Date: 11/14/2008
SPOONER, Wis. (AP) _ The chemical company where an explosion last spring critically burned two workers has reached a settlement with the federal government over workplace safety violations.
Authorities say Cortec Corp. has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine for failing to have a proper safety management system to handle flammable liquid propellants at its aerosol and liquid container filling plant in Spooner.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration originally proposed a $424,000 fine following the March 18 explosion that destroyed a production building.
Authorities say the settlement includes the company’s promise to bring the plant into safety compliance by Dec. 31.
Cortec’s Chief Operating Officer Anna Vignetti did not immediately return a telephone message Friday.
The plant is expected to resume production in January.
___
Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
About 30 students sickened with norovirus
Date: 11/12/2008
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
___
Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
___
Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Drifter gets 55 years in Wis. torture-slay case
Date: 11/11/2008
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a gang of drifters was sentenced Monday to 55 years in prison for helping to kill another woman in the group and torturing the woman’s 11-year-old son.
Candice L. Clark, 24, pleaded no contest to being party to second-degree reckless homicide and guilty to charges including child abuse. She was also sentenced to 45 years of extended supervision and must serve about 47 years before being eligible to apply for early release.
Clark’s attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Court records list multiple spellings for the defendant’s names, with her first name spelled Candice and Candace and her last name Clark and Clarke.
She was among three drifters charged in the death of 36-year-old Tammie Garlin, whose body was found buried last year behind a Portage home. Garlin’s then-11-year-old son also was found naked, severely beaten and burned in a locked closet.
Investigators believe the gang crisscrossed the country, running financial scams and stealing identities to support themselves.
Police found the group in Portage in June 2007 while looking for Clark’s 2-year-old daughter, whom she had kidnapped from foster parents in Florida.
They found the kidnapped girl there, along with Garlin’s son who was locked in a closet streaked with blood. Garlin’s body was found buried in a shallow backyard grave.
According to a criminal complaint, the boy told detectives the gang had burned him with hot water and whipped him with an extension cord as punishment. Doctors had to amputate several of his fingertips and three of his badly burned toes.
The case spurred an outpouring of sympathy for the boy and forced the Florida Department of Children and Families to assign specific workers to track missing children.
Two other group members were charged in the torture and killing.
Michaela Clerc, 22, is serving 37 years in prison.
Michael Sisk, 26, was found guilty in August of second-degree reckless homicide. He also pleaded guilty or no contest to nine other charges. His sentencing date has not been determined.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a gang of drifters was sentenced Monday to 55 years in prison for helping to kill another woman in the group and torturing the woman’s 11-year-old son.
Candice L. Clark, 24, pleaded no contest to being party to second-degree reckless homicide and guilty to charges including child abuse. She was also sentenced to 45 years of extended supervision and must serve about 47 years before being eligible to apply for early release.
Clark’s attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Court records list multiple spellings for the defendant’s names, with her first name spelled Candice and Candace and her last name Clark and Clarke.
She was among three drifters charged in the death of 36-year-old Tammie Garlin, whose body was found buried last year behind a Portage home. Garlin’s then-11-year-old son also was found naked, severely beaten and burned in a locked closet.
Investigators believe the gang crisscrossed the country, running financial scams and stealing identities to support themselves.
Police found the group in Portage in June 2007 while looking for Clark’s 2-year-old daughter, whom she had kidnapped from foster parents in Florida.
They found the kidnapped girl there, along with Garlin’s son who was locked in a closet streaked with blood. Garlin’s body was found buried in a shallow backyard grave.
According to a criminal complaint, the boy told detectives the gang had burned him with hot water and whipped him with an extension cord as punishment. Doctors had to amputate several of his fingertips and three of his badly burned toes.
The case spurred an outpouring of sympathy for the boy and forced the Florida Department of Children and Families to assign specific workers to track missing children.
Two other group members were charged in the torture and killing.
Michaela Clerc, 22, is serving 37 years in prison.
Michael Sisk, 26, was found guilty in August of second-degree reckless homicide. He also pleaded guilty or no contest to nine other charges. His sentencing date has not been determined.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Democrats reignite discussion of Wis. smoking ban
Date: 11/9/2008
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A statewide smoking ban that went up in smoke in the Legislature last year will likely be reignited when Democrats take control of the Assembly.
Even though opposition to the ban came mostly from the powerful Tavern League lobby, Republican leaders in the Assembly did not actively work on getting the bipartisan bill passed.
But in the past eight months, five more Wisconsin communities and Dane County have passed their own smoking bans, bolstering the argument that a comprehensive state policy is needed.
