Madison, Wis. — Mandela Barnes and Tony Evers stood with the Teamsters on the steps of Wisconsin’s Capitol last night to make their final pitch to the voters of Wisconsin. The November chill had arrived, and the turnout from the audience was meager for a city as blue and politically active as Madison.
But the event was for the cameras, not the onlookers, and the Teamsters provided a resolute, blue-collar backdrop for the ascending order of Democratic politicians who came to the mic.
Everyone looked tired. Were I a hack, I could ascribe this fatigue to Dems knowing that, in a few short hours, their grip on state and federal politics may very well disappear. That might be too glib. But I will note that I did not see the same exhaustion from the GOP slate in Green Bay last Thursday. The more likely explanation is, like me, each of the candidates is very ready for the election to be done with and the results known after weeks on the road and significant weight gain from eating in every local diner and bar under the Wisconsin moon (it’s made of cheese, you know). Thousands of hours of campaigning will wear on a body.
The most obvious example of this weariness was in Mandela Barnes’s speech, the ultimate in a long line of speakers. He is the culmination of the Democrats’ hopes for the ballot — a young talent who could unseat a despised GOP Senator. While I could use Tony Evers’s speech similarly, the man would appear narcoleptic even with a Ritalin and nitro cold-brew cocktail at 10 a.m. on vacation in Bermuda.
Observe Barnes entering after Senator Tammy Baldwin provides an introduction for the Senate candidate (apologies for the wind noise):
And here’s Barnes ten minutes later, rushing through the end of the stump speech he’s given hundreds of times before.
As the crowd turned toward home and dissipated, I got one final shot that will prove either portentous or false in the coming hours. Standing atop the Capitol is the figure of a woman. Her name is Wisconsin. And from the vantage point of the Democratic event’s crowd, she pointed authoritatively to the right.
I think she may be correct.
