The Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Badgers for Hillary opened an office on State Street Monday as part of a statewide effort to boost support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
At the official opening, state Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, and Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes both spoke to an audience of more than 40 supporters. Grimes and Taylor denounced Trump while eliciting applause from the audience with their praise for Clinton.
Taylor focused her speech on the importance of electing Democrats into offices up and down the ballot, placing extra emphasis on Clinton for president and Russ Feingold for U.S. Senate. Stressing that this election has significant implications for the future of the U.S., Taylor advised the crowd to think about what they want from this election.
“This is an election about you. It’s not about Donald Trump. It’s not about Hillary Clinton. It’s about you. And what kind of future do you want?” Taylor said in her speech.
Taylor told those present that Trump will not give them the future that they want because he does not support equality, especially for women and people of color.
In an interview after the office opening ended, Grimes said that Clinton has been someone determined to lift other people up while Trump pulls other people down to advance his own agendas. Referring back to the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, Grimes said she feels Wisconsin voters have chosen the correct candidate in the past and that they’ll do so again.
Just like Grimes, John Moen, a graduate student at UW-Madison, feels strongly about this election. His presence at the office opening reflects his hopes that Wisconsin will turn out a vote for Democrats across the board. Originally from a suburb of Minnesota, Moen said that both Taylor and Grimes did a good job of stressing the significance of the upcoming election.
“Now is not the time for a protest vote,” Moen said. “We have to make choices, hard choices, but the right and wrong choice are very clear.”
The office will serve to make phone calls, organize and campaign on behalf of state Democrats in the approaching campaigns, as well as register people to vote.
