Being in a swing state such as Wisconsin has its advantages-candidates will focus more on reaching out to Wisconsin and the various other battleground states throughout the nation. No matter the number of votes, whether it be New Hampshire's meager four electoral votes or Florida's 27, every swing state receives much attention.
\The fact that it's a close election in New Hampshire and a close election nationally and is likely to be very close in electoral votes means that these candidates are going to be showing up in these swing states and their surrogates will be showing up here a lot more often than we might expect in an election year that's not so close,"" Associate Professor of Communication at the University of New Hampshire James Farrell said. ""[If] just a really small fraction of voters voted the other way [in 2000], even in a small state like New Hampshire, [it] would have turned the election in the other direction. Nobody is taking New Hampshire for granted.""
Wisconsin is definitely not the exception to the rule; it has seen its share of politicians and celebrities trek through the state stumping for their candidate. Battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Minnesota have recently seen numerous appearances by the candidates as well as Michael Moore, Sharon Stone and the Bush twins.
""Anyone who has any pretensions about being involved in politics has been brought in,"" said Louis Sadler, professor of american history at New Mexico State University, referring to his swing state's status.
Georgetown Professor of government Stephen Wayne agreed that the candidates were putting much focus on the swing states, adding that Ohio and Pennsylvania should make both candidates honorary citizens because they have been in those states more than some residents.
""The difference is the candidates are spending more time here. We've had three or four visits from George Bush, and I don't think prior to the election year he came to the state more than once in his whole term,"" Farrell said.
In contrast to the attention being paid to the swing states, very little is being paid to the states that are locked, such as California or Texas.
""They've been spending a lot of money on advertisements [in the swing states],"" Wayne said. ""We don't see any in Washington D.C. So we don't see ads; it's as if there wasn't a presidential election that was taking place.\
