2008 Primaries, Events, Promotions, Speeches, Strategic Blueprints • October 21st, 2008

Battleground state no more?

by Chris Lato

In another sign that Wisconsin is losing its ‘battleground state’ status, Barack Obama has cancelled an upcoming campaign appearance in Madison – where he surely would have been greeted as a soon-to-be-conquering hero.

The campaign has offered an excuse (sick grandmother) – and of course, we wish the Obama family well.  But, you know, read between the lines here.

This would have been a big rally for Obama in the Badger State – but they’re feeling confident and probably don’t need such a boost at this point. The article alludes to the possibility of Obama coming back, but scheduling this late in the game is always in flux. If he ever needs a big crowd at the last minute for a good closing campaign photo-op, no doubt Madison would come through for him.

One other thing about the State Journal article I linked to above that made me chuckle – the John Kerry campaign never paid the $60,000 tab for city services for their big campaign rally back in 2004.

This is a pretty common tale, particularly in the case of cities that bill campaigns for providing services during rallies.

Madison likely never bothered to go after the money with any real fervor, considering the candidate, but let that be a lesson to those who work with campaigns – get paid upfront as much as possible, especially if there is a chance the candidate will lose. And there is always a chance the candidate will lose.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under 2008 Primaries, Events, Promotions, Speeches, Strategic Blueprints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.