To Chicago, host city for the Democratic National Convention.
This is a special presentation of here and Now's 2024 election
coverage. We're coming to you live from Media Row in the
United Center in downtown Chicago. I'm senior political
reporter Zach Schultz, and I am joined, as always, by our
political pundits. Bill McCoshen Scot Ross. Gentlemen, thank you
again for coming back for one more week of exciting talk.
>> Thanks for having us. Fabulous to be here. All right,
Scott, you're jazzed as hell. Absolutely.
>> First Tony Evers reference of the day. Should we put a tracker
on the board? Yeah. All right. Just a few weeks ago, Scott, we
were closing out the RNC in Milwaukee, and we were talking
about Democrat after Democrat saying Joe Biden needed to drop
out of the race. What has happened since then? What have
you seen that makes the erence between there and
today? >> Well, I can say first and
foremost, we are in the windy, windy City and the wind is now
at the Democrat's back. This race has completely turned
around. The enthusiasm is off the charts. The excitement is
off the charts. The opportunity is off the chart. Because with
Kamala Harris and Tim Walls, you have joy and hope coming back to
the feelings of where we're going to move this country, that
maybe this eight years of national nightmare with Trump is
going to be finally over once and for all. They're going to
put a stake in this once and for all. And I think that it's going
to be great for not just Kamala Harris and Tim Walls. It's going
to be great for Democrats across the board. Most importantly,
it's going to be good for the American people.
, so a few weeks ago, we never saw the Republican
Party more united around Donald Trump. The enthusiasm was off
the charts. Where do you feel today?
>> Well, I think Scott's got some good points here. The
energy on the on the Democratic side has changed dramatically
since we were last together on July 19th. Joe Biden dropped out
on July 21st. That is the latest of any presidential candidate in
modern politics. Lyndon B Johnson got out on March 31st.
So Biden gets out with 107 days to go. Democrats quickly
coalesce around Harris, so there isn't a messy sort of mini
primary, and I give him credit for that. They did that very,
very well, and they've been able to keep her sort of out of the
media and sort of set the narrative the way, the way they
want to set it. I would say with 78 days to go, there's a lot of
water that's going to go under this political bridge and yeah,
there's some energy on theDemocratic side, but I think
once America gets to see Tim Walls and Kamala Harris and how
dangerously liberal they are, they're going to say no.
>> Is there room for the Democrats to grow in enthusiasm
or is this the peak? Are we going to see a post-convention
bump like we already? We usually do, or have we already seen it?
>> I think once America sees what the Democrats are offering,
you know, again, fighting for you, protecting freedom as
opposed to what we saw with the RNC, which was like, you know,
basically two guys who are out for themselves and you know, to
quote Tim Walls, where does hec. So I think that there is going
to be a huge bump for the Democrats off it. But again, you
know, first rule of politics set the bar low enough. You're bound
to succeed. And so, you know, expectations I think are you
know, I think people are excited because it's something we've you
know, we've not really seen before. We're going to have the
first black woman standing as the nominee of a major party in
American history. And I think that's something that we have to
honor. And I think that's something that the American
people are going to say, it's time.
hat voters are going to see here is we now
have a base on base election. JD Vance clearly didn't add to what
Trump was bringing as far as the MAGA base. I don't think Tim
Walls adds to Kamala Harris's record as a hardcore
progressive. I think they just sort of amplify those things. So
neither campaign sort of tried to bring in the middle through
their VP picks. So we're going to have a base on base, and then
it's going to be who can decide those that sliver of undecided
and independents in the middle at the end to get the victory.
>> So it was last spring which feels like years ago. Nikki
Haley said whichever party gets rid of their old candidate first
is going to win. Was she seeing the future? Was she right?
>> Well, she she was right in the sense that they got a nice
bump out of it and they were able to go from 5 to 7 points
behind with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket to many polls now
have them up. 1 or 2 swing states are a little bit
different. The polls are fluctuating, but there's no
question that Kamala Harris and Tim Walls have been able to
bring the Democratic base back underneath them.
>> Was there any chance that Democrats would be this
enthusiastic if Biden was still the nominee?
