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Wisconsin GOP returns home from convention with new vigor

John Nichols  —  9/05/2008 5:46 am

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Wisconsin Republicans may have packed their bags for the party's 2008 national convention with a bit of trepidation. But they return home energized, enthused and ready to compete with what suddenly looks to them like a winning ticket.

There is no question that the addition of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose Wednesday night address wowed the delegates, alternates and hangers-on, upped the enthusiasm factor among the party faithful. Palin's rigid anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage stances eased fears on the part of social conservatives who were uneasy with presidential nominee John McCain's relative moderation on some of their issues.

But by Thursday night, when McCain delivered his acceptance address, the base was feeling affection even for the maverick senator whose lack of party discipline once earned him dismissal as a RINO (Republican in Name Only).

Maybe it was because he gave them a vice presidential pick they could fall in love with. Maybe it was because they were thinking that they might just win the 2008 presidential election that not long ago seemed virtually undoable.

Maybe it was that McCain, never considered to be a great orator, actually delivered a pretty good speech Thursday night.

"This is a ticket that can win Wisconsin," says Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a 2010 gubernatorial prospect. "John McCain and Sarah Palin have more potential to appeal to independent voters, and some Democrats in places like the south side of Milwaukee, than any ticket we've had in a while."

Walker offered an example of the spike in interest and enthusiasm that he has seen over the past week. "My wife's got five girlfriends who are not very political. They were not excited at all until McCain picked Palin. Now, they're all tuned in. It's a big change."

How big a change will be in evidence Friday, when McCain and Palin make their first post-convention campaign stop in Cedarburg.

They come to Wisconsin because, as in the past five presidential elections, it is at or near the top of the list of swing states -- those "Holy Grail" locations on the electoral vote maps of both major parties.

Wisconsin has broken a lot of Republican hearts.

George Herbert Walker Bush lost the state in 1988, and again in 1992.

Bob Dole lost in 1996.

George Walker Bush lost by just about 5,000 votes in 2000, and by just about 11,000 in 2004.

Now, excited about the McCain-Palin ticket, with its aggressive approach and carefully crafted appeal to conservative populism, the Grand Old Party thinks that this might finally be its year.

"Wisconsin is an independent state, a state that goes for mavericks," says state GOP committeewoman Mary Buestrin of Mequon. "This is a maverick ticket. John McCain is a maverick. Sarah Palin is a maverick. And, this year, the mavericks are going to win."

John Nichols  —  9/05/2008 5:46 am