U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and several other of the state’s top Democrats fired up a crowd of 18,000 before President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen take the stage in later this morning at a rally in Madison.
Baldwin admitted that politics can feel small at times, but said tomorrow voters face a “choice between two fundamentally different visions for America” in both her own U.S. Senate race against former Gov. Tommy Thompson and in the presidential election.
She said Obama and herself represent the philosophy that “ we are all in this together,” while the Republicans believe everyone should be on their own. Baldwin added that everyone from Wall Street to Main Street should have a fair shot and play by the same rules.
“If I have the honor to serve as Wisconsin’s next senator, your voices will be heard,” Baldwin told the crowd. “We need a senator and a president who will always have our backs.”
Prior to Baldwin’s address, retiring U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., made the case for Obama and Baldwin’s election. Kohl praised the progress Obama achieved on the economy and health care during his first term in office and assured the audience Baldwin would continue to stand up for the middle class in Washington, not special interests and lobbyists.
State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who is running for Baldwin’s 2nd Congressional District seat, said Democrats can turn the state from purple to deep blue Tuesday and encouraged each attendee to get five other people to the polls on Election Day.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Madison, kicked of the event by invoking the protests over collective bargaining a year and a half ago and said the country would take a step backwards if it elected Mitt Romney president.