>> I mean, there was there was a real challenge. And again,
you're seeing it over and over again. And I was talking to some
delegate at the delegate breakfast today from Ozaki
County, and she talked about how, you know, their pre-debate
turnout for a party with, with Joe Biden on the ticket was
challenging. And after this change was made, they sold out
the place. And then, you know, again, in conjunction with that,
they went 50 over 50 on the referendums that we just passed
or just were killed in the state of Wisconsin. So I think that
that sort of enthusiasm, you know, definitely works. And
again, let us not forget the number one issue in this race,
the number one issue in this race is abortion. And as
Governor Tim Walz passed the first post-dobbs protection of
abortion rights in the entire state. Kamala Harris, who has
been a nonstop champion for abortion rights, you know, and
so I think with that being the number one issue economy, of
course, incredibly important. But abortion is about the
economy because it's about women being able to have control of
their bodies. So they can thrive in the workplace, like men.
>> Joe Biden is supposed to speak tonight. Yeah. Will this
be what kind of sendoff do you imagine is going to be in this
building for him when he comes out to address the delegates?
>> Oh, I think he's giving his own eulogy tonight. This is the
end of his political career. We know that the House Oversight
Committee today said, issued a 292 page report saying that he
did commit impeachable offenses as president. I'm not calling
for his impeachment prior to the election, but I think it's
something that the Republicans will strongly consider in the
lame duck session. I don't think Joe Biden is going to ride off
into the sunset with this great glow around him. The way
Democrats hope. I think this thing, the chickens are coming
home to roost on the Biden family.
do Democrats going to welcome Joe Biden
tonight? >> They are going to give him
the best reception, maybe other than of Kamala Harris in this
entire convention tonight, cause they know what Joe Biden
did. Nobody has ever put the American people before
lves as an elected official than Joe Biden did. He
saw what was happening. He saw that the threat to our
democracy, the threat to women, the threat to kids was so stark.
If he remained on the ticket that he said, I'm going to I'm
going to pass on to the next generation. I could not be, as a
Gen Xer, more excited about the fact that we are going to have
our first Gen X ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walls be the
president and vice president. So I think the ovation is going to
be long. It's going to be sustained. And the thing is,
it's going to be heartfelt. The guy gave 52 years in elected
office, you know, and worked every day for the people going
through personal tragedies. And the results speak for
themselves. Under he and Kamala Harris, 16 million more jobs
created, 21 million more people have access to health care. If
you're a senior, you're paying $35 for insulin costs. That's
950,000 people in the state of Wisconsin. The biggest
investment in student debt reduction in American history.
The lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, and the best
investment in and the and the best gun bill we've gotten in 30
years. got pushed
off the stage by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to a lesser
degree, or maybe to a greater degree, Barack Obama. They knew
he couldn't win. All the polling showed he couldn't win. He was
dogmatic. He and his wife were dogmatic about staying in the
race. There was finally a meeting of the minds after the
19th of July and said, either you're going to get out or we're
going to push you out. And so I don't think it's going to end as
rosy as my good friend Scott has said, but they're going to give
it a try for sure. >> So when we look at the amount
of enthusiasm out there, specifically on the Democratic
side, Scott, with 2008 Obama being the peak, 2016, Hillary
Clinton being about the nadir, where do you expect it to be
this fall? d have higher
than Obama numbers. >> Obama 2008, Obama 2008.
>> And the reason I think that is because we are doing
something that America hasn't done in its 249 years, and that
is have a woman be our leader. And it's time and especially
when we have had the attack on women that we had under the
Trump Supreme Court, under the Trump administration in states
all across the country. And that is why I believe that there is
going to be a wave election. And again, there's a lot going on in
the state of Wisconsin. I think we'll talk a lot about that.
This week. So people should tune back in all week. But I think
that it's going to bode very, very well for up and down the
ticket in the state of Wisconsin. I still do think that
Tammy Baldwin is going to be at the top of the ticket, but right
underneath is going to be Kamala Harris with, I think the most
votes ever cast ever received bya statewide candidate in
Wisconsin history. We're going to see.
uthfully don't know a lot about Kamala
Harris. She's never received a vote for president in her life.
She was the first one out of the 2020 race. She didn't receive
any votes this time. So I think as voters get to know her,
they're going to be some serious concerns about whether or not
that's the progressive, way we want to go forward. And I think
the debate on September 10th is going to be determinative, just
like the debate on June 27th was. I think people are going to
get to see I disagree with Scott. Abortion is a top three
issue. It's number three on most polls. Economy and immigration
are one and two. Trump's got huge leads on all polling on
those two issues. I think Harris made a very big mistake on
Friday with her price controls for economic security plan. And
the more she has to define or defend that plan going forward,
the worse off it's going to be for her. So I like where we sit.
