U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his campaign are starting to prepare for the presidential election in November by solidifying staff and campaign strategies in Wisconsin.
Kristen Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said the McCain campaign moved forward in Wisconsin recently by naming Jennifer Hallowell as its regional director in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Kukowski said general elections in Wisconsin are traditionally very close and it is especially important for McCain to reach independent voters in Wisconsin, including students. She said McCain will open up at least 10 offices across the state to reach voters.
“The McCain campaign and the RNC [Republican National Committee] and us are working together to make a voter turnout program, and that will consist of offices around the state,” Kukowski said.
According to Kukowski, McCain’s head start will be beneficial no matter who ends up being the democratic nominee.
She said the democratic presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., have such similar policies that McCain will stand out running against either candidate.
Charles Franklin, professor of political science at UW-Madison, also said McCain could gain ground from organizing his campaign in Wisconsin without competition from a specific democratic nominee.
“Given our record in the last two elections and even earlier elections, there’s good reason to think the race will be competitive, and so McCain will benefit from whatever start he can get in this thing,” he said.
Franklin said if Clinton can pull some of the more closely contested primaries away from Barack Obama it might take longer to determine a democratic candidate.
This could result in McCain being the only established candidate in the race until the Democratic National Convention on August 25th, according to Franklin.
“I think if Clinton manages to win some of the primaries she’s not expected to win, like Indiana … that would play to her campaigns argument that Obama is not as electable as he looked earlier in the year,” he said.
