MADISON, Wis. _ Seeking to rev up his former rival's campaign, Bernie Sanders returned Wednesday to this liberal bastion to call on Wisconsin to reclaim its heritage as "one of the great and progressive states in the country."
The Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist solidly won Wisconsin's Democratic primary for president in April after three rallies in the state's capital. Now, Sanders is trying to turn strong support for his own candidacy into a critical mass of backing for the former secretary of state that can cement her lead here over GOP nominee Donald Trump.
But Sanders will have to undo some of his own past success here and do so only days after audio surfaced of Clinton confessing to donors that she felt "bewildered" by Sanders' supporters.
Alongside Sanders at the rally was former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, who's running in a rematch against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. With their liberal records in the U.S. Senate and skepticism on trade, Feingold and Sanders appeal to core Democratic voters, but they also highlight some of the challenges that Clinton has had in winning over these Dane County voters.
Sanders told the crowd that, if they wanted to stand up for ordinary workers, they would vote overwhelmingly to elect Clinton and send Feingold "back to my side in the Senate." Ignore the media and wealthy interests and look at the issues one by one, Sanders asked the enthusiastic audience.
"That's all I'm asking the American people to do. Look at the issues," Sanders said. "Go through the list."
In his speech, Feingold fired up the Democratic crowd by warning them of the danger of letting Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate to decide who sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.
"You should not allow the great dream of human rights, of an inclusive society (to fail ... ) by letting these right-wingers take control of our democracy," Feingold said.
Aisha Moe, a Muslim student in Madison, says she became active in Democratic politics after her 9-year-old brother asked her whether their family would have to leave the United States if Trump, a critic of Muslim immigration, became president.
"That moment changed me," Moe said.
Clinton has stressed some of Sanders' populist agenda from the primary, including working to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court campaign finance decision in Citizens United; narrowing income inequality; and investing in jobs and education.
But so far Sanders has been able to cross the generation gap and appeal to voters in college towns like Madison in a way that Clinton has not, easily besting her here in April.
Last week, leaked audio revealed Clinton telling donors that leaders need to sympathize with the concerns of Sanders voters, but national media have also reported on Clinton's apparent bewilderment with disaffected voters who are "living in their parents' basement."
"There's just a deep desire to believe that we can have free college, free health care, that what we've done hasn't gone far enough, and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means," Clinton reportedly said.
In Wisconsin, much hangs in the balance. If Clinton can hang on to her lead in this state with a high percentage of blue-collar white voters, then Trump's path to the White House becomes much more difficult.
The last poll by the Marquette University Law School showed Clinton with a 3-point lead over Trump among likely voters, 41 percent to 38 percent, with another 13 percent split between Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Along with Milwaukee, Dane County is key for any Democrat in the kind of close race that Clinton currently appears to be running in Wisconsin. But Sanders beat Clinton in Dane County 62.5 percent to 37.2 percent during the primary, and though she is easily winning here in current polling, Clinton is still underperforming compared with other Democrats.
After combining the two August and one September polls done by Marquette, the figures show Clinton is viewed favorably by 56 percent of Dane County voters and unfavorably by 39 percent. That's far better than Trump but still behind other Democrats like President Barack Obama and Feingold, who is viewed favorably by 66 percent of Dane voters and unfavorably by 22 percent.
In Wisconsin, Clinton has been a reliable favorite in polling against Trump. But these polls, done before the presidential and vice presidential debates, at least raise the question about whether Madison voters will turn out in the massive numbers that Clinton needs.
