80% of us say country is on 'the wrong track'

70% of Wisconsinites give President an unfavorable rating

There's good news for Barack Obama in poll results released today by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science/ WisPolitics.com. If the presidential election were held today, it would not be the squeaker it was in 2000 and 2004. 50% say they would vote for Obama; 37% would vote for John McCain; 10% say they are undecided.

George Bush can take solace only from the fact he isn't running again. Seven out of ten Wisconsinites have an unfavorable impression of the President.

Five hundred and six "likely voters" were questioned between June 8-10. Here are some of the results that caught my eye (keep in mind that 38% of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats; 24% as Republicans and 29% as Independents):

Wrong track: 80% responded that the country is not going in the right direction, but is on the wrong track. 51% think the state is on the wrong track.

Barack Obama: 64% give him a favorable rating, with 33% "strongly" favorable. 74% feel he "shares my values;" 43% feel he is "experienced."

John McCain: 53% favorable, with 16% "strongly" favorable. 46% feel he "shares my values;" 84% feel he is "experienced."

George Bush: 30% favorable, with 9% "strongly" favorable; 70% unfavorable, with 50% "strongly" unfavorable.

Jim Doyle: 57% favorable, with 14% "strongly" favorable.

Wisconsinites split right down the middle on the question of jobs vs. the environment. Asked: "Some people say that it is important to protect the environment, even if it costs some jobs or otherwise reduces our standard of living. Other people say that protecting the environment is not as important as maintaining jobs and our standard of living. Which viewpoint comes closest to your own?" the respondents split 45% in favor of protecting the environment, and 44% for maintaining jobs.

No such agreement on whether the war with Iraq was worth fighting: 66% said no; 31% said yes. Only 19% felt strongly it was worth fighting, while 52% felt strongly it was not.

I was interested in how people get their news. 30% said they watch network TV news every day; 25% said they watch cable news every day; 32% watch local news every day; 34% read a local newspaper every day; 23% get news from the internet every day.

There's lots more. If you want to see how your neighbors feel about abortion, how often they go to church, what they think about African-Americans' work ethic, what their priorities are for both state and national government, read the full results of the poll HERE.

Wasting no time, Kohl endorses Obama

Sen. Herb Kohl, D-WI, issued the following statement today:

“Both candidates ran spectacular campaigns, and it’s clear that either would make a great President. We were fortunate to have two exceptional candidates who were willing to put themselves forward and work tirelessly these many months, and for that they have our gratitude.

“Now that Senator Obama has won the nomination, we can unite behind his historic candidacy. He has worked to restore the trust of so many Americans who are clamoring for a new direction. I endorse and fully support Senator Obama’s candidacy and will work to see that he is elected in November.”

GM announcement is 'gut-wrenching,' says Ryan

Update:Tuesday night, Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl and Rep. Paul Ryan sent a letter to GM CEO Rick Wagoner asking him to reconsider the decision to close the Janesville SUV plant and requested a meeting to discuss the possible retooling of the plant for different production lines. A copy of the letter is HERE.

Original post: Congressman Paul Ryan, R-WI, 1st District, a fifth-generation Janesville native, made the following statement in response to today’s announcement that General Motors will close it Janesville SUV plant by 2010:

“Today’s news is downright gut-wrenching for Janesville. Growing up and living in Janesville, this is something we’ve always feared. First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the workers and their families, many of whom I’ve grown up with and am still close friends with. If GM’s plans are fully carried out, this would be a big psychological and economic blow to our community and our state; but Janesville will survive this, because we simply have to survive this. As I have witnessed time and again, I have faith that our community will pull together to support one another in the difficult days ahead. It is my hope that as this 2010 shutdown date approaches, Janesville will be in a better position to reverse this decision.”

Ryan said he will work closely with union leaders, GM officials, and members of the Janesville community to support those hit hardest by the closure.

Sen. Herb Kohl, D-WI, issued the following statement:

“It’s a tragedy that General Motors plans to close its plant in Janesville, leaving behind thousands of skilled and dedicated employees. The community of Janesville depends on these jobs, and I will do everything in my power to convince General Motors to reconsider their decision or help their employees find new work.

“Today I’m urging officials at the Labor Department to make job training and transitional assistance for GM’s employees readily available. The people at the Janesville GM plant are second to none, and I hope that GM supports these employees with the same loyalty and commitment that these men and women have brought to the job everyday.”

And Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI:

“For generations, the people of Janesville have poured their heart and soul into General Motors and have proven to be an incredible asset for the company. GM should immediately take steps to ensure the continued success of the GM plant including retooling the plant for new production lines. I will continue to work with Governor Doyle, Senator Kohl, Congressman Ryan, state and local officials, related businesses, and the leadership of GM to do all I can to support an ongoing and vital GM presence in Janesville. The people of Janesville have worked too hard for too long to deserve anything less.”

And Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL:

"My heart goes out to the workers and families affected by the closing of these GM plants, including the Janesville plant that I visited a few months ago. Today's news is a painful reminder not only of the challenges America faces in our global economy, but of George Bush’s failed economic policies. For eight long years, we’ve had an energy policy that funds both sides in the war on terror without promoting fuel efficiency or helping make our auto companies more competitive. That’s part of the reason thousands of more Americans in Wisconsin and Ohio will no longer be able to count on a paycheck at a time when they’re already being pinched by rising costs. Unlike John McCain, I’m not in this race to extend the failed Bush economic policies; I’m in this race to end them. I’ve proposed investing $150 billion over ten years in green energy and creating up to five million new green jobs. We’ll finally provide domestic automakers with the funding they need to retool their factories and make fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars. And we’ll invest in efforts to make sure that the cars of the future are made where they always have been -- in the United States. Because the fight for American manufacturing is the fight for America’s future – and I believe that’s a fight this country will win."

Gov. Jim Doyle:

“After all the years of work and everything the people of Janesville have given, it is tough to stomach what GM is doing here today. Families here have dedicated their working lives to this General Motors plant. The city of Janesville, the state of Wisconsin – we have all been committed to making this plant work.

“So many people here have put their hearts into building trucks at the Janesville assembly plant, and now they are left with a cold decision that casts them aside. We all feel it in our guts.

“GM made it clear that this was a plant that they were invested in. They brought Barack Obama here just months ago. It was clear that this plant was the pride of GM. It should have been obvious long ago that the future was not where GM was headed. Bad corporate decision kept these lines turning out gas guzzlers as fuel prices went from 2 dollars to 3 dollars and now to 4 dollars per gallon.

“Now we stand here, carrying the burden of those bad corporate decisions – failed leadership that culminated in a calculation that left out the very heart of this company, the workers who built it.

“I am inspired by the workers who in the face of all this – in these difficult times – are saying they will work to make the best of this. That’s the spirit that made this company worth something, and that’s the spirit that built Janesville. I want Wisconsin workers that the state will stand with you. We will work together to fight for Janesville and our future together.”

Are we getting sloppy with candidate security?

A newspaper story out of Dallas, Texas, caught my eye today. (Click to enlarge.)


It reminded me of the differing levels of security here for the visits of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Granted, much of the security is beneath the surface -- unseen by the casual attendee at these rallies, and that's how it should be. Still, the discrepancy was startling to me. And from the story above, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I can see that I'm not alone.

At the Obama rally in Racine, security was tight. Everyone in Memorial Hall was told to leave at 2 p.m. Reporters and photographers had to leave all equipment -- cameras, laptops, what-have-you; we were told nothing else could be brought in. The Secret Service wanted to have the hall to themselves from 2 p.m. to 2:45 for a security sweep, including bomb-sniffer dogs. As we were leaving, I counted about 20 uniformed police, TSA and Secret Service agents. There probably were more. As it turned out, press was kept out until shortly after 4 p.m... and when we were permitted to return, each of us was wanded and expertly patted down.

The public had to go through metal detectors -- which malfunctioned at first and kept the crowd waiting outside in the cold for more than an hour until they were fully functional again. (And let's be clear here: it was colder in Racine than in Dallas).

Furthermore, the area where Obama spoke was roped off, and those attending the rally were tightly controlled. Individual photographers who wanted to get close while he was speaking were escorted individually into the central area. Obama was 10-20 ft. from the closest spectator. And at the end, when he "pressed the flesh," he had agents closely by his side, and again the crowd was carefully controlled and kept back. Obama dealt strictly with a rope line, walking down it but never surrounded by civilians. He did not stop to sign autographs.

