Would love to be living back there.....the bluest ward in a deep-blue city

[a kennedy]

I moved from Madison in 1975, and miss it terribly.....:cry: :cry: :cry:

On Willy Street, voters bleed bluest in Dane County
DOUG ERICKSON

The banners on the lampposts in Madison's Willy Street neighborhood describe the area as "A Place for All People," yet one demographic seems largely absent — Republicans.

In the 2004 presidential election, 93 percent of voters in this Near East Side community chose John Kerry, making it the most Democratic ward in Dane County, according to state voting records. Less than 5 percent backed winner George W. Bush.

There is no equivalent in Dane County for the converse — a lopsidedly Republican area. The reddest ward, the town of Vienna near DeForest, was won by Bush with 53 percent of the vote.

"It's pretty balanced," said Robert Pulvermacher, Vienna town clerk for 32 years. "It doesn't lean one way or the other."

The same cannot be said of the Willy Street neighborhood, known as Ward 35. It leans way left — the bluest ward in a deep-blue city.

"We joke that when they finally round up all the liberals, they won't have to take us anywhere, they can just put a fence around this neighborhood," said resident Gregory Humphrey, 46, a freelance grant writer.

No sea change appears to have occurred in the ward in the last four years. The State Journal was unable to locate any yard signs for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

"You're probably not going to find one in that neighborhood," said Mike Herl, chairman of the Republican Party of Dane County. (Ostensibly, there are a few Republicans around — 80 people voted for Bush in 2004.)

Ward 35 includes such familiar places as the Willy Street Co-op, Orton Park and Mother Fool's Coffeehouse. Residents vote at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center.

Much of the area's housing is more than 100 years old, and for a long time it was mainly a working-class neighborhood, said Ald. Marsha Rummel, who lives in the ward. By the mid-1970s, the area had declined to the point of being a skid row, then rebounded with an influx of artists and activists, she said.

Now, peace flags adorn vibrantly painted homes, and yards sprout homemade sculptures. "It's 'anything goes' here," said Donna O'Connor, 45, a nurse. "You can wear whatever you want. You can paint your hair five different colors."

Full article: http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/312113

[undeterred]

1. Weirdly, theres no Obama office on the east side of Madison

and not that many signs. Some of that is because our Democratic candidates for Assembly and State Senate are uncontested. Doesn't mean anything about the vote though.

The mayor/county supervisor have requested ballots to be printed for 100% of eligible voters in Dane County. We can really pull the state in a presidential election year.