Donald Trump set to address more than 1 thousand in Waukesha

WAUKESHA -- More than one thousand are gathering in the most important conservative area of Wisconsin to hear from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump just two days after the real estate mogul and his Democratic opponent sparred in their first debate ahead of November's general election.

The 6 p.m. Wednesday rally at the Waukesha County Expo Center will be held in the heart of one of the country's most influential movements among conservatives to reject Trump as the way forward for Republicans in the 2016 presidential race.

But on Wednesday, before Trump was set to speak to the crowd of hundreds, some state Republicans got on board with Trump while the state GOP party leaders, like Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, did not attend the rally, that was held in the same venue Walker in July of 2015 announced his own presidential bid that lasted just 70 days.

Former GOP Senator and Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, GOP Rep. Adam Neylon of Pewaukee, Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp, GOP party chairman Brad Courtney and former U.S. Sen. Bob Kasten all asked the crowd there to see Trump to support the real estate mogul, who was a party outsider until his nomination. 

"You think it's time for a leader who has created thousands of jobs himself?" asked Farrow, to an affirming crowd. "The candidate of peace is Donald Trump. The candidate of danger is Hillary Clinton. It's just as simple as that," said Kasten, who also likened Trump's lack of political experience to President Ronald Reagan's at the time he was nominated. 

Trump's visit comes a week after the release of the latest Marquette Law School Poll, which showed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's lead over Trump continues to be tight.

Clinton leads 44-42 among likely voters in the latest poll, which is almost identical to the 45-42 lead she held in the previous poll released three weeks ago. Poll director Charles Franklin on Wednesday characterized the race as virtually unchanged.

The previous two polls showed Clinton's lead drop from 15 points among likely voters after the Democratic National Convention to three points just before Labor Day Weekend. Clinton has yet to visit Wisconsin while Trump has made two trips since the GOP convention in July before scheduling the Waukesha visit.

Jane Smith of Williams Bay, a bookkeeper at an electric supply company, traveled to Waukesha with her friend Mary Ong wearing bright pink T-shirts that read "Wisconsin Women for Trump" in black block lettering. 

Smith said her support of Trump is rooted in her opposition to Clinton.

"I don't trust Hillary and I don't believe anything she has to say," said Smith, 52. 

Smith said she likes Trump because he hasn't spent decades in politics like Clinton and isn't polished, as illustrated by his performance at Monday's debate at Hofstra University in New York. 

"She did well, I thought he could have done better," said Smith. "But that's a big part of why I like him -- he's not a politician."

Jay Schroeder of Neenah, a mortgage and loan officer, said the debate's questions were designed to discredit Trump's qualifications. He said questioning Trump of his previous comments implying President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. were unfair.

"The country has 21 trillion in debt -- I really don't care where (Obama) was born," said Schroeder, 54, who added he came to the Waukesha rally to hear Trump's solutions to cure the country's debt load.

"If the economy collapses, that's what affects you and me -- not where (Obama) was born," he said. Schroeder also said he doesn't care about the fact that Trump hasn't released his tax returns, reiterating Trump's plan to strengthen the economy is more important to him. 

The real estate mogul continues to have his work cut out for him in Wisconsin with state Republicans struggling with how to handle his incendiary statements and past support for Clinton.

Trump was crushed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the state's primary in April after a successful push by prominent state Republicans and conservatives who sold Cruz as the only viable candidate to stop Trump from becoming the GOP nominee and to defeat Clinton.

Cruz on Friday said he would vote for Trump, after refusing to endorse him at the GOP's July convention in Cleveland.

Democratic strategist Paul Maslin said the reason Trump has been visiting Wisconsin so many times is obvious: He can win the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina and still lose the election. He has to cut into Clinton’s electoral college total by winning states that are leaning Democratic, such as Virginia, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.

“I’ll be much more concerned about where people are in the last three weeks than where they are in the next three weeks,” Maslin said.

Clinton originally planned a rally with President Barack Obama in Green Bay that would have been her first after the Democratic National Convention. But it was scratched in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting. A spokeswoman with the Clinton campaign said on Friday there were no plans at the moment to return to Wisconsin. 

Republican pollster Gene Ulm said Trump is likely making a push in Wisconsin because of its blue-collar nature, but he has struggled in the suburban Milwaukee counties. They’re very Republican, but Republicans there are highly educated and that has been a tougher group for Trump to lock down.

“Trump’s support drops off among those kind of voters,” Ulm said. “If support drops off two to three points (in Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties) it crushes any Republican.”

Ulm said the results of state polls in the wake of Monday night’s first debate could influence where the candidates dedicate their time in the final six weeks before the election. The next Marquette Law School Poll won’t be out for two weeks, poll director Charles Franklin said.

Though Clinton hasn’t visited the state yet since the spring primary, Franklin said Chelsea Clinton’s visit to Green Bay on Friday is an indication the Clinton campaign is seeing Wisconsin as a much closer state than what it was a month ago.

Franklin noted Clinton is underperforming in areas like Dane County, where Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is polling in second place over the last several Marquette polls. Trump, meanwhile, is underperforming 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and Sen. Ron Johnson’s numbers in Waukesha County.

“Just as Trump is going to Waukesha with his underperforming Romney and Johnson, it would seem Clinton would have real reason to come to Madison and try to recoup full support you would expect them to have,” Franklin said. “I would be really surprised if she doesn’t come.”

Thiensville Village President Van Mobley, a Trump supporter, said he has seen signs that suburban Milwaukee Republicans are coming around to Trump. He said Trump has tapped into the key issues voters are concerned about: economic security and law and order.