Volunteers and organizers for President Trump’s reelection are knocking on doors in Wisconsin, waving off concerns about the coronavirus even as Democrats continue to keep their distance from voters.
“When you’re out knocking doors and you keep a safe distance from the person at the door, we just don’t see a problem, and we’re finding most of the voters don’t either,” Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Mark Jefferson told the Chicago Tribune.
“We’ve heard the 6-foot rule now for weeks and weeks and weeks,” he said. “Some people choose to use a mask. Some people prefer not to use a mask. Fair enough. You have to make your own decisions as to whether you want to spend less time in the office if people aren’t wearing masks. Those are individual choices.”
Trump’s reelection campaign has relaunched in-person events this month with a “national weekend of action” in celebration of the president’s birthday. Working in partnership with the state party’s field organizers, more than 30 in-person events were planned in Wisconsin, including door-to-door canvasses.
Jefferson said efforts targeting swing voters in the Milwaukee suburbs have been well received so far. “The suburban areas were very good, and the rural communities really were no problem at all. People are really eager to get out and talk to people.”
By contrast, Democrats are still on a de facto lockdown. “We’re not going to risk becoming a public health menace,” said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler.
Twenty-nine Wisconsin counties have a “high” coronavirus case activity level, categorized according to a county’s number of cases per 100,000 residents over the previous two weeks and the extent to which the case rate is increasing, according to the state’s health department. The state has 4,881 active cases, including 432 filed Wednesday.
Both the president and vice president are visiting Wisconsin this week, putting the battleground in the spotlight. Trump is slated to tour the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard on Thursday, which was recently awarded an $800 million U.S. Navy contract to develop a new missile frigate.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, holds an 8-point lead over the president in Wisconsin, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average — down 3 points from the lead former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton held at this point in 2016 before she lost the state to Trump by a single point.
Over Trump’s birthday weekend outside Milwaukee, none of the volunteers or campaign workers wore masks or practiced social distancing from each other. “Most of us have been around each other a lot anyway,” a field organizer told the Tribune.
Craig Black, a volunteer and 73-year-old former nurse, said he thought Democrats had exaggerated the risks and aired gripes he’d heard from neighbors about Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’s now-dissolved stay-at-home order.
“This is a crucial election. It’s about our freedoms and our liberties, and that’s why I’m volunteering any spare time I get,” said Black.
One 15-year-old volunteer said she found in-person canvassing more effective than text or cellphone outreach. “There’s something about looking somebody in the eyes and showing them I’m here to help my country,” she said. “I’m not just someone behind the screen. I’m a human being that’s coming to tell you what I think is right.”