This fall, the American Cancer Society and other supporters of the ban carefully watched legislative races across the state to get a sense for where candidates stood.
“We feel comfortable saying there’s a majority of votes for this bill to get it passed,” said Eric Schutt, lobbyist for the cancer society’s Wisconsin chapter.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she feels good about the new makeup of the Legislature: Democrats now control both chambers. Also, one of the ban’s stiffest opponents, former Tavern League President Roger Breske, left the state Senate earlier this year to become Doyle’s railroad commissioner.
Nearly every legislative candidate was asked about their position on the smoking ban during the campaign, Busalacchi said.
“I’m very comfortable with where people are at,” she said. “This is going to happen.”
The Tavern League, however, hasn’t changed its position. Chief executive Pete Madland said he didn’t think there was any momentum for the idea even though five communities and one county have passed local bans since March. He notes that other communities, including Kenosha, have rejected it.
Tavern League lobbyist Scott Stenger said all the candidates who opposed the ban won Tuesday, while some supporters, including Republican Reps. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and J.A. “Doc” Hines of Oxford, lost.
Another smoking ban proponent, Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, retired from the Assembly.
Still, Stenger agreed the Legislature is ready to act on a ban. The league is looking for concessions allowing bars to have designated indoor and outdoor smoking areas and time to build them if necessary, he said.
In all, nine Wisconsin communities and Dane County have smoking bans covering all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Nationwide, 24 states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and of those, 17 include all other workplaces as well, according to the American Cancer Society. Seven more states prohibit smoking in restaurants but exempt stand-alone bars.
The Wisconsin proposal supported by Doyle, the Cancer Society and others would ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
Last year, it ran into trouble with Breske and other state senators, including Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, who wanted to delay its implementation and give bars an exemption of up to three years. Republican leaders in the Assembly never got on board, and the bill died.
Bill sponsor Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he’s working on a new version he hopes to introduce early in the session. He said the ban’s start date remains uncertain, but he would like it to take effect as soon as possible and at the same time in all workplaces, including bars.
“I just think that the public awareness and the public support keeps increasing every year,” Risser said, “and I think it’s to the point where it will gel, and we’ll be able to pass it.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A statewide smoking ban that went up in smoke in the Legislature last year will likely be reignited when Democrats take control of the Assembly.
Even though opposition to the ban came mostly from the powerful Tavern League lobby, Republican leaders in the Assembly did not actively work on getting the bipartisan bill passed.
But in the past eight months, five more Wisconsin communities and Dane County have passed their own smoking bans, bolstering the argument that a comprehensive state policy is needed.
This fall, the American Cancer Society and other supporters of the ban carefully watched legislative races across the state to get a sense for where candidates stood.
“We feel comfortable saying there’s a majority of votes for this bill to get it passed,” said Eric Schutt, lobbyist for the cancer society’s Wisconsin chapter.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she feels good about the new makeup of the Legislature: Democrats now control both chambers. Also, one of the ban’s stiffest opponents, former Tavern League President Roger Breske, left the state Senate earlier this year to become Doyle’s railroad commissioner.
Nearly every legislative candidate was asked about their position on the smoking ban during the campaign, Busalacchi said.
“I’m very comfortable with where people are at,” she said. “This is going to happen.”
The Tavern League, however, hasn’t changed its position. Chief executive Pete Madland said he didn’t think there was any momentum for the idea even though five communities and one county have passed local bans since March. He notes that other communities, including Kenosha, have rejected it.
Tavern League lobbyist Scott Stenger said all the candidates who opposed the ban won Tuesday, while some supporters, including Republican Reps. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and J.A. “Doc” Hines of Oxford, lost.
Another smoking ban proponent, Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, retired from the Assembly.
Still, Stenger agreed the Legislature is ready to act on a ban. The league is looking for concessions allowing bars to have designated indoor and outdoor smoking areas and time to build them if necessary, he said.
In all, nine Wisconsin communities and Dane County have smoking bans covering all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Nationwide, 24 states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and of those, 17 include all other workplaces as well, according to the American Cancer Society. Seven more states prohibit smoking in restaurants but exempt stand-alone bars.
The Wisconsin proposal supported by Doyle, the Cancer Society and others would ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
Last year, it ran into trouble with Breske and other state senators, including Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, who wanted to delay its implementation and give bars an exemption of up to three years. Republican leaders in the Assembly never got on board, and the bill died.
Bill sponsor Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he’s working on a new version he hopes to introduce early in the session. He said the ban’s start date remains uncertain, but he would like it to take effect as soon as possible and at the same time in all workplaces, including bars.