At the Hillary Clinton rally in Kenosha ... well, forget all that, except for a few visible (and invisible) Secret Service agents near her, and however many local police and Sheriff's Deputies on the perimeter. There was no empty-building sweep, no checkpoint at all for press -- neither wanding, nor pat-down nor equipment inspection -- and no metal detectors for the audience to go through. While she spoke, she stood within five feet of spectators on three sides.

It was most startling as the rally concluded. Hillary was surrounded by fans on all sides, as the crowd strained to reach her for autographs, and she attempted to satisfy that desire. She signed posters, books, shirts -- whatever was handed to her. Yes, there were a couple of Secret Service agents at her side, but the crowd really surrounded her; I have one series of pictures of a man who put his arm around Mrs. Clinton's shoulder, as he posed her for a picture with him.

To someone who's lived through JFK's and Robert Kennedy's assassination, the shootings of George Wallace and Ronald Reagan, and two attempts on Gerald Ford, I was neither surprised nor offended by all the security around Obama. But I was shocked by the lack of (apparent) security around Hillary. (And, yes, I am aware that only RFK's shooting took place in what could and should have been a secured location.)

Furthermore, those were simpler times. The papers weren't full of mass murders every other week, at colleges, workplaces, schools, malls. The times definitely have changed, and not for the better. I hope we haven't forgotten history.

UPDATE: Newspaper way off on crowd estimate at Obama

UPDATE: Both the J-S and the JT overestimated the crowds at both events. Jim Walczak, executive director of the Racine Civic Centre, wrote to tell us 1,430 people were let into Memorial Hall for Obama's visit. An additional 60 media were let in, for a grand total well below the J-S's reported number of 3,500.

As for the Brat Stop, Pete counted about 750 people. I counted about 300 in the balcony, but couldn't see how many people were on the floor. Pete tells me there were about 150 people sitting and standing on the floor in front of and behind Hillary, and a couple hundred more packed through the place. So there's pretty much no way the crowd got up to 1,500, and even 1,000 seems like a push. Also, the Obama rally was bigger than Hillary's stop, so if there were 1,500 at Obama, I'd say 750 sounds about right for Hillary.

ORIGINAL POST: The J-S is reporting that 3,500 people were let into Obama's event in Racine last week. That's three times the number I originally reported, in part because organizers said the crowd would be limited to 1,200.

The JT estimated 1,500 people attended Hillary's stop in Kenosha, which, again, feels about right compared to Obama (about half the crowd). There's no sourcing on the estimate, and the head of the Kenosha County Democrats estimated the crowd at 1,000.

I'm not sure how much we can read into the numbers. It's probably not fair to say Obama received three times the local support as Hillary. But we can say the crowds were vastly different. Obama's was diverse; Hillary's was 99 percent white. Hillary's was middle-aged on up; Obama's was young. Both were enthusiastic, but Hillary's venue led to a more raucous feeling, while Obama's venue felt more official/presidential.

Then there was the strange lack of security at Hillary's event. Media photographers didn't even have their equipment scanned, a common practice at these types of event. In this way, Obama felt like the establishment candidate, while Hillary felt like the upstart challenger.

This is all building toward Tuesday's primary. Wisconsin is important nationally, because Obama is looking for his ninth straight win, while Hillary is looking for momentum heading into the big states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Whoever wins Wisconsin may well win the nomination.

10 Things to Know About Hillary's Visit to the Brat Stop

My wife and I headed out to see Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech at the Brat Stop in Kenosha Saturday afternoon. Here's what we saw:

1. What a terrible place for a campaign stop. No offense to the Brat Stop, but it was a lousy venue to hear a politician. '80s hair cover bands? Yes. Hillary Clinton? No. We blame the organizers. We got there 90 minutes early and were ushered to the balcony with no instructions (likely because no one knew what was going on). We made an attempt to get back down to the floor, but were blocked upstairs. The longer we waited, the clearer it became we weren't going to be able to see her - at least not an unobstructed view, anyway. We stuck it out and got to see a bartender realign a closed circuit video camera using her shoelaces and a chair stacked on top of a table. It worked, and Hillary was visible on the bar's TVs. Nice work, bartender! Not a good start, though, and perfectly representative of the planning that went into this stop.