>> Well, let's talk about the economy for a second, because
inflation has been a huge issue. I mean, we've talked about it,
you know, on "Here& Now" time and time again, let's look what
happened. Of the seven of the G7 countries in America, we have
the lowest inflation rate of all of them, around 2%. At one point
we were, you know, there were there were a couple that were
higher than that were higher than us. We topped out at about
10%. I think is where it was at. Yeah. There were ones that were
higher. We're lower than all of them. What's the difference
between those countries and our country? We passed Joe Biden and
Kamala Harris Inflation Reduction Act that made all the
difference. The investment in people, that's what they're
going to get with Kamala Harris and Tim Walls investment in
America. Tim Walz did it as governor. Kamala Harris has
fought for it in the US Senate. And as and as the vice
president. What we're going to get with Trump is the same old,
same old, $2 trillion in tax breaks. They already passed,
which, you know, gave, you know, gazillion dollars to, you know,
richest people in the state of Wisconsin, $2 trillion there.
They want to pass $5 trillion more by keeping those in effect.
That is money that cannot be spent on the American people.
Joe Biden made all the difference. Kamala Harris made
all the difference. Democrats made all the difference. And
they're going to get rewarded for that.
>> Voters are going to find out that Kamala Harris was uniquely
involved in the increase in inflation. She was the deciding
vote as the president of the Or the overseeing the United States
Senate on the Inflation Reduction Act. And two massive
spending budget bills that kicked off inflation here in the
United States. In her remarks on Friday, when she talked about
her new economic plan, she herself said bread was 50% more,
ground, beef was 50% more than it was during the pandemic,
before the pandemic. Well who's been in office that term of
office? It's been her and Joe Biden. So I don't think she can
run from her record. And inflation is cumulative. Scott
and I are struggle with our weight from time to time. It was
9% in year one. It was 6% in year two. It was 5% in year
three. And now it's 3% now. Well, that's still 19 pounds
heavier than you were four years ago. But Scott, I'm sorry, I
want to talk about that because when you talk about the
Inflation Reduction Act, it's one thing to say it could be a
lot worse. >> That's ephemeral, but it is
easy for people to say it was a lot better. And whether you want
to give credit to anyone or blame for anyone, there is a
difference between the end of the Trump era and where we are
today. s the pent
up, you know, the pandemic caused a lot of pent up buying.
And let us not kid ourselves, there are American war
profiteers out there who raise their prices in food, in gas,
you know, and they gouge the American people got record
profits. Good record buybacks to their to their to their
stockholders at the expense of the American people. Because,
you know, what they felt like they could do it. And so they
did it. And they weren't going to get any help from the
Republicans because the blicans have done nothing
other than say, let's give more tax cuts to rich people. That's
going to somehow reduce inflation. And our inflation
rate is now it's the same as when it was George W Bush.
>> But when it comes to messaging, it's the messaging
from Republicans seems to be winning in terms of the minds of
the public about man on the street interviews.
n't matter who conducts them. The average
tizen thinks inflation is hurting them in their monthly
pocketbook. There is no question about that. One of the mistakes,
one of the several mistakes Kamala Harris made on Friday was
she talked about price gouging by by grocery chains. Grocery
chains operate on a 1 to 2% margin. They make their money on
volume. They don't inflate bread 50%, some lowering some of those
prices, and they buy their bulk purchasers. They're one of the
biggest purchasers in the country, so they might have a
little extra wiggle room that a Kroger's or a Festival Foods
might, or even a Woodman's may not have.
>> Again, I think that what you know, what the what the
Democrats should do on this, on this angle is, I think they need
to talk about the fact that we help bail these companies out
during Covid, all the PPE money that was spent to assist
businesses, large and small, and they paid us back just like the
big banks did after the economic collapse, by sticking it to the
taxpayers. It's not the Democrats fault, it's the it's
the Republicans unwillingness to do to come together to try and
solve these problems, which has been the thing since Barack
Obama took the oath January 20th, 2009. They have said no to
anything related to a Democrat. The country be.
>> I think the struggle for Democrats is the voters
perception. Are they better off than they were four years ago?
And most voters would say, no, they're not. And Kamala Harris
is going to have to try and overcome that. And to do that,
she's going to have to offer more details. And we've seen so
far she's pretty light on details. And when she gets
pushed even a little bit, she struggles to go in deep into the
details. e were
locked down in Covid because Donald Trump said we should put
bleach in our veins, for God's sakes. You know, we lost 3
million jobs under under Trump. The largest loss in American
history. Joe Biden got a 16 million jobs by the things he
was doing, like the Inflation Reduction Act, like the
Investment in Recovery Act. >> By the time we do the show on
Wednesday, we're going to be lowering those numbers. There
will be new economic numbers out adjusting for the last three
months, and it may be as much as a million fewer check in, Scot
Ross said. back to today.
