While Barack Obama spoke in La Crosse on Wednesday, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean campaigned for Obama in Eau Claire. Dean criticized Republican candidate John McCain's reaction to the crisis on Wall Street. "He ran all over the place, tried to get the debate canceled, went to Washington . . . and the talks all blew up," claimed Dean, saying Obama appeared "calm and cool" by comparison. "He spent a lot of today's speech in La Crosse explaining to people exactly what this was about, and why it was necessary," said Dean. "They both support it (the bailout of the financial services sector), the question is what kind of leadership are you gonna have?"
Dean encouraged Obama supporters to campaign hard neighbor-to-neighbor, noting that when John Kerry won Wisconsin in 2004, it was only by a margin of two votes per precinct.