Electability likely to play role in Wisconsin primary
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
MILWAUKEE — Barack Obama says, “I would match up better with John McCain in the general election.” Hillary Rodham Clinton says, “I am much better prepared to stand on that stage with John McCain and go toe to toe on national security.”
Along with health care and jobs, Democrats Obama and Clinton are having a debate about who’s more electable in the fall.
And there are few places where more hangs on the answer than Wisconsin, the closest of the 50 states four years ago.
McCain’s emergence as the presumptive Republican nominee has all but assured that Wisconsin will be the fierce battleground it was in 2000 (decided by 5,708 votes) and 2004 (decided by 11,384 votes), according to many political pros in both parties here.
“It will be one of the toughest battles the Democratic Party has had in decades in Wisconsin,” says Russ Feingold, the Senate Democrat who worked with McCain to rewrite federal campaign finance laws. “I think it’s going to be tougher than winning it against Bush, and Bush just barely lost it twice.”
Paul Ryan, the GOP congressman from Janesville, says, “This state is very clearly in play with John McCain as our nominee.”
Wisconsin’s extreme competitiveness makes the electability debate between Obama and Clinton all the more salient for Democratic voters in this state’s primary today.
The common wisdom among Republicans is that Obama would be the tougher opponent for them to beat in a state like Wisconsin, says Ryan, and he agrees.
“I think Senator Clinton is probably the best matchup for us. Senator Obama has so much enthusiasm surrounding his candidacy, and the media has been pretty light with him versus Senator Clinton,” Ryan said.