2. All that said, Hillary charmed us. After seeing her talk, I believe her campaign's complaints about unfair negative coverage. She's intelligent, warm, highly qualified, funny (wickedly so, at times), populist and profoundly anti-Bush. In short, she's a remarkably strong candidate. If she would have run four years ago, she would have stomped John Kerry and Bush II. This time she's got a tough primary against Obama, but either candidate will attract massive support.

3. All said, Hillary's speech was stronger than Obama's in Racine this week. She talked specifics, covered a broader range of topics and made stronger points than Obama. My wife put it well: Obama is inspiring, while Hillary comes across as very, very intelligent.

4. Hillary swayed us. We both were big Obama supporters after Wednesday, but now I'm undecided and my wife is leaning toward Hillary. We'd be happy with either of them, but Hillary seems to back up her claim that she'll be ready to run the country on Day 1. I hate to say this about Obama, but really, the last thing we need is another guy in the White House everyone wants to hang out with, but can't actually do the job.

5. I loved how Hillary slammed Bush throughout her speech. For example, she vowed to appoint people to government jobs who are actually competent to do the job. The obvious example was Bush's head of FEMA who had never actually managed an emergency. She also whacked him for No Child Left Behind, saying: "We shouldn't view our children as little test-takers."

6. She was creative. One example she gave was encouraging the development of solar power in the U.S. Germany took a similar approach and created thousands of jobs while cutting the country's dependence on foreign oil. Hillary said she'd like to start a similar program. She also touted tax credits for college tuition (like Obama), but added that she wanted grandparents to pass along college tax credits to their grandchildren.

7. Like Obama, she touted the middle class and vowed to tax the wealthiest 1 percent of the country. "We've had a president for the wealthy, I think it's time to have a president for everyone else." Obama offered a similar line, and both got big cheers from the crowd. The Bush tax cuts went too far, and both Democrats vowed to bring them back into line. "We're going to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class," she said.

8. The national trends seem correct. While Obama drew a younger, more diverse crowd, Hillary drew an older, whiter crowd dominated by women. The question for Tuesday's primary will be whether Obama can turn out the youth and minority vote to overcome Hillary's obvious edge among women voters.

9. Hillary's voice was hoarse, but she rallied the crowd. She was sharper than Obama, making jokes about Dick Cheney shooting his hunting partner and talking about Bush running "scams" on the American people. "You've got to laugh to keep from crying," she said. She also had better swag for the crowd. Everyone got stickers, plus they were handing out bumper stickers and Hillary stuck around to sign autographs and shake hands with dozens of people.

10. Hillary handled the questions from the audience better than Obama. Not only did her answers come naturally, they were heart-felt. When a mother and her daughter explained how they were losing their home, Hillary comforted them and was ready with an answer: She proposed a moratorium on housing foreclosures in response to housing woes across the country. One news source is reporting that Hillary cried at the question. It was definitely an emotional moment. If she shed a tear, she wasn't alone and she came back with a strong answer.

A few more comments:

* The JT is estimating the crowd at 1,400 to 1,500 people. I'm not sure where they pulled that number from (it's unsourced), but I'd put the crowd more in the 1,000 range. It was comparable to Obama's crowd in Racine, without the lines. For Obama, we waited outside for 90 minutes. For Hillary's speech, we waited inside for 90 minutes (after walking right in the door).

* There were no metal detectors at Hillary's visit. Obama made everyone wait outside an extra hour because the Secret Service's detectors broke down. Aside from a few cops walking around, it felt like Hillary had no crowd security. There were definitely Secret Service agents there, but no one checked our coats or bags.

* Aside from the smoke, blocked views and general confusion, the one nice thing about the Brat Stop was having a bar and food available. We ate lunch while we waited and a bunch of people were drinking while waiting for Hillary to show up. That didn't hurt the crowd's spirts.

Obama's visit without a press pass

Here are photos from the 90+ minute wait most people had outside of Memorial Hall in the freezing cold before Sen. Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday. While waiting, one woman discovered the exhaust from the news vans gave off heat. Yup, it was that cold ... people were warming up with noxious fumes.


The mob waits patiently outside the front door of Memorial Hall. Broken metal detectors forced people to stay out in the cold at least an hour longer than originally planned.


