Presidential campaigns hit Sauk Prairie

Photo by Dan Larson / Sauk Prairie Eagle

Area band Staff Infection plays at an Obama for America rally at the Lake Wisconsin Country Club on Sept. 28. Local organizers for both the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns are trying to win over voters in Sauk Prairie.

By Jeremiah Tucker, Sauk Prairie Eagle

Ken Phelps said he hadn't seriously worked for a presidential campaign since he volunteered to help elect George McGovern in 1972.

But he said there's an excitement about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama — the Democratic nominee for president — that's infectious.

"People are volunteering like they've never volunteered before," Phelps said.

Campaigns for both Obama and his opponent this fall, Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, are gearing up in the Sauk Prairie area.

Phelps is the team coordinator for the Obama campaign in Sauk Prairie.

Phelps, who has lived in Sauk City for 12 years, said he attended a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin's re-election in early August when a representative from the Obama campaign asked him about volunteering.

He said when he attended training in Madison there was a line that wrapped around that block.

In Sauk Prairie, he has worked with a group of six people, and they coordinate their efforts with the Obama campaign's Sauk County headquarters in Baraboo.

Merrimac Town Administrator Tim McCumber is leading the Sauk County for John McCain presidential campaign.

McCumber said he was tapped by the Republican party to lead the Sauk County campaign shortly after he lost his bid to be the Republican nominee for the Wisconsin 47th Assembly District earlier this month.

McCumber admits the McCain campaign is getting a late start in Sauk County compared to the Obama campaign.

"The Sauk County Republicans kind of had, literally, a failure in leadership and communication," McCumber said.

There was no one in the county taking the initiative to organize the Republicans, McCumber said. He said as he organizes the campaign for McCain, he plans to simultaneously rebuild the Sauk County Republican Party.

So far, he said he has a list of 200 people interested in volunteering — 20 of them from Sauk Prairie — but he's waiting on resources from the McCain campaign before he puts them to work making phone calls and knocking on doors.

Sauk City resident Bob Johnson is one of the Obama volunteers in Sauk Prairie.

"I just started getting actively involved in politics in 2006," Johnson said. "I basically had had enough of standing on the sidelines and complaining about how bad everything is. I decided it was time to get involved and try to make a difference."

Johnson said the Sauk Prairie Obama volunteers try to meet once a week to discuss their strategy and make sure everyone is on the same page.

He said he expects more people to volunteer as election day nears.

Phelps said the team ranges from high school students to retirees.

On Tuesdays he said high school students interested in helping out go to the headquarters in Baraboo to make phone calls.

"A lot of young people, they're inspired by him," Phelps said.

On the Republican side, McCumber said he believes people in the area are excited about McCain's campaign — they just needed direction.

"Once we get the resources we need from the McCain campaign, we're ready to go," McCumber said.

This week McCumber opened McCain Headquarters in Baraboo in the Nordic Square building at the corner of Broadway and 2nd Street.

Wisconsin is predicted to be one of the swing states that could decide the presidential election and both sides said the intensity of the campaign locally could be high.

Already a large McCain campaign sign on Highway 113 was damaged when someone spray painted the words "war" and "peace" on the sign.

Johnson said he has heard a lot of complaints from people in the area who have had their Obama yard signs stolen.

Locally, Johnson said the issues that he thinks are most important to people are the rising costs of health care, the war in Iraq, and, especially, the economy.

"The headlines in the last couple weeks with the problems in the economy, everyone is worried about that," Johnson said. "You have to make a decision about who is the best person to handle the economy."

Phelps said he puts it to people this way, "If you miss a lecture, and you're whole grade depends on that lecture, and McCain and Obama both went — whose notes would you want?"

McCumber said he thinks what people will care about is who is best equipped to lead them through the difficult times ahead.

"McCain's 20-plus years in the government and his leadership are going to be what people are looking for when they go to push the button," McCumber said.

The general election is Nov. 4.