WAUSAU (WAOW) — With two weeks before Election Day, Wisconsin voters are seeing more big-name political leaders stumping for votes.
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson was in Wausau Tuesday urging Republican volunteers to make the final phone calls and door-to-door stops.
The race for governor has generated the most interest. Polls show incumbent Scott Walker and challenger Mary Burke in a dead heat.
“I think it’s going to be close and I think we have to continue to do everything including talking to our friends and neighbors who perhaps aren’t thinking exactly as we are,” said Laverne Rondeau of Weston.
Johnson told supporters it’s time to get out the vote.
“Wisconsin’s a pretty divided state, kind of like America is, and so I think it’s incumbent on Republicans to point out what we have to do to get Wisconsin and America moving in the right direction,” he said.
Johnson isn’t the only national politician making the rounds.
Former president Bill Clinton will be in Milwaukee on Friday stumping for Burke. She says President Barack Obama is also coming before November 4.
“Bill Clinton will have a hard time making the case that Wisconsin is not better off because of Scott Walker’s four years,” Johnson said.
Newsline 9 left messages with Democratic Party leaders in Madison and Wausau, but they were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Political scientists say early voting plays a crucial role in tight races.
“A ballot cast is a ballot done and a vote that’s already set in stone, so I think both sides want to get as many votes in the books as possible,” said Eric Giordano, the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service.
Once people vote early, Giordano says they can try to help get out others who haven’t voted yet.
Then there are undecided voters.
“Many of these people actually don’t even decide until literally 24 to 48 hours before they vote,” Giordano said.
Experts say “get out the vote” drives at this time of the campaign are mainly for the party bases.
The latest Marquette University Law School poll indicated only four percent of voters were undecided in the race for governor.
http://www.waow.com/story/26850868/2014/10/21/getting-out-the-vote-two-weeks-before-election-day