National chair of Kerry-Edwards campaign stops in Green Bay Former New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen spoke with The News-Chronicle, Thursday (photo by H. Marc Larson) By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle Polls in the battle-ground state of Wisconsin show President Bush leads his presidential rival, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, by as much as 10 points to as little as two, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on Wednesday. With the varying polls, the national chairwoman of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, Jeanne Shaheen, said public opinion has not changed since the Republican and Democratic conventions. Ten percent of voters are undecided, she said. "And it's going to come down to who votes and whether we get those 10 percent out," she added. Before addressing a crowd of more than 90 Democrats at an annual party function on issues for the middle class, Shaheen spoke with The News-Chronicle about the Kerry-Edwards campaign. She said the campaign is focused on attracting the votes from single women - 22 million single women did not vote in the 2000 election. She said 18-24-year-olds are another age group whose votes are actively sought through many college campus visits. When asked when Kerry might raise the level of criticism of Bush, Shaheen said he already has. "I think he started taking the gloves off the day the Republican convention ended, when he talked about it was George Bush who was the person who was not fit for command, because of the jobs loss, because of the number of people without health care, because of his taking up to war in Iraq and misleading Americans about weapons of mass destruction and about ties to al-Qaida," she said. Kerry made comments earlier in the week, she said, distinguishing himself from Bush and criticizing him on having no plans for Iraq and for saying he would repeat military action against the country had he known everything he knows now. "Does that mean he would take us to war again even though there are no weapons of mass destruction, even though we know there were no ties to al-Qaida? Does it mean that he would take us to war again without a plan to win the peace? I think he's drawing those contrasts very clearly," she said. The debates between Bush and Kerry have an uncertain outcome. "We know that George Bush is a very good debater. He's never lost a debate. We know that he's trying to downplay expectations, but I expect that we will see the very clear contrast between what they believe what needs to be done and the vision for this country," she said. Citizens who like the status quo will vote for Bush and those who want a change will vote for Kerry, she said. Kerry supporters reacted to the polls. One said that Kerry trailing Bush could be a good thing. "Sometimes when you're ahead you get complacent. When you're behind you fight harder," said Tony Frisque, a Kerry-Edwards supporter attending the dinner. The polls he has seen show Kerry and Bush nearly tied. The debates will make a difference on the polls, he said. Because the debates aren't political ads, people will be more swayed by them, he said. Tom Derrickson, a Kerry-Edwards supporter and president of the United Auto Workers Local 1102, said polls do not accurately reflect the victor in Wisconsin because some polls only contact people likely to vote. "There's going to be so many new voters this year," he said. Polls can be biased too, depending on who is asked to participate, he said. Perry Graves, a Kerry supporter and president of the Oshkosh Truck United Auto Workers Local 578 in Oshkosh said he hopes during the debates Kerry will lay out how he will handle the threat of terrorism, and how he will bring countries together to fight it. He also wants to hear how Kerry will bring about economic recovery.