1:44 PM: Doyle questions why Clinton not spending more time in Wisconsin
Gov. Jim Doyle today shrugged off calls from Hillary Clinton's supporters for a Wisconsin debate with Barack Obama, instead questioning why Clinton wasn't spending more time here in the week leading up to the Feb. 19 primary.
Doyle, who endorsed Obama last month, has been campaigning for the senator from Illinois for much of the past week. He stopped at a Madison laundromat and bar owned by a city alderman that also doubles as a campus volunteer center for the campaign.
After announcing details of Obama's rally at the Kohl Center tomorrow night, including an effort to get supporters to bring their cell phones and join a text messaging campaign, the governor said it was risky not to engage in Wisconsin, a key battleground this fall. See more on tomorrow's text message drive here.
Clinton is expected in Wisconsin Saturday for the state Democratic Party's Founder's Day Dinner and a fundraiser the following day. In addition to tomorrow's rally, Obama will also attend the dinner in Milwaukee and will be in and out of the state all week, Doyle said.
The governor suggested Clinton may be looking beyond Wisconsin because she knows it will be a tough fight here for her.
"This is the one that counts. This is a very, very important state in the general election," Doyle said. "This has always been a very important state for any Democrat seeking the nomination."
Doyle also said the two have debated more than any candidates in a presidential primary previously.
"Nobody can say they haven't had a chance to see these two candidates debate," he said.
-- By JR Ross
Labels: 2008 spring primary