It’s important to understand how much President Barack Obama wants to influence the November elections, so says Mordecai Lee, Political Science Professor at UW Milwaukee.
Lee says Obama needs to get U.S. Senator Russ Feingold reelected, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett into the governor’s office — not just for the sake of helping out his fellow party members. “There’s another layer to that, and that’s that Obama, thinking about running for reelection two years from now, would like to have in place, in a state that is a swing state like Wisconsin, both a U.S. Senator who’s Democratic and a governor who’s Democratic.”
Lee says politicians are not a “bunch of boobs,” adding that successful politicians are fabulous chess players, always staying a few steps ahead. And considering Wisconsin could very well be another swing state in 2012, Lee says Obama is already planning his strategy. “They think three, four, five steps ahead of the game. And so the fact that you’ve got, let’s say, a president thinking about the implications of this year’s election on him running for reelection two years from now is actually pretty routine for politicians.”
Obama will speak on the economy at the annual Laborfest put on by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.
Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement, “Trying to put a positive a face on a sputtering, stagnant economy is a tough sell” with such a high jobless rate.
Today’s (Monday) visit will be Obama’s fifth trip to the state since he was elected.