about people knocking on doors for candidates in Champaign or Springfield, even if the people knocking are from Chicago. It’s really no different.
I agree, I wouldn’t wear a Bears hat. Sox gear may help you get a vote because people feel sorry for you.
- BC - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:27 pm:
Saw what you did with that headline, Rich. Well played.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:38 pm:
Thanks!