RacinePost broke the news Monday about Obama's visit to Racine. We were several hours ahead of anyone else, who waited for the campaign to post a notice on its website. Our secret? We called the Civic Centre and asked if Obama was coming. Apparently, we just had to drive past Memorial Hall.


Damian Evans, of Racine, came prepared. He brought a copy of Obama's, "The Audacity of Hope" to read while waiting in line. Mostly he kept his hands stuffed in his pockets, though.


A woman collapsed while waiting in line. A police officer was nearby when it happened, and an ambulance was called to the scene. We never heard an update on her condition.


The line wrapped aroung Memorial Hall. We saw most people in line make it inside, but ...


it was standing room only for most of the late-comers.


The reason we waited.

Faces in the camera viewfinder

The national press finds a face it likes...
(and the woman in the center snaps right back)

A sea of cameras in the audience

County Board member Ken Lumpkin

Racine Alderman Q.A. Shakoor makes the introductions

Jeff Neubauer, left, former state party chair, raised $250,000

Volunteer Kelly Gallaher, left

Eagle-eyed Secret Service agent

Rob Weber, Racine City Attorney, is on vacation, but when he returns he'll find the picture from his office has been autographed by both Gov. Jim Doyle and Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, thanks to Mayor Gary Becker.

More Obama Rally photos HERE.

Local blacks were included in event

After all the talk leading up to Sen. Barack Obama's visit, local black leaders were included in Obama's visit.

Gloria Rogers was on stage in her bright yellow shirt. Jameel Ghuari asked the senator a question. Nola Starling-Ratliff shook Obama's hand after the talk. Local NAACP President Beverly Hicks got a mention in Obama's speech. Dozens of other minorities were up and around the stage. Even Ken Lumpkin was there, taking pictures for the Insider News.

It's also worth noting that Racine Mayor Gary Becker was at the event - and he was volunteering. The mayor was working hard before Obama's speech to get people into place, coordinate volunteers and generally be available to help pull the event together. He certainly didn't swoop in at the last moment and grab that chair in the front row.

A lot of that came together early Wednesday morning when Obama's national campaign got involved with the visit. But even after the seats on the stage were handed out, there's there was a diverse crowd at the event.

Obama is doing something few other candidates can do. He's getting people of different races excited about a single candidate.

10 things to know about Obama in Racine

1. A majority of the crowd waited over 90 minutes in the freezing cold to see Obama. The line wrapped around Memorial Hall and didn't start moving until 4 p.m. - 45 minutes after the advertised time for doors open. The reason? The metal detectors at the front doors broke down. Homeland Security had to recalibrate the machines, and that left hundreds of people with numb feet and frozen ears. "I'm voting for Hillary," one woman shouted after standing outside for an hour. But I only saw one person leave, and that was a woman with two small children.

2. Before his talk, Obama recorded a commercial at Gateway Technical College. It was all hush, hush, but he was on the fourth floor of the Racine campus' Technical Building in the nursing area for the recording. Look for Racine on TV soon! Obama also met with two dozen Gateway staff and students before the event.

3. The biggest moment in terms of the ongoing campaign was Obama attacking Sen. John McCain. We saw a glimpse of his early strategy: Tie McCain to Bush on the war and taxes, while striking a populist stance for change. Racine was one of the first times Obama has specifically attacked McCain on the campaign trail.

4. Some people were disappointed by his speech. Afterward, they had a sense Obama didn't bring his best performance to Racine, that he was flat. Maybe so, but the crowd was definitely into the talk. The disappointment is likely from the high expectations Obama is carrying around these days. People are looking for a Dr. King, not realizing the grind of campaigning day in and day out. I thought Obama held up well through the speech, and excelled while taking questions. Even silly moments, like Diana Garcia giving him a Horlick T-shirt, were revealing. Obama could take a joke while remaining in control of the room.

5. He's possibly the coolest guy to ever run for president. People said that about Bill Clinton, but Obama oozes charisma. The way he hopped on stage, gave Gov. Jim Doyle a reverse handshake and clapped along with the crowd was enough to show he's a different breed of politician. Admittedly, calling him "cool" isn't the greatest insight. But the word sticks in my head after the Obama visit. He's definitely got something.

6. He's a real Democrat. After all of the posturing in the Democratic primary, I was interested to hear something about his policies. He's definitely a left-leaning politician who stands in stark contrast to Republicans. After four straight elections of everyone running to the middle, Obama offers something different than McCain. It's part of his early success: he says change, and then actually offers ideas that would bring about change.

