President Barack Obama’s visit to campus Thursday will bring the president off the television screen and onto Bascom Hill, where he will attempt to lock in support from the liberal capital of a swing state.
The gates to Obama’s Bascom Mall stage open at noon.
Gillian Morris, the press secretary for the Obama campaign in Wisconsin, said in a release that Obama will encourage voter registration and early voting during his speech.
In particular, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Michael Wagner said Obama’s visit to a liberal area can “ignite his strongest base of supporters” and lock in votes by reminding constituents their vote is needed for him to win the election.
Obama’s visit comes the day after the first presidential debate against Republican candidate Mitt Romney, which leads to major television coverage for the president the next day according to Wagner.
“For President Obama, a college campus like ours … guarantees a throng of excited supporters to be in the background of the video,” he said.
However, the outcome of the Wisconsin vote as a whole is uncertain. Wagner said the state has been trending in Obama’s favor, but the race will likely become closer as Nov. 6 approaches.
Wagner added reinforcing “strong support in states that he can’t yet put in the win column” is a top priority for Obama and his campaign.
“They want to win Wisconsin, and they don’t have all that long left,” he said.