“I just think that the public awareness and the public support keeps increasing every year,” Risser said, “and I think it’s to the point where it will gel, and we’ll be able to pass it.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
The Milwaukee Journal Set to Endorse Obama
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Obama in an editorial set for publication on Oct. 26:
Obama’s vision and potential to be that change agent trump his relative lack of experience, though the experience he possesses is valuable. The maturity and calm demeanor he has exhibited these past two years in the public spotlight and earlier, speak to able, careful, inclusive leadership. And he is simply the better of the two on the issues. …
McCain, an early supporter of the invasion, was later a critic of how the war was being waged, supporting a surge that Obama opposed. But McCain now fails to recognize that Americans want something different than his open-ended approach. …
And he also has squandered his claim to one of his supposed assets — his experience, as a military man and member of Congress for 26 years. Simply, he has displayed deplorable judgment in key instances that call into question the value of his overall judgment.
In Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 72-year-old candidate with a history of melanoma picked a woefully unqualified running mate — as she continues to prove day after day. And both he and she have conducted a campaign that has careened from inept to offensive.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Obama’s vision and potential to be that change agent trump his relative lack of experience, though the experience he possesses is valuable. The maturity and calm demeanor he has exhibited these past two years in the public spotlight and earlier, speak to able, careful, inclusive leadership. And he is simply the better of the two on the issues. …
McCain, an early supporter of the invasion, was later a critic of how the war was being waged, supporting a surge that Obama opposed. But McCain now fails to recognize that Americans want something different than his open-ended approach. …
And he also has squandered his claim to one of his supposed assets — his experience, as a military man and member of Congress for 26 years. Simply, he has displayed deplorable judgment in key instances that call into question the value of his overall judgment.
In Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 72-year-old candidate with a history of melanoma picked a woefully unqualified running mate — as she continues to prove day after day. And both he and she have conducted a campaign that has careened from inept to offensive.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
The Stevens Point Journal Endorses Obama
Date: 10/24/2008
The Stevens Point (Wis.) Journal endorsed Obama on Friday:
“This is a unique time in the history of United States of America, one that presents tough challenges, and that’s why Barack Obama is our choice for president.
Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, is the candidate who will allow us to present a new face to the world, one that will regain a respect we have lost in recent history. Seeing this man of mixed race who spent part of his youth in Hawaii and Indonesia as our leader could go a long way toward healing some of those wounds.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
The Stevens Point (Wis.) Journal endorsed Obama on Friday:
“This is a unique time in the history of United States of America, one that presents tough challenges, and that’s why Barack Obama is our choice for president.
Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, is the candidate who will allow us to present a new face to the world, one that will regain a respect we have lost in recent history. Seeing this man of mixed race who spent part of his youth in Hawaii and Indonesia as our leader could go a long way toward healing some of those wounds.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Drug industry spends $13 million on thank-you ads
Date: 10/23/2008 6:24 PM
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The pharmaceutical industry is underwriting one of the biggest issue ad campaigns of the election season — a $13 million televised thank-you to 28 lawmakers, most of them Democrats, who supported legislation last year to expand a children’s health insurance program.
Insured children are more likely to have access to treatment and preventive care, the ads note.
Only three Republicans, all locked in tight races for re-election, are singled out by the flattering ads: Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Susan Collins of Maine, and Rep. Phil English of Pennsylvania.
Some of the Democrats are not up for re-election this year, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and many of them are expected to win handily, such as Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
But others benefiting from the ads are in tough races, including Reps. Gerald McNerney in California, Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, Paul Kanjorski in Pennsylvania and Steve Kagen in Wisconsin.
The group responsible for the ads is “America’s Agenda: Health Care for Kids Inc.” It’s comprised of business and labor interests, said the organization’s spokeswoman Nicole Korkolis.
However, it’s the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America that bankrolled the campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records cited by The Center for Public Integrity, an organization that keeps close tabs on the drug industry’s spending.
Korkolis said the three-member board of America’s Agenda, which includes one representative from PhRMA, decided where the ads should be aired. The primary factor was how lawmakers voted on a bill to more than doubled spending on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to $12 billion a year. President Bush vetoed the bill twice and supporters couldn’t get a two-thirds vote in the House to override him.
“They considered who supported it in the past and who might be under pressure to change their vote,” Korkoris said. “The ads are designed to shore up that continued support.”
Korkolis said the campaign was not designed to support individual candidates. “It’s strictly an issues campaign.”
The ads say the lawmakers got it right by voting for the legislation. The ads also tell viewers to call the lawmaker cited and tell them to keep fighting “to insure our kids.”
Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for The Center for Responsive Politics, said the ads put supporters of the legislation in a positive light during the campaign season, but also serve the interests of the drug industry.
