President Barack Obama plans a University of Wisconsin rally complete with rock bands to ask young voters who helped propel him to the White House to re-engage and save fellow Democrats from political disaster this November. Crammed into an outdoor mall at the Madison campus, Tuesday?s visit carries a decidedly different political atmosphere than the one that surrounded the then-candidate in 2008, when a boisterous overflow crowd of more than 17,000 people greeted Obama at a basketball arena. His popularity has since dipped amid the nationwide recession, and many Democrats face tough challenges in the Nov. 2 midterm election. During a Monday conference call with college journalists, Obama acknowledged excitement has waned in the last two years. But he said he hoped the Madison rally would re-emphasize the importance of the midterm to advancing his agenda.
Office of Strategic Communication