The State of Wisconsin is a land of political contrasts which offers a condensed national clashes between Republicans and Democrats. Sometimes to caricature.
Wisconsin looks like America. The state is capable of the worst and best. The main cities, Madison and Milwaukee, have seen reformers that were the cantors of social and political reforms throughout the XXe century. The famous “ Idea of Wisconsin », Proposed by economists from the University of Madison, was behind the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s. But Wisconsin, it is also a succession of small cities with a very conservative mood. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the voters supported Joseph McCarthy, whose hunt for communists is still one of the darkest episodes of XXe a century finished. What about today, just one year from the 2008 elections ? The least we can observe is the extreme polarization of the electorate, in full doubt on both sides.
In Madison, a “ College Town Par excellence, the time is for demand. The city is no exception to its militant past. The streets around the university are filled with posters hostile to Dick Cheney (Impeach Cheney) and his intervention projects in Iran. In the local pizzeria, UNO, conversations on the election are righteous. The waitress from Texas entrusts her disgust for George Bush and her clique. In Madison, she discovered simple things like walking in the streets, worrying about nature and taking care of others ! Its greatest pride remains to have made its southern accent disappear (Southern Draw). The campaign motivates student heat. Passing on the campus the previous month, Barack Obama made a strong impression. “” I shook her hand Remember, still moved, a young student in sociology. Hillary Clinton arouses reserves, including the older ones. The debate between democratic candidates in Las Vegas confirms the discomfort. Hillary gives everyone the impression of navigating sight, according to polls and opinion studies. During the debate, the question of medical coverage occupies an important place. The media continues to echo the wreak of the weaknesses of the system, which has forty million people without any form of social protection. The candidates’ responses remain unclear. Hillary Clinton promises to improve the system without creating an unnecessary bureaucracy. The measure, at the very least paradoxical, leaves skeptical. “” This will be a default candidate “, Estens, already resigned, an academic.
In McFarland, resignation is not in order. The small town largely voted Bush. In the Catholic Church, the time is not for contrition. We celebrate on this day Veterans Day. Faced with exclusively white assistance, the priest recalls the commitment of the troops and evokes the Korean War. In a local bar, while Larry the Cable Guy (A comic comparable to Bigard) goes on television, the stack sometimes arouses a disappointment. “” I am worried but I will not vote Democrat “Confides an old lady. Yet from a democratic family, she changed her vote after the legalization of abortion in 1973. “ Democrats are too lax “She explains without any regret. Former soldier in the navy, former building worker, her husband shares this point of view. His only fear ? That the favorite on the republican side, Rudy Giuliani, does not harden his speech on moral and societal issues. The former mayor of New York is deemed too lax by number of local conservatives. In their eyes, democratic candidates are deplorable. Hillary arouses even greater hatred than her husband. And Barack Obama goes badly in these lands which accepted racial integration only on the tips of lips. During the discussion, laughter is frank to listen to gravelly jokes, bordering on racism and homophobia, of Larry the Cable Guy.
Elsewhere in the State, polarization is similar, even if there are still undecided, these famous “ Swig Voters Who make the election, believe the political scientists. This Green Bay couple, the third vile of the State, voted twice in 1992 and 1996, then Bush in 2000 and 2004. “ Disappointed every time “, They don’t know who to vote for. Obama has their favor because he is a conservative on moral issues. Hillary Clinton embodies everything they hate: a figure of theestablishmenttotally disconnected from American reality. A taxi driver breaks the monotony of these criticisms of nothing repetitive. He comes from Nicaragua, loves France and its social regime. He doesn’t like “ Sirkozy But would have voted well for Ségolène Royal. He is in solidarity with strikers in France. The United States has disappointed it. He does not believe that the election will change his life because no one talks about the right to strike, the working conditions and the rights of new immigrants. During the starry night of Wisconsin, he talks about his family, bombing in Nicaragua and the invoices that accumulate. On the radio, an advertisement praises the merits of Larry the Cable Guywhich has just been elected comic of the year.