What to watch from Wisconsin voters in the Nov. 5 election
Veteran political reporter Craig Gilbert tells us what to look for as Wisconsinites vote in the Nov. 5 election.
Call it the grand finale of the high-stakes campaign for battleground Wisconsin.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris held dueling rallies in Milwaukee on Friday evening at almost the same time and just six miles apart, as both campaigns could provide the final push for the crucial state with just four days until the election.
And although the candidates were close to each other, their closing messages were worlds apart.
Speaking to a crowd at the Fiserv Forum, Trump described the current state of the country in dark terms as he railed against the Biden administration and hurled insults at Harris. He promised to make the country “stronger than ever before,” but went off on tangents during his remarks and became frustrated with his microphone at several points.
Harris, joined by a cast of musical performers at Wisconsin State Fair Park, tried to strike a unifying tone. She again pledged to “seek common ground and common sense solutions” and reiterated her pledge to give those who disagree with her “a seat at the table.”
The rallies served as Harris and Trump’s final message to the key swing state in the frenzied battle for the White House, which only fully began four months ago.
They underscored the importance of Wisconsin, and the uncertainty of the outcome here, on the electoral map. Polls show a toss-up race in the state. A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday showed Harris with a one-point lead over Trump among likely voters — 50% to 49%.
Participants at both rallies on Friday expressed confidence in their candidates’ chances, though some reflected the exciting state of the race.
“I have no idea. I really don’t know,” New Berlin resident Kirk Chovenac told the Journal Sentinel when asked outside the Trump rally how he felt about the former president’s chances in the state. “I never believe in opinion polls.”
At what could be his last rally in the state, Trump claimed his reelection would deliver the “four greatest years in the history of our country” as he encouraged his supporters to get out and vote.
“Just pretend we’re one point behind, please, we’re one point behind, please,” Trump said after saying he was leading in all swing states, despite multiple polls showing Harris leading in some of those states was in charge.
His nearly 90-minute remarks ranged from the economy to immigration and cast doubt on the severity of climate change. He criticized the recent jobs report showing hiring slowed in October.
“America will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and stronger than ever before” if he is elected, Trump said.
But the former president also leveled personal insults at Harris, calling her “a person with a low IQ” and “very incompetent.” And he repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, claiming that illegal immigrants “have taken so many jobs away from African Americans.”
During the rally, Donald Trump takes the microphone from the stands to cheer
“Yes, I think this microphone stinks.”
When some members of the crowd said they couldn’t hear him, Trump became frustrated with the microphone. He spent the rest of the speech complaining about the microphone being removed from its stand and complaining about having to hold it.
Harris, meanwhile, called November 5 the “most consequential election of our lifetimes.” She said Democrats will win because “when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.”
“In this election, we have the opportunity to finally turn the page on a decade in which Donald Trump tried to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” Harris said Friday evening. “We’re done with it, we’re exhausted with it. We are turning the page.”
Harris said Trump is “about trying to get Americans to point fingers at each other, but that’s not who we are.” She attacked her opponent as “unstable, obsessed with revenge” and “consumed by resentment.”
Kamala Harris’ reaction to the level of voting at the Wisconsin rally
“For those of you who haven’t voted yet, no judgment, but get involved if you can.”
Her speech was preceded by a series of performances from top black female rappers and hip-hop artists, including MC Lyte, Flo Milli and GloRilla. The rapper Cardi B also spoke.
The scenes in Milwaukee mirrored scenes not seen in the state since perhaps 2004, when Republican George Bush and Democrat John Kerry stopped in the state’s largest city — Bush in what is now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena is and Kerry outside near City Hall.
Friday’s stops were among the latest in a furious series of visits to the state by both campaigns since Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, accepted their party’s nomination in the same building in July.
Trump and Vance made seventeen individual visits to cities in Wisconsin during that time. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, meanwhile, have made 22 stops in Wisconsin cities since Harris launched her presidential campaign in West Allis on July 23. Walz and Harris appeared together on two of those visits. Harris visited Janesville and Little Chute on Friday before the meeting in Milwaukee.
Walz will make campaign stops in La Crosse, Stevens Point and Milwaukee on Monday, according to Harris’ campaign. Vance will also make a stop in La Crosse Monday morning.
Harris and Trump will campaign across Pennsylvania on the same day, although Trump will finish in Michigan on Monday.
Still, both candidates on Friday encouraged their supporters to vote in a dead heat race that could come down to a turnout.
Within the Fiserv Forum, Trump made the stakes in Wisconsin clear.
“The fate of our nation is in your hands,” he said. “We win this state, we win the whole thing.”
