Casting Ballots

parties discuss the issues important to local voters

Theresa Schneider, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

With the election countdown clocks slowly ticking away, Wisconsin will have an important role in the federal elections. As volunteers from each party hit the pavement harder than ever working to persuade voters, local representatives from each camp weigh in with how they think Wisconsin will swing.

Camp Democrat
    Eau Claire County Democrat Executive Board Chairwoman Katy Phillips said, although she never takes poll information at face value, she believes Wisconsin will be a blue state on Nov. 5. Phillips bases her speculation on her time spent talking with voters and listening to what Chippewa Valley community members are voicing as their concerns.

“I think people are finally seeing the light … after eight years of greed,” she said, adding that while the Eau Claire area hasn’t seen the effects of the housing crisis as strongly as in other areas of the country, she feels people are beginning to recognize that trickle down economics isn’t benefiting them.

The biggest issue voters are concerned with in this area, Phillips said, is the economy. Health care and energy are two other large issues on voters’ minds, but every issue comes back to economic concerns.

Funding for education k-12, job creation in the Valley, as well as generating new energy are also things many voters are aware of, but Phillips said she feels that most people are primarily focused on pressing economic issues and have to place other concerns on the back burner.

“People don’t have their basic needs met,” she said. “I think people are worries about making it to the end of the month.”

    Camp Republican
    Chairwoman of the Republican Party of Eau Claire County Laurie Forcier said that although polls currently show Senator Obama leading in voter support over Senator McCain, the results aren’t entirely accurate.


Forcier said she feels the Republicans in Wisconsin are underrepresented in the polls because they are a “silent majority,” busy with businesses, church, and family instead of answering polls or protesting. These people, she said, are the least likely to have their voices heard now, but Forcier feels change can happen in the short time until the elections. “I mean, the economy happened in one day.”

Forcier also said she believes the biggest issue on the Chippewa Valley’s voters minds is the economy, particularly taxes. People are unwilling to pay the higher taxes proposed under Obama’s plan, she said, adding that raising taxes could make finding a job in the area difficult.

“(Obama’s plan) is absolutely a job killer,” she said. “We’ll be remembering the good old days of October (2008) if we raise taxes.”

Forcier also said that the character of the candidates is another important issue voters are concerned with, especially when thinking of leadership in times of crisis such as Sept. 11.

“Barack Obama is a good speaker, but he is wrong,” she said. “(In times of crisis), that’s when character, leadership, backbone, and spine are important.”

Wisconsin is on the home stretch toward Election Day. With that in mind, each chairwoman had advice for the voter. Phillips cautioned that smear ads, especially in Wisconsin, are not what they appear. “Pay attention to where your information is coming from,” she said.

Forcier urged voters, especially young voters, to participate in the election process without taking advantage of the system. “Go out and vote legally,” she said.