Yesterday in La Crosse
Barack Obama arrives in La Crosse, 10 years ago
“How’s it goin’, La Crosse?” That’s how presidential candidate Barack Obama greeted an outdoor audience between the Holiday Inn and the La Crosse Center on October 1st of 2008. Obama’s wife Michelle had campaigned in La Crosse earlier that year. The Illinois Democrat spent the night in La Crosse during the middle of Oktoberfest, and said to the crowd that he was sorry he missed it, only to be told that the festival had several more days to run. Obama spoke about wars, jobs, and Wall Street. It was his last campaign stop in Wisconsin before the 2008 election, more than a month later, but he still won the state. Obama did return to La Crosse after becoming president. He spoke in July of 2015 at UW-L, and talked about not being able to stick around for Riverfest. Obama’s campaign visit happened in 2008, yesterday in La Crosse.