WAUKESHA, Wis. _ Craig Black likes to refer to himself as a "born-again Republican," a man who was "liberal for a long time" but finally saw the political light a few years back.
He converted in time to become a fervent supporter of President Donald Trump, a devotion that included celebrating the reelection-seeking Republican's 74th birthday recently by knocking on doors for the Trump campaign in suburban Milwaukee.
"This is a crucial election. It's about our freedoms and our liberties, and that's why I'm volunteering any spare time I get," said Black, a 73-year-old pharmacy driver and retired nurse who shrugged off any concerns about campaigning amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "I don't like all of Trump's tweets. He can be very rough, but the bottom line is he loves this country and wants what's best for this country. I don't think the Democrats do."
Black's morning of door knocking represents a new phase of campaigning in critical 2020 swing states, as Trump and Republicans have fully embraced a return to in-person, grassroots organizing while the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his campaign have not, citing health risks to campaign staffers, volunteers and voters.
Whether the campaigning takes place on front porches and in living rooms or in Google Hangouts and on Zoom chats, the Republican and Democratic parties in the key Midwestern swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan can point to a far more organized, better funded and larger campaign ground game operations than they had four years ago. That means the work to engage and identify potential supporters has started earlier and on a larger scale than four years ago, officials with both parties said.
For Republicans, the pace of getting back out on the campaign trail amid the pandemic has been set by the candidate himself.
Trump held a highly anticipated rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night that drew far less than the arena's 19,000-seat capacity, despite the campaign touting that it had received more than 1 million RSVPs for the event. Instead, almost all of the arena's upper deck remained empty, plenty of space remained on the floor and an outdoor overflow event in the parking lot where Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were scheduled to speak was canceled.
The several thousand who did attend were asked to sign a waiver that absolves Trump's campaign of any legal responsibility should they fall ill. The rally, which did not allow for social distancing and featured few people wearing face coverings, ran counter to the public guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that urges against such gatherings.
The event was held against the wishes of local public health officials and came as some states and cities _ Tulsa included _ in the South and West are experiencing new highs in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Not long before the president took the stage, the Trump campaign announced that six staff members helping set up for the Tulsa rally had tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump's campaign announced Monday that two more staffers working in Tulsa tested positive.
"I just want to thank all of you. You are warriors," Trump said to his supporters at the beginning of a 100-minute speech Saturday night, before casting blame on news coverage for raising health concerns about the rally. "I've been watching the fake news for weeks now and everything is negative. 'Don't go. Don't come. Don't do anything. I've never seen anything like it. You are warriors. Thank you."
Trump's push to resume in-person campaign operations comes as the latest polls show him trailing _ in some cases badly _ in all of the key battleground states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Arizona. Recent surveys also show him in tight races in states that were expected to be safe territory for Trump, including Iowa, Ohio and Texas.
Whether it is knocking on doors in Waukesha or packing thousands into a campaign rally in Oklahoma, Trump's return to campaigning as normal is needlessly endangering the health and lives of Americans, said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler.
"It is just nonnegotiable for us that we're going to keep our volunteers and our voters in our community safe, and if health experts think that a particular tactic could actively spread coronavirus, we're just not going to do it," Wikler said of the party's decision so far not to hold in-person events, open campaign offices and commence door-to-door canvassing. "There are lots of seniors who are active party members and there are lots of doors of people who might be immunocompromised, and you don't know when you get there. We're not going to risk becoming a public health menace."
Trump has waved such concerns away, urging a return to normalcy even though the pandemic continues with no immediate treatment or vaccine on the horizon. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump called testing for the virus "overrated" and suggested that some Americans wore masks to signal their disapproval of him and not to prevent the spread of the disease, even though the White House's own health experts and the CDC have recommended the practice.
GOP officials and Trump have insisted it is time to get on with the business of getting the president reelected while portraying Biden and Democrats as overly cautious and in favor of draconian policies that are hurting the bottom lines of the nation's businesses and costing people their jobs.
Mark Jefferson, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said he would welcome Trump holding a rally in the state, though he said the location would matter as he doubts local Democratic officials in Milwaukee and Madison would be accommodating. He said the Democrats have "really overdone it with their rhetoric" on the pandemic and are not giving people credit for being able to take basic precautions.
The state party's field workers and organizers work in partnership with Trump Victory, the Republican National Committee's arm of the Trump campaign. Asked if Wisconsin workers are required to wear masks or practice social distancing in campaign offices and at events, Jefferson said it is up to the individual.
"We've heard the 6-foot rule now for weeks and weeks and weeks. Some people choose to use a mask, some people prefer not to use a mask. Fair enough. You have to make your own decisions as to whether you want to spend less time in the office if people aren't wearing masks. Those are individual choices," Jefferson said. "When you're out knocking doors and you keep a safe distance from the person at the door, we just don't see a problem, and we're finding most of the voters don't either."