And this morning, Tim Walz spoke to the Wisconsin delegation, one
of the very first things he did at the start of the DNC. Scott,
what does that mean in terms of Wisconsin being the battleground
state that that's the first place he went to?
>> We remain the thing. You know, we are the, you know,
belle of the ball. And I was in the I was in the convention room
yesterday. We're right up front. You know, I took a I took a
little picture and put it up like they are right there front
and center, because they recognize how important
Wisconsin is, because Wisconsin got away from us in 2016, and it
will not again and see what they're doing. You know, under
under Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin Democratic Party has raised more
money than anyone could have ever expected, especially
Democrats like me who used to shriek, you know, like as Jimmy
Malone said in in In The Untouchables from here in
Chicago like a stuck pig. And, you know, the fact is, is that
the Republicans are hoisted on their own petard because Ben
Wikler has found a way to raise ungodly amounts of money. That
money being invested in an organization, they've got 47
offices around the state, well over 200 paid staffers
organizing people all over the state. The candidates are going
all over the state. You know, Kamala Harris and Tim Walls are
going to be in Milwaukee. We're here. They're over there.
>> Listen, I don't think Tim Walz is going to sell well in
Wisconsin. Minnesota is one of the top states for outmigration
in the last four years. He's lost $2 billion in wealth.
People. Some people come to Wisconsin, some to Florida or
other warm locations. Nobody's embellished his resume more than
Tim Walz, other than perhaps George Santos. And I don't think
it's going to sell the more people get to know Tim Walz,
they're going to realize he is dangerously as Ronald Reagan,
who was a master at, you know, his team was a master at
creating photos that told the story.
>> There is no better photo than that photo of Tim Walz
surrounded by school children. After making not only the
biggest investment in Minnesota history in public education, but
giving every student free breakfast and free lunch so that
they're they've got the resources and they've got, you
know, kids who grew up in poverty and go to school hungry.
They can't learn. He's solving those problems that is the most
phenomenal visual because he's a good guy. He's a Wisconsin.
>> The rich kids are getting it to everybody gets it.
>> Everyone's getting it. >> Oh so wait, so tax cuts for
rich people are okay. But these things should be means tested.
You know, a 95 cent meal for a kid who whose parents happen to
be doctors is bad. >> But Republicans in Wisconsin
want to take away means testing for private school vouchers. If
we're going to talk about means testing for wealth, family,
wealthy families. I don't know. I'm not
aware that they want to do that. >> They've introduced bills that
would have done that, that didn't pass the Republican
controlled legislatures. orrect. Well, they knew that
Tony was going to the governor was going, I do want to go back
to one thing that you just mentioned, talking about
Minnesota outmigration. eah, a lot of that is going
to northwest Wisconsin. Saint Croix is one of the fastest
growing parts of the state. Is that an indictment on Tim Walz,
or is that more a reflection on housing in Minnesota versus
Wisconsin? Because most of those people are still driving to
Minnesota to work? >> No, I think it is a
reflection on the policies of Minnesota and people voting with
their feet and moving to Wisconsin booming long before
Tim Walz was governor, Saint Croix County is growing faster
now than it was five years ago. It's one of the top five fastest
growing counties in the state. That's the Hudson area. Pepin
County, where River falls is also growing quite a bit, even
into Dunn County. 60 miles in is growing and that's people
saying, you know what? I could probably still work in the twin
Cities metro area, but I don't have to live there. I don't have
to deal with all those policies. I think they went too far when
they got both houses of the legislature.
growth happened because of retired
Representative Ron Kind, who I used to work for getting the
Stillwater Bridge. Let's not kid ourselves. That was why the
growth happened there. But again, that's, you know, one of
the as a former liberal advocate, we used to kill
ourselves about how do we penetrate that Minnesota market
with Wisconsin stories because it is, you know, dominated. You
know, there's no you know, the closest TV station you got
superior, you've got Eau Claire, you've got La Crosse. How do you
get TV to the people who get their news from TV? The people
who are most likely to vote are older, are older Wisconsinites.
