Two polls out today show Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., holding a slim lead over former Gov. Tommy Thompson in the race to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate.   A new Marquette University Law School poll has Baldwin up 47 to 43, while an internal poll conducted for Baldwin’s campaign shows her with a 3-point lead.

“This race has tightened, but Tammy’s running a fantastic campaign and Wisconsin voters have so far rejected a barrage of attack ads from Karl Rove and right-wing super PACS,” said Tiffany Muller, vice president of political operations at the Victory Fund.  ”From here on out it’s about a strong ground game, so we’ve sent staff and volunteers to help the coordinated get-out-the-vote effort, and we’ll be there until Election Day,” Muller added.

President Bill Clinton recently made a swing through the state to help Baldwin, and Victory staffers are bumping into senior Obama administration officials such as Valerie Jarrett (pictured) as they crisscross the state with Baldwin’s field team.  ”This really is an all-hands-on-deck effort now,” Muller said.

Learn more about the race today at 4:30pm ET when the Victory Fund hosts a national conference call with Baldwin and her campaign manager, Karin Johanson.  Go to www.victoryfund.org/briefing to sign up for the call.

By Stuart Milk

Harvey Milk was my uncle, but he’s also my hero. His election proved what we’re capable of when we stand up for ourselves, stop listening to the naysayers and rally our community to action.  We’re capable of winning – and making history.

That’s exactly what Tammy Baldwin is doing. This week brought the fantastic news that she’s pulled into the lead in her fight to represent Wisconsin in the United States Senate. Four separate polls confirm a big shift in this race, and with just 7 weeks to go, victory is in sight.

Tammy first ran for office in Wisconsin when she was just 24 – less than a decade after my uncle made history in San Francisco. She won that race, joining a handful of gay and lesbian American trailblazers who refused to hide who they were in order to serve their communities.

Twelve years later, Tammy became the first woman in Wisconsin history to be elected to Congress, and the nation’s first out lesbian ever to serve on Capitol Hill.

Now, with our help, Tammy will break a glass ceiling that has existed for more than two centuries. She will fight for the people of Wisconsin, but Tammy will also represent millions of LGBT Americans who have never had an authentic voice in the Senate.

Like my uncle Harvey, Tammy has faced doubters who thought she couldn’t be honest about herself and win. But in every single campaign, she has proved them wrong. Now we’re seeing the proof that this race is winnable too – and that history can be made again.

It’s time for all of us to come together and take the next big step for equality. When Tammy raises her right hand to be sworn into the Senate this January, I know you’ll want to be a part of making that moment happen.  Join this historic campaign with a contribution, or volunteer one weekend in Wisconsin to help LGBT candidates running across the state.

Harvey Milk was a dreamer, and he dreamed big. But he never stopped there. He fought to make his dream a reality, and with the help of the Victory Fund and trailblazers like Tammy Baldwin, his dream lives on.

Photo:  Brook Pifer

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., has surged to a five point lead in the race for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, according to a new poll conducted for the campaign.  Baldwin now leads former Gov. Tommy Thompson by 50% to 45%.

The dramatic shift in the race comes after aggressive advertising by the Baldwin campaign and other groups highlighting Thompson’s advocacy for corporate interests as a Washington lobbyist.  Voters now see Baldwin as much more likely to stand up for the middle class and protect Medicare.

Thompson had experienced a post-primary bounce in the polls, but that appears now to have completely dissipated.  ”Now that this race is down to just two candidates, the choice could not be clearer,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which has endorsed Baldwin.  ”Tammy’s strength is her long record of standing up for Wisconsin’s working families, and voters are discovering that’s not what Tommy Thompson has been doing in recent years.”

UPDATE — 3:30pm:  Democracy for America and Public Policy Polling confirm the shift in Wisconsin.  Their new poll released this afternoon finds Tammy Baldwin leading Tommy Thompson 48% to 45%.  The polling memo is here.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said she will introduce Americans to “the Wisconsin I know,” when she delivers a prime time speech tonight to the  Democratic National Convention, an address that should contrast sharply with fellow Wisconsinite and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Baldwin, who could become America’s first openly gay senator, told The Huffington Post’s Amanda Terkel, “You’re going to get a very different impression of the Wisconsin that is actually a state with a proud progressive tradition.  I know that much of America really does embrace the heartland values of Wisconsin itself.”

Also speaking today is Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the longest-serving openly gay member of Congress.

Two separate half-million dollar attack ad campaigns targeting Rep. Tammy Baldwin in the Wisconsin Senate race may have produced zip for the special interest groups that launched them.  New polling numbers suggest the presumptive Democratic nominee’s standing in the race has actually improved over the last few weeks.  Baldwin is now tied with two GOP challengers and leads two others, according to the firm Public Policy Polling.

For months, television ads backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a corporate lobbying group in Washington, and another group affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers, slammed Baldwin’s progressive record, but with little apparent effect.  Baldwin has now pulled even with former Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican who has been leading the race for the GOP nomination.  In a head-to-head matchup, Baldwin and Thompson are tied at 45% each, according to PPP.  An earlier poll from Marquette University showed Baldwin trailing Thompson by 7 points.

“If anything, the latest polls show this is an absolutely wide-open race,” said Tiffany Muller, vice president for political operations at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.  ”Even with much lower name recognition than the former governor, Congresswoman Baldwin is neck-and-neck with him in the polls, and she leads a few other challengers.  That means Wisconsin voters are receptive to her message about fighting for the middle class rather than special interests in D.C.  They want someone who’s on their side.”

Baldwin, the only out lesbian ever elected to Congress, could become the first-ever openly LGBT U.S. senator.