Today on the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, Senator John Kerry headlined a pro-Obama early voting rally. Local candidates Gordon Hintz and Jess King joined Senator Kerry in leading a march from the UW-O campus to the city clerk's office. Below the fold I have my account of the event with pictures and video.
As a special registration deputy for Wisconsin, and as someone who saw students turned away at previous polls due to long lines, I know all too well how important it is to hold events like this and get those registrations done early. Early voting events like this are also a great way to turn out the student vote and build momentum among a traditionally under-represented demographic. However, this campaign has been all about breaking traditions.
Registered Wisconsin voters can cast absentee ballots any time between now and election day, and tomorrow is the last day to register in advance. Wisconsin does permit same-day registration on Nov. 4th with proof of residence such as an up-to-date driver's license or other government I.D., a utility bill, or something similar. There is also a process for advocating on another's behalf to vouch for the person's identity, but I'm not up to date on the specifics of it.
The rally started off with campaign volunteers registering new voters at tables surrounding the event. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the community were all invited to attend the event during the past week's canvassing. I didn't see anyone I had canvassed, but I didn't expect to, either (certainly not the sarcastic Barr supporter that didn't know who Bob Barr was). I only saw one McCain/Palin t-shirt amid a sea of Obama shirts, buttons, stickers and signs.
Local candidates State Assembly Representative Gordon Hintz, and Oshkosh City Councilwoman and State Senate challenger Jess King opened the event, stressing the importance of the student vote. Both are alumni of UWO, and related their experiences casting ballots for Bill Clinton in their time on campus.
After an introduction by a local super volunteer (I'm terribly sorry, I didn't catch her name) Senator John Kerry took the stage. At this point I must take a moment to say that John Kerry's campaign and subsequent loss are why I got involved in politics. I must say, I didn't recognize the man on that stage. If he had this much charisma and humor when he ran in '04, history would have recorded a much different story. Or maybe his wit just doesn't carry on television that well.
Kerry started with the boilerplate surrogate speech, outlining the stakes, and that there's only 21 days left before the big day. (Author's Note: ONLY 21 days left? After so long this is really coming up fast) He then segued into something I wasn't sure he was going to talk about: his 04 run. But, it wasn't a maudlin moment of self-reflection. He poignantly related his run, and the circumstances the country was in, to the current race. The stakes are higher, now and he made it clear that we understood that.
With that, we marched down the street a few blocks to the City Clerk's office. The volunteers then piled into the office to help with the mountain of paperwork about to be generated by some very enthusiastic Obama supporters.
With that, Senator Kerry bid farewell to make numerous other stops during the day, and finally an appearance on MSNBC this evening.