By james art On the opening day of in-person voting in Wisconsin, former President Barack Obama and vice presidential candidate Tim Waltz held a rally in Madison urging the crowd to vote early.
“I know you’ve heard it about 15 times so far tonight, but it’s worth repeating here in Wisconsin,” Obama said. “If you haven’t voted yet, I won’t be offended if you just leave right now. Go vote!”
Walz, who spoke before Obama, began his speech by praising Vice President Kamala Harris’ middle-class upbringing and career as California’s attorney general, but quickly encouraged the same early vote.
“This election is two weeks away and early voting has begun here in Wisconsin. Our team operates like everything is at stake because … everything is at stake,” Waltz said as the crowd joined him in repeating the line.
Obama and Waltz weren’t the only speakers of the day. They were preceded by Dane County Executive Jamie Kuhn, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and a star appearance by Emmy Award-winning actor Bradley Whitford, a Wisconsin native.
The crowd interacted and erupted during Waltz and Obama’s speeches, constantly cheering, booing, laughing, and chanting phrases like “Vote,” “We’re not going back,” and “We love you, Obama!” one line shouted repeatedly during at the rally.
Even seven years after leaving office, Obama’s popularity in Wisconsin cannot be underestimated. He is the only candidate to win Wisconsin by multiple percentage points in the last 25 years, according to the 270towin.
“Oh, I thought he was great. I love listening to him talk,” said Halle Heim, a 19-year-old UW-Madison student from California. “He knows how to entertain an audience.”
Obama often got the crowd cracking up, especially when he took aim at former President Donald Trump.
“When he’s not complaining, he’s trying to sell you stuff,” Obama said, drawing laughter. “You’re running for president and you’re throwing away merchandise, gold sneakers and $100,000 watches.”
However, the rally was not just a joke. The event took on a much more serious tone as key issues that are part of the Harris-Walz platform were discussed.
Walz specifically addressed the men in the audience as she spoke about protecting women’s health rights and reproductive freedom.
“I’m going to talk to the guys in this room to get them to think about all the women in their lives that they love: daughters, wives, mothers, cousins, neighbors,” Waltz said. “This election is literally about their lives and protecting their lives.” He also noted that there are no comparable laws governing men’s bodies and access to health care.
The message seems to resonate. When Brian Kampas, 45, was asked what stood out to him at the rally, he said health care.
“Seeing people come in very sick, denied health care for themselves, and unable to get that health care because of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it affects me more,” said Kampas, who works in the health care industry.
Walz said Trump’s appointments of three Supreme Court justices in his first term resulted in 20 states having “Trump abortion bans,” women being denied emergency room care, and rape survivors being forced to carry their pregnancy to term.
Asked what her top issues were this election, Haim said abortion topped her list, followed by support for Israel, health care and ballot access for young people.
Neither Waltz nor Obama mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during their speeches.
However, Waltz spent some time talking about guns, mentioning that both he and Vice President Harris are gun owners. He emphasized that Americans can support the Second Amendment while pushing for gun safety regulations.
“Owning guns doesn’t mean you can’t support common sense solutions that protect our children from school shootings,” Waltz said.
At least one of the viewers, 18-year-old Ali Seibel, has actually experienced a school shooting.
“Gun laws are a big thing for me, last year we had a school shooting at our school, so that’s a big one,” said Siebel, who was at school in Mount Horeb in May when a student approached the school with a bullet rifle and was killed after being confronted by police, according to Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Exciting the crowd like a pro wrestler about to hit his finishing move, Obama ended the event with another interactive chant.
“Get off the couch and what are you doing?” Obama asked. “Vote!” shouted the crowd.
“Put your phones down and do what?” Obama asked. “Vote!” shouted the crowd.
The start of in-person voting officially marked the two-week countdown to Election Day on November 5. For more information about voting in Wisconsin, visit myvote.wi.gov.
