The triangle contains not only most of Wisconsin's urban and industrial development, but also the finest farmland. In addition to its proximity to metropolitan markets, the triangle offers better soil--plus the longer growing seasons afforded by Lake Michigan.

One-third of Wisconsin voters live in the Chicago-Milwaukee megopolis, in which the Democrats' traditional big-city machines still reign. This fact dictates state-wide strategy. "When I plan a campaign for Wisconsin," says Pat Lucey, long-time state Democratic leader, "I plan two campaigns--one for Milwaukee and one for the rest of the state."

Only one-sixth of "the rest of the state" lives on farms, contrary to Wisconsin's reputation as "America's Dairyland." The remainder -- just about half of the total population--lives in small cities and towns scattered throughout the state.

Although urbanization has become the marked feature of Wisconsin's population, as of growing areas everywhere, the state remains 36 per cent rural compared to 30 per cent for the United States. This rural population is not synonymous with farm population, since over half of it is found in towns with under 2,500 people.

Here is the distinctive feature of Wisconsin's urbanization: much less of the population concentrates in a few large urban centers than is true of the rest of America. In other words, Wisconsin is urban but not highly metropolitan. Wisconsin-born Thornton Wilder captured the flavor of the state in Our Town, although he indelicately set the play in New Hampshire.

MANY small towns are made up of recent emigrants who still identify with their former farms and rural homesteads. Most Wisconsinites, in fact, consider their state a "farm state," though the ranks of actual farmers have been diminishing, particularly in marginal agricultural areas in the north and west. In 1967, the state lost about 2,000 farms. One- fifth of the remaining 116,000 fall into poverty levels as defined by OEO. About 5,000 farmers in the lowest ranges hold part-time jobs to supplement their incomes. With this changing trend of recent years, Democrats have made inroads into the traditionally Republican farm vote.

Historically, the political dialogue in Wisconsin has been between LaFollette Progressives and conservative Republicans. As Theodore White put it, "Progressives were the first party, Republicans the second and the Democrats a poor third."

With the collapse of the Progressives after World War II, this pattern was destroyed. Sen. Robert LaFollette Jr. rejoined the GOP, which his father had dominated a generation earlier, only to lose to Joseph McCarthy in the 1946 Republican primary. Since then, the Republicans have captured ever increasing control from the Progressives, who have shifted--along with the state as a whole--toward the Democratic Party.

UNTIL recent years, Democrats did not win state office in Wisconsin. As late as 1938, they could claim only eight per cent of the general vote. In 1957, William Proxmire became Wisconsin's second Democratic Senator in the century by capturing the seat left vacant by the death of Joseph McCarthy. The next year, Gaylord Nelson--now also a U.S. Senator--became the second Democratic Governor in the century.

This gradual shift of Wisconsin voters to the Democratic ranks may be seen in the composition of the two state bodies, the Senate and the Assembly. The 100-man lower house had one to six Democrats during the '20's. FDR swept in an all-time high of 50 in 1932, and there were 11 to 26 in the '40's and 24 to 55 in the '50's. Today Democrats hold 47 Assembly seats.

In the 33-man Senate, there were zero to two Democrats in the '20's, a high of 14 in 1935, three to six in the '40's, and seven to 15 in the '50's. Twelve Democrats currently hold Senate seats. In addition, both of Wisconsin's U.S. Senators and three of its ten Congressmen are Democrats.

In political terms, the most significant fact about Wisconsin is its ethnic structure and background. Unlike most other Western states, Wisconsin was settled by immigrants who came directly from continental Europe. Despite some emigration from New England in the Jacksonian era, most of the first settlers were refugees of the political upheavals of Europe in 1948 and thereafter. Wisconsin's population grew from 30,000 in 1840 to 305,000 in 1850 to 776,000 in 1860.

European immigration has left Wisconsin with a distinct state culture rather than a microcosm of the national culture. Early settlers brought native European culture with them--their food, dress, dances and community customs.

In Wisconsin, these Old World cultures never submerged in the great American melting pot as they have elsewhere. The state's culture is a pot of mulligan stew, with each ingredient clearly distinguishable: the Norwegians near Mount Horeb, the Swiss in New Glarus, the Icelanders on Washington Island. German can be heard on the streets of most cities and towns.

The University of Wisconsin's Department of Rural Sociology has isolated 23 different ethnic stocks as dominating various sections of the state. German, Polish and Norwegian are the leading foreign stocks, with German dominating 51 counties, Norwegian 11 and Polish two.