“Obviously, the drug industry has an interest in anything that will provide a steady stream of government money to pay for their products,” said Ritsch, whose organization tracks campaign donations and spending.
Ken Johnson, a PhRMA vice president, said the bill’s emphasis on prevention could do away with the need for prescription drugs for many children. “The bottom line is we don’t want kids to be our customers because they don’t get the care that they need,” he said.
The legislation would have gradually increased enrollment in the children’s health program from 6 million to 10 million. The revenue needed for that enrollment increase would have come from a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes, as well as comparable tax increases on other tobacco products.
Critics said the bill would encourage too many families to replace private insurance with government-subsidized health coverage. Some said the bill did not go far enough to prevent adults from participating in the program, and some also criticized higher tobacco taxes as a means to pay for the expansion.
___
On the Net: http://www.americasagenda-kidshealth.org/our-media.html
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The pharmaceutical industry is underwriting one of the biggest issue ad campaigns of the election season — a $13 million televised thank-you to 28 lawmakers, most of them Democrats, who supported legislation last year to expand a children’s health insurance program.
Insured children are more likely to have access to treatment and preventive care, the ads note.
Only three Republicans, all locked in tight races for re-election, are singled out by the flattering ads: Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Susan Collins of Maine, and Rep. Phil English of Pennsylvania.
Some of the Democrats are not up for re-election this year, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and many of them are expected to win handily, such as Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
But others benefiting from the ads are in tough races, including Reps. Gerald McNerney in California, Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, Paul Kanjorski in Pennsylvania and Steve Kagen in Wisconsin.
The group responsible for the ads is “America’s Agenda: Health Care for Kids Inc.” It’s comprised of business and labor interests, said the organization’s spokeswoman Nicole Korkolis.
However, it’s the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America that bankrolled the campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records cited by The Center for Public Integrity, an organization that keeps close tabs on the drug industry’s spending.
Korkolis said the three-member board of America’s Agenda, which includes one representative from PhRMA, decided where the ads should be aired. The primary factor was how lawmakers voted on a bill to more than doubled spending on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to $12 billion a year. President Bush vetoed the bill twice and supporters couldn’t get a two-thirds vote in the House to override him.
“They considered who supported it in the past and who might be under pressure to change their vote,” Korkoris said. “The ads are designed to shore up that continued support.”
Korkolis said the campaign was not designed to support individual candidates. “It’s strictly an issues campaign.”
The ads say the lawmakers got it right by voting for the legislation. The ads also tell viewers to call the lawmaker cited and tell them to keep fighting “to insure our kids.”
Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for The Center for Responsive Politics, said the ads put supporters of the legislation in a positive light during the campaign season, but also serve the interests of the drug industry.
“Obviously, the drug industry has an interest in anything that will provide a steady stream of government money to pay for their products,” said Ritsch, whose organization tracks campaign donations and spending.
Ken Johnson, a PhRMA vice president, said the bill’s emphasis on prevention could do away with the need for prescription drugs for many children. “The bottom line is we don’t want kids to be our customers because they don’t get the care that they need,” he said.
The legislation would have gradually increased enrollment in the children’s health program from 6 million to 10 million. The revenue needed for that enrollment increase would have come from a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes, as well as comparable tax increases on other tobacco products.
Critics said the bill would encourage too many families to replace private insurance with government-subsidized health coverage. Some said the bill did not go far enough to prevent adults from participating in the program, and some also criticized higher tobacco taxes as a means to pay for the expansion.
___
On the Net: http://www.americasagenda-kidshealth.org/our-media.html
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
University of Madison Football “carbon-neutral”
Date: 10/20/2008 3:09 AM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin designated next weekend’s homecoming football game with Illinois as “carbon-neutral.” The university will use an anonymous donation to buy carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange to offset estimated game-day carbon dioxide emissions. When credits are purchased, the money is invested in green projects.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), is the world’s first and North America’s only active voluntary, legally binding integrated trading system to reduce emissions of all six major greenhouse gases (GHGs), with offset projects worldwide.
Members of the Chicago Climate Exchange sign a legally binding agreement to reduce their emissions, and in exchange for this agreement, the companies are issued credits, which they may use or sell. Companies which don’t use all their credits can sell them to other companies which have not been able to reach the necessary state of efficiency, thereby reducing overall emissions by maintaining a “cap” on total emissions.
Money raised through the sale of carbon credits are used for projects like the expansion of wind farms. Some questionable uses remain in practice such as the burning off of methane in parts of the country, which does keep greenhouse gases out of the environment, but is not the most ideal solution to the problem.