What they've been getting is they've been getting all the
good news and all the good pictures of Tim Walz and the
stuff he's doing, like, you know, like gun control, like,
you know, gun safetylegislation, like the
ments in voting, like, you know, the investments in kids,
like tax cuts, moment of birth. That's just not, you know, it's
true. It's true. >> He's far too liberal for
Wisconsin. He's not going to be the hunter dad, the coach that
they think he's going to be in northwest Wisconsin where I grew
up or in the rural areas. He's not going to cut into any of
that. >> I see. I happen to think, you
know, he was in Nebraska the other day and he said this,
which I think is so insightful, you know, and I say this, you
know, I went to a state school. I went to the University of
Pittsburgh. Up the street is Carnegie Mellon, which is a
very, you know, Tory school. They used to refer to us as
grade 13. He's Tim Walz is in Nebraska. The other day he's
like, listen, here in the heartland, we don't have to
listen. We don't have to hear from a Yale educated philosophy
graduate who's financed and bankrolled by billionaire
nture capitalists to know what we know, we know what we know,
and that's the thing. >> So let's talk about JD Vance
for a minute, because coming out of the RNC, you were mild on
what he could bring to the ticket. Yeah. What have you seen
since then specifically as he almost appears to be following
Democrats around Wisconsin? He's going to be in Kenosha again
this week, tomorrow. >> Listen, I've been pleasantly
surprised. I think he's been outstanding on the stump for
Trump. I think he's been way more disciplined than Trump has
been. Stayed on the key issues of the economy and immigration.
And that's what voters want to hear about. I think he has
helped. So far. Is he attracting more independents like a Nikki
Haley or a Glenn Youngkin? Would No, but I think when he gets on
stage with Tim Walls and I'm sorry that it's not until the
first week of October people are going to say, wow, one of those
guys is really smart, and the other guy's got a lot of hot
air. go up,
and I'm not saying he necessarily went up, but this is
a guy who referred to Trump as America's Hitler. You know,
again, we've got a ticket with a guy with 34 felonies, and he
brings on JD Vance, who has the least amount of experience, you
know, that any vice presidentwill have ever had if they were
to win, if they were to win the election. You know, the things
that you say the same amount of experience as Obama had when he
won the presidency, that's a big comparison, though neither one
had run a company, the Obama was elected president.
e may be elected vice president if listen, if running
a company and having five bankruptcies is the standard for
like what? Well run a government like a governor.
>> Yeah. So I mean, the fact is, is that JD Vance has no
experience. The things that he has said on abortion are
literally disqualifying. You know, everything from like,
there should be no exceptions for rape and incest, that
they're an inconvenient. The things he said about, you know,
about single parents, you know, and or I'm sorry about
non-parents, right. Childless adults, I mean, just over and
over again, he is the definition of why Tim Walls got so much
traction with the they're just weird.
>> So I do want to switch back and look a little bit to the
back again. And that's the constitutional amendments that
were just passed. Yeah. Youreferenced those earlier when we
were talking about this. Are they reflective of what we're
going to see in the fall, or are they a one off or a relatively I
mean, a high turnout for an August primary, but still low
turnout compared to the fall. >> There's been about two dozen
statewide elections in Wisconsin since Trump got Wisconsin's
electoral votes in 2016. And I think Republicans have only lost
three or have only won three of those. Republicans have only won
three of those out of like two dozen. And this, I think, is an
extension of that, because, again, what I said, the
Democratic Party has people they are active. They understand it.
They are fundraising to give their organizers the resources.
They're spending the money to talk to people with
communications. They're doing everything right. And plus the
enthusiasm again, like, if you want to sign that, there's an
enthusiasm. The Republicans try to pull a fast one on the
Wisconsin, on the Wisconsin people twice a constitutional
amendment in an August primary has never been done before. And
then on top of that, the odd wording of it designed to
specifically be you know, confusing. And they got their
butts whipped. You know, again, I was talking to a friend of
mine. gain.
>> Seven well, well, there is one on the November ballot. You
know, 17 points in Ozaukee. >> The thing lost by between the
two things. I mean, this is you know, that's a play here. I'm
sorry. You know that's I'm sorry they lost statewide. They were
tied in 5050. And Ozaki I don't know why I'm fixated on Ozaki.
My wife lives in Washington County. I guess I should talk
about Washington County a little bit more. Maybe for tomorrow.
>> So I'd say this the thing to look at were Dane and Milwaukee
counties, the referenda failed by 180,000 votes. It failed.
They failed by 175,000. In Dane and Milwaukee alone. So I would
say Republicans have had their work cut out for them. And Dane
and Milwaukee County for a long time this reinforces that, in my
opinion. But having said that, I mean, Scott's right. Ben Wikler
raised a pile of money and