Harris's ground game in Milwaukee will have to be pretty darn good if it's going to surpass Obama's 2012 ground game there, which was absolutely superb. My hunch is that his campaign took all their Chicago-area volunteers who had gone to Indiana in 2008 (helping turn it blue) and sent them to Milwaukee in 2012. Those volunteers somehow s…
Harris's ground game in Milwaukee will have to be pretty darn good if it's going to surpass Obama's 2012 ground game there, which was absolutely superb. My hunch is that his campaign took all their Chicago-area volunteers who had gone to Indiana in 2008 (helping turn it blue) and sent them to Milwaukee in 2012. Those volunteers somehow squeezed 332,000 Democratic voters out of Milwaukee County, a record that still stands (Biden got only 317,000 despite substantially improving in the suburban areas). The impact of the Obama ground game is particularly stark if you look just at the city of Milwaukee - he got 227,000 votes there in 2012 compared with a mere 194,000 for Biden eight years later. If Harris can actually replicate Obama's turnout in Milwaukee, that would go a long way to her winning Wisconsin.
This is a huge part of why the raw numbers won’t hit Obama levels, even if we have great turnout. The inner city is hollowing out, but downtown, the lakeshore, south side and areas bordering the suburbs are holding their own.
Let's face facts, if it weren't for the fact that Dane County is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds, we'd be dead in the water in the Badger State.
As a former Madison resident I agree, but I'd also tip the hat to many of the mid-sized cities (Eau Claire, La Crosse, Stevens Point) that are keeping it real - and even some of the small towns (Viroqua) beating back the trends and staying blue despite the trends.
Harris's ground game in Milwaukee will have to be pretty darn good if it's going to surpass Obama's 2012 ground game there, which was absolutely superb. My hunch is that his campaign took all their Chicago-area volunteers who had gone to Indiana in 2008 (helping turn it blue) and sent them to Milwaukee in 2012. Those volunteers somehow squeezed 332,000 Democratic voters out of Milwaukee County, a record that still stands (Biden got only 317,000 despite substantially improving in the suburban areas). The impact of the Obama ground game is particularly stark if you look just at the city of Milwaukee - he got 227,000 votes there in 2012 compared with a mere 194,000 for Biden eight years later. If Harris can actually replicate Obama's turnout in Milwaukee, that would go a long way to her winning Wisconsin.
Declining population might account for most of that vote loss. Milwaukee is down to less than 600,000 and continuing to drop.
Funny enough, Milwaukee has gained about ~150 people since 2020
But, lost 3% of population since 2010, which is probably a huge part of said discrepancy
This is a huge part of why the raw numbers won’t hit Obama levels, even if we have great turnout. The inner city is hollowing out, but downtown, the lakeshore, south side and areas bordering the suburbs are holding their own.
Let's face facts, if it weren't for the fact that Dane County is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds, we'd be dead in the water in the Badger State.
As a former Madison resident I agree, but I'd also tip the hat to many of the mid-sized cities (Eau Claire, La Crosse, Stevens Point) that are keeping it real - and even some of the small towns (Viroqua) beating back the trends and staying blue despite the trends.
But is she putting her volunteers in the back of U-Haul vans like the other side?
Regarding the ground game in WI, has the Harris camp been primarily focusing on cities and suburbs? Or have rural communities been included as well?