An estimated 30,000 attend President Obama’s Madison rally

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President Obama used his Madison visit Thursday, Oct. 4, to encourage his supporters to vote early, and to shake off criticisms from his debate with Mitt Romney the night before.

A crowd estimated by University of Wisconsin police at 30,000 waited several hours for Obama to arrive, putting up with strong winds and occasional rain.

The president gave them a 22-minute speech which hit on his familiar themes of tax fairness, paying for education and creating jobs.

Obama also took jabs at Romney, after many observers said the president was not tough enough on his challenger in Wednesday night’s debate. Obama told the UW crowd that he didn’t see the real Mitt Romney on Wednesday night, the one who’s “been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy.”

Obama also slammed Romney for wanting to cut government subsidies for public television, saying Romney was “finally getting tough on Big Bird,” the Sesame Street icon.

The president also told the UW students that instead of booing Romney, they should get out and vote. Obama made his second visit to Wisconsin in as many weeks.

A Romney pollster said it was an indication of how well the Republican ticket is doing in Wisconsin. But a Marquette poll released this week still had Obama up by 11 points, down from 14 in late September.

Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan, is due in Milwaukee Saturday night for a campaign fund-raiser.

Tags: news, wisconsin, politics