7. The biggest cheer of the speech came when Obama noted that people were excited about the election because President Bush won't be on the ballot. The place erupted.

8. This is a strong line: "When the CEOs make more in 10 minutes than the average worker makes in a year, and it's the CEOs who get the tax breaks, there's something wrong." Here's another: "If you work hard in this country, you should not be poor."

9. Obama is aiming his campaign at the middle class. He openly talked against rich, and offered several ideas that would cut people out who make too much money. What's amazing is he's offering those ideas while still raising more money than any candidate in U.S. history. Odd that you don't have to pander to the wealthy to run a successful campaign.

10. Obama said he'd end the Iraq War in 2009. "I don't want to just end the war, I want to end the mindset that got us into war," he said.

Our Obama Rally Photo Album

Sign hung in Memorial Hall said it all.

Applause came frequently during the speech.

Mayor Gary Becker, Rep. Cory Mason, Melvin Hargrove.

A gift from Diana Garcia: 'My son made me do this...'

'I don't have a question, I just want a hug,' she said ...

A single mother with questions about education.

Dressed for the event.

The mayor with his souvenirs.

Sending a video to the folks at home...

More Obama Rally photos HERE.

Black leaders left out of Obama event?

Update, 7:20 a.m.: The Journal Times is on the story.The J-S, too.

Update, 10:20 p.m.: We're hearing now that several black leaders in the community (not Lumpkin) are not being invited to sit on the stage during Obama's talk.

Update, 12:30 p.m.: Just heard from County Board Supervisor Ken Lumpkin who was trying to get involved with the visit. The response he got from local organizers: "You can volunteer." Lumpkin's response: "I'm not holding doors open for anybody."

A representative from the Obama campaign is scheduled to meet with local black leaders this morning. The lack of outreach to the black community will be one of the issues they discuss. "Isn't this supposed to be a campaign of inclusion?" Lumpkin asked.

Gaynell Dyess, Michael Shields and Donnie Snow have also not been contacted regarding Obama's visit. Lumpkin is working to organize a local black leaders group in support of Obama.

Original post: We're hearing that Racine Mayor Gary Becker and State Rep. Cory Mason are under fire for not reaching out to African Americans ahead of Barack Obama's visit to Racine on Wednesday. There's apparently some movement to include local black leaders, but only after the black leaders asked to be included. It'd be interesting to know what Obama thought about including minorities in his town hall meetings, particularly in a diverse city like Racine.

Obama here Wednesday at Memorial Hall

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is coming to Racine Wednesday, and will speak at Memorial Hall, at 72 7th Street. The event is called Stand For Change Town Hall with Barack Obama.

The Democratic presidential hopeful will speak at 5:20 p.m. Doors open at 3:15 p.m.; first come-first served. There will be seating for 1,200 people. Overflow will be at Festival Hall.

It is suggested that people arrive by 2 p.m., and be prepared to register with your name, address and phone. It is recommended people get tickets in advance, by signing up here. For security reasons, do not bring bags. No signs or banners permitted.

Obama will be in Madison Tuesday night for a huge campaign rally at the Kohl Center, his first Wisconsin campaign stop this year. That rally begins at 6:15 p.m. and is also free and open to the public. People can RSVP for the Madison rally at his website.

Obama also will attend a state Democratic Party dinner Saturday in Milwaukee at the Midwest Airlines Center downtown, joining Hillary Clinton.

Becker, Mason holding Obama party on Super Tuesday

State Rep. Cory Mason and Racine Mayor Gary Becker are holding a Barack Obama watching party Tuesday as results come in from primary elections across the country.

The two local leaders will be watching the results at Buckets Pub, 2301 Lathrop Ave., from 7 p.m. into the night.

"State Representative Cory Mason and Mayor Gary Becker invite you to watch as the returns come in and Barack Obama makes history on Super Tuesday," read the announcement sent out Monday.

Sen. Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are expected to split the 24 states up for election on Tuesday. Obama has been surging in recent days, and he's expected to do well. But Clinton remains the front-runner in a number of states, it's likely the Democrats' primary won't be decided for a couple of weeks.

That's at least interesting news for Wisconsin voters, who will head to the polls on Feb. 19 to vote in the presidential primary and local elections.

