Just thought I'd share some intelligence from the ground, here in western Wisconsin, across the border from the Twin Cities.
As I was driving to Hudson, WI, to the St. Croix County Democratic office, I turned on the radio, tuned to a station from Minneapolis. And heard something I've not heard here before.
Romney ads.
Yes, I know that's hard for many of you to believe, but here in the Twin Cities market, there hasn't been any advertising. We all know what's happening with Minnesota. It hasn't voted republican since the Triassic. Nate Silver has it at a 99.0% Obama. Senator Amy Klobuchar is beating a sacrificial teabagger by 30 points.
If Mitt's path to the White House has to go through Minnesota, he's seriously screwed. And I think the republicans know it.
Western Wisconsin update. It's completely possible that the ad buys weren't directed at Minnesota, but at Wisconsin. We've got a sizable population in the Twin Cities media market, including St. Croix County (including Hudson). Hudson saw a little campaign event today.
Guliani, Walker, Coleman and Thompson visited Hudson this afternoon. Talk about a rogue's gallery. I drove past the event location at just about 5:30, just as Thompson's bus was coming up. I'd say there were dozens of people there, but I'd be overcounting. There were a couple of guys with signs, so I waved and gave them the "Democrabeep".
What are these four doing in an alleged republican stronghold? I think I know why. Things aren't going as well here as they'd like. There's a stench of desperation. You can even hear it in Romney's radio ad - it's an awful ad, with Romney's own words but in his high-pitched used-car-salesman voice.
And a final note. My wife's doing GOTV for her run for the state Assembly. I was in Hudson to drop something off for her, and as I was in the parking lot I ran into Pat Kreitlow, candidate for the WI-07 seat currently held by Sean Duffy. That's the way things have been here in Wisconsin this past year - you never know who you're going to run into. I told him about the radio ads I'd heard, and he smiled and shook his head. Then I mentioned the rogue's gallery that just showed up in town, and asked him - "you don't bring those people into an area if you're confident, do you?"
Pat smiled.