Obama in Wisconsin

For the upcoming primary in Wisconsin, Obama has held several rallies and has spent a significant amout of time getting to know the people in the state. During his Wisconsin campaign, he received a bracelet from the mother of a soldier, who died in Iraq, and the grieving mother conveyed the message that she wants to have a "Democratic presidential candidate to keep others from dying." Also in Wisconsin, the clear Republican front-runner, has stimulated press attention on his opinion to restricting the general election's campaign to public financing. Usually disregarded by the major candidates, the public financing route caps the candidate's spending at much less than he or she could raise privately. Recently, McCain has been pushing for Obama--who he presumes will become the Democratic Nomination--to also use public financing. This political pressure probably stems from McCain's need to make a decision of how he plans to finance his run in the general election. Cautious not to agree to use public financing without signed documents from the democratic candidate, he knows how much the public financing would hinder his spending and publicity if his opposition went through private donors. Keeping his cool, Obama commented, "I’m not the nominee yet;” a politically savvy move because he keeps his fiscal options open and does not look presumptuous after his post-Super Tuesday wins. Senator Clinton invited Senator Obama to a debate in Wisconsin, he declined the offer--probably in part to deny his opposition a chance to display one of her greatest strengths. His staff have framed his rejection as just another debate--after all there have been 18 and more are being planned; however, Clinton latched on to this and has invested in a new TV commercial that highlights his decline as well as his healthcare policy and a 2005 vote that allegedly favored the interest of big oil. In response, Obama's campaign staff released a new ad as well as counter-attack on Hillary's minimal time-commitment in Wisconsin arguing that, “the fact is he’s the one here in the state having a one-sided debate”. Moreover, yesterday the Service Employees International Union endorsed Obama; something that could prove beneficial since it is one of the larger unions with null members and makes up for other big union's support of Hillary Clinton. Earlier this week, his major victories in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. helped to boost his delegate count over Hillary Clinton's by 49 votes. Helped by the significant African-American communities in all three states, Obama simply commented "It is about whether we are looking backwards or whether we are marching forward. And when I am the Democratic nominee for president, that will be the choice we have in November."