Obama Counters Clinton's Negative Ad
WAUSAU, WIS. -- With three days left until the Wisconsin primary, Barack Obama continues to campaign through out the state with stops in Wausau, Eau Claire, and Milwaukee today. In the last 24 hours, Obama has stepped up his rhetoric against Hillary Clinton, calling her criticisms of him silly and dismissing her claims that he won't debate her.
"She's got an ad running right now saying, 'well, Barack Obama won't debate.' We've had 18 debates! 18 debates. I've got two more scheduled next week!," Obama told a crowd in Green Bay last night.
"But that's what happens when you've been in Washington a long time, your attitude becomes, 'I'll just say whatever might work to win an election'."
Obama's campaign released a new ad to counter the Clinton ad in Wisconsin.
"After 18 debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates? It's the same old politics," an announcer says in the ad.
Both Obama and Clinton will be in Milwaukee this evening, where they are scheduled to speak at the Founders Day Gala. The two candidates have not appeared in the same city since the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Richmond, Virginia last Saturday.
While Clinton has spent most of her time in Texas and Ohio, Obama has been focusing on Wisconsin. Most of his campaign stops have been at Wisconsin colleges and universities, where he continues to court young voters. Obama is aware of his appeal with young voters and recognizes their effect on his campaign.
"I can't tell you how many parents tell me that they changed their minds because their daughter or their son talked to them," Obama said yesterday in Milwaukee.
Obama is also going after the blue-collar vote, a demographic that he generally has not preformed well with. He visited a General Motors plant in Janesville earlier this week and hosted a roundtable meeting at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau this morning. Obama spoke to students and faculty about the importance of workers acquiring skills and training to compete in the economy.