Mike Quernemoen wasn't sure of the date, but he knows what day it was when he decided to donate to John McCain's presidential campaign. It was the day McCain announced Sarah Palin would be his running mate.

The Journal Times found him by looking at itemized campaign contributions from the Racine County region. These are donations of more than $200.

Quernemoen lives in Burlington and works in Waterford where he and his brothers run the corporate apparel company founded there by their father in 1984.

"I haven't always been a big fan of some of the things John McCain has done," he said. "I always planned on voting for him because I think Obama would be a terrible president for this country."

McCain's speech to a church group started to change his mind. "I was starting to see that his positions lined up more and more with what I believe."

But until the Palin announcement, Quernemoen was still concerned his running mate would be Joe Lieberman or one of the more liberal people whose names were tossed around earlier this year. Since his first donation in late August, Quernemoen said he's donated to McCain again.

Jim Drummond and his wife, Margo, donated to Barack Obama. They started in April 2007 and made their last contribution in December. Drummond said he and his wife supported Obama early to make sure he would win the primaries.

Everything Obama has done bespeaks great talent and a good temperament, Drummond said. Yet both he and his wife are feminists, he said, and thought hard about Hillary Clinton.

"While I believe Hillary would have made a good president, I wasn't sure she could be elected because of incomplete vetting of her history," Drummond said. "In other words I thought the opponent might have some material or facts that could hurt her chances."

Obama also showed his ability against the Clintons with their history of contacts in the Democratic Party and among donors, Drummond said. "And we felt that anybody who would win a primary against Hillary Clinton could certainly win the national election."

Jon Brocksopp, a self-employed engineer who lives in Racine, had no hesitation about supporting McCain early on. His first donation was in September 2007 and he continued giving money through August.

"I was a naval aviator. I know what it takes to be a naval aviator. I know what it takes to command a squadron," he said. "This is not the run-of-the-mill guy. You have to be a good administrator. You have to able to communicate with people. You have to get things done."

He blames Democrats for the current fiscal problems, specifically the longtime federal encouragement of home loans to high-risk borrowers. He likes McCain's health plan, although he doesn't think McCain has done a good job of explaining it, and he's worried that Obama's really doesn't understand tax policy.

Right now, he farms out work to firms in Chicago. Tax law alterations could change that. "If their prices are not competitive, then I'm going to have to go overseas to have my products made," he said. "You can never uplift the poor by tearing down the wealthy."

On her income as a medical transcriptionist, even after 30 years of work, Marie Gaborik wouldn't have been able to make the series of $200 and greater contributions that she has since February 2007. The money comes from her inheritance, and her liking of Obama preceded the announcement of his candidacy.

"I met him at Alverno College when he was doing a book signing for his second book â€óThe Audacity of Hope.' You got to meet him and shake his hand," she said. "And he just really impressed me as a really intelligent person. He seemed very â€" I don't know â€" there was just something about him that appealed to me."

She's never given to a campaign before and describes herself as an independent who leans Democratic. McCain she rejects.

"Well, he cheated on his wife. I would never vote for him even if he was a Democrat," she said.

This is a critical election for the country, Gaborik said. She made her most recent donation to Obama on Tuesday.

And then there's a person in the Racine County area who donated to both candidates. Federal Election Commission records show that H. Fisk Johnson, chairman of SC Johnson, gave $2,300 to the McCain campaign in April and $2,300 to the Obama campaign in June.

Company spokeswoman Kelly Semrau wrote in an e-mail that Johnson is an independent and admires both candidates. The contributions were made before either political party held its convention, she noted, and added that the company will work with whomever is elected "because this new president needs to focus like a laser on getting the economy back on track."