RacinePost poll

If you haven't seen the poll results in the upper right corner, Obama was the runaway winner among our readers for president. He nabbed twice as many votes as Hillary in our highly scientific and researched poll. On the Republican side, it's Romney over McCain by 3.

John Nichols: Obama's Iowa victory 'a big deal'

By Bonnie J Hollis

John Nichols, political analyst and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, believes Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain will be the eventual candidates for president of the United States in November.

Speaking before 160 members of Racine’s chapter of the American Association of University Women and their guests at Meadowbrook Country Club on Saturday, Nichols had just returned from covering the caucus campaign in Iowa. Although his assignment was to cover Republican Michael Huckabee and his strategy for winning that race, Nichols said it was all the Iowa caucus voters who made the greatest impression on him — and it was that experience that he believes will change America.

"We’ve had “a screwed-up culture,” Nichols said, but because of Iowa, we are on the verge of real change. “It matters a lot that Obama won in a state whose residents are mostly white. It’s a big deal.

“I hope we are on the track with race as we have come with religion,” Nichols said, referring to the religious struggle John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, had when he campaigned for president in 1960. “In one night, Lutheran farmers in Iowa moved the discussion to a different level. It was an epic moment. It was Kennedyesque.”

Not impressed with most media coverage, Nichols said, “The media dumbed it down; but those caucuses set a new tone. Each candidate was, for the first time in Iowa, treated as a human being. The caucuses of the past were grandmotherly, but there was a dramatic shift this time. Participants crossed the generations; young people cared.”

That shift, he said, included the numbers who got involved in the process and the money spent by those who won. People and their involvement made the difference, not the dollars spent by the candidates.

As important as Iowa was, it probably won’t spell the end. On Tuesday, New Hampshire will be different, as will the primaries in the states that follow, Nichols said. The significant battle will be Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

“On Super Tuesday, “ Nichols continued, “we will have a real race. We will have good politics.”

The author of "The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders’ Cure for Royalism," Nichols challenged the group to follow Iowa’s example.

“We tell ourselves that we’re ‘too busy.’ Iowans engaged at a very deep level. They took their children to the caucuses; they waited hours to cast their votes. They got involved. This will be an interesting, scary, inspiring year,” Nichols said; but instead of saying, ‘We’re too busy,’ we must say, ‘This matters so much; we all have to be a part of it.’

“ Change is not only in and for America but for the world.”

The best candidates (our) money can buy?

The Real Debate Wisconsin blog pointed out this weekend that Republican presidential candidates raised $95,000 more from the Badger State than Democratic presidential candidates.

But what about here in Racine? When we vote with our wallets, what's the outcome?

So far in 2007, there's no contest. Checking the Federal Election Commission donation reports reveals two frontrunners, one in each party.

Among Democratic presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama received $7,500, with $3,800 coming from Jeff and Lisa Neubauer. Neubauer, former state party chairman, organized fund-raisers for Obama in the spring that netted $250,000. Far behind: Hillary Clinton and John Edwards each received $1,000. Everybody else on that crowded debate stage got zip.

Among Republicans, put your hands together for Mitt Romney, who received $6,100. Two-thirds of that came from Helen Johnson Leipold and her husband Craig (spending his Predators' windfall early?) Romney's closest competitor in the county is -- drumroll, please! -- a tie: Ron Paul received $4,600 from Sandra and Fred Young Jr. and Tommy Thompson got the same from Loraine and Charles Vignieri. Sam Brownback got $2,300 and John McCain $1,700. Alan Keyes (!) received $201.

Putting all that fund-raising to shame, however, was the S. C. Johnson & Son Inc. Political Action Committee, which received $43,275 in donations. There were six $5,000 checks from family and board members, and the rest from board, directors and employees in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $250.

And where is the SCJ PAC spending its money? So far this year, it has made 13 donations of $1,000 or $2,000 to House and Senate candidates around the U.S., in an eclectic variety of states like California, New Hampshire, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa and Maryland. The money was split equally between the two parties, although seven Republicans received donations vs. six Democrats. Only one Wisconsin pol has benefitted: U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-6th District (Oshkosh and Sheboygan), received $1,000.

Want to do your own search, find out who your neighbors are supporting? Start HERE and HERE.