The Chicago Climate Exchange has taken a proactive stand on global warming, although some maintain that it supports the argument against government regulation of greenhouse gases as companies voluntarily comply. Participating companies receive the added benefit of being able to promote themselves as “green companies”.
CCX employs independent verification, includes six greenhouse gases, and has been trading greenhouse gas emission allowances since 2003.
It will be interesting to see how carbon credit trading impacts the economy as new specialties such as “carbon emission auditing” arise, taking us into a new future impacted by global warming.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin designated next weekend’s homecoming football game with Illinois as “carbon-neutral.” The university will use an anonymous donation to buy carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange to offset estimated game-day carbon dioxide emissions. When credits are purchased, the money is invested in green projects.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), is the world’s first and North America’s only active voluntary, legally binding integrated trading system to reduce emissions of all six major greenhouse gases (GHGs), with offset projects worldwide.
Members of the Chicago Climate Exchange sign a legally binding agreement to reduce their emissions, and in exchange for this agreement, the companies are issued credits, which they may use or sell. Companies which don’t use all their credits can sell them to other companies which have not been able to reach the necessary state of efficiency, thereby reducing overall emissions by maintaining a “cap” on total emissions.
Money raised through the sale of carbon credits are used for projects like the expansion of wind farms. Some questionable uses remain in practice such as the burning off of methane in parts of the country, which does keep greenhouse gases out of the environment, but is not the most ideal solution to the problem.
The Chicago Climate Exchange has taken a proactive stand on global warming, although some maintain that it supports the argument against government regulation of greenhouse gases as companies voluntarily comply. Participating companies receive the added benefit of being able to promote themselves as “green companies”.
CCX employs independent verification, includes six greenhouse gases, and has been trading greenhouse gas emission allowances since 2003.
It will be interesting to see how carbon credit trading impacts the economy as new specialties such as “carbon emission auditing” arise, taking us into a new future impacted by global warming.
Wisconsin State Journal endorses Obama
The Wisconsin State Journal endorsed Barack Obama on Sunday:
“Obama is best-equipped this election to make America feel good about itself again. That’s a powerful feeling — one that could go a long way toward invigorating our economy and national sense of purpose.
Obama is convincing in his call for a new kind of politics in Washington. His life story and history-making bid for the White House also have forced the rest of the world to view America in a new and more positive way.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
“Obama is best-equipped this election to make America feel good about itself again. That’s a powerful feeling — one that could go a long way toward invigorating our economy and national sense of purpose.
Obama is convincing in his call for a new kind of politics in Washington. His life story and history-making bid for the White House also have forced the rest of the world to view America in a new and more positive way.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Scenes from the ground game
Date: 10/11/2008 11:13 AM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dale Lehrer, of the northern Milwaukee suburb of Grafton, is a lifelong Republican who has come to regret her vote for President Bush’s re-election in 2004. Lehrer, 55, switched sides this election and is spending 20 hours a week hosting events and canvassing for the Obama campaign.
Some of her Republican friends thought she was joking at first. Her own husband, a Republican who won’t tell her who he’s supporting, “thinks I’m a fanatic,” she said.
“There’s no way we’re going to win Ozaukee County,” Lehrer admits, “but from a percentage standpoint we’ll probably blow them out of the water from what we’ve had historically.”
Republicans concede that Obama’s campaign is doing more to target voters in the Wisconsin suburbs than did previous Democrats, but they say they are confident that McCain will do just as well as Bush in the area.
“I just keep telling them, ‘Spend your money. Knock yourself out,'” Republican state Sen. Ted Kanavas says of the Obama campaign. “The bottom line is the Republican Party is fine in Waukesha County. It’s invigorated.”
—By Ryan J. Foley.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dale Lehrer, of the northern Milwaukee suburb of Grafton, is a lifelong Republican who has come to regret her vote for President Bush’s re-election in 2004. Lehrer, 55, switched sides this election and is spending 20 hours a week hosting events and canvassing for the Obama campaign.
Some of her Republican friends thought she was joking at first. Her own husband, a Republican who won’t tell her who he’s supporting, “thinks I’m a fanatic,” she said.
“There’s no way we’re going to win Ozaukee County,” Lehrer admits, “but from a percentage standpoint we’ll probably blow them out of the water from what we’ve had historically.”
Republicans concede that Obama’s campaign is doing more to target voters in the Wisconsin suburbs than did previous Democrats, but they say they are confident that McCain will do just as well as Bush in the area.
“I just keep telling them, ‘Spend your money. Knock yourself out,'” Republican state Sen. Ted Kanavas says of the Obama campaign. “The bottom line is the Republican Party is fine in Waukesha County. It’s invigorated.”
—By Ryan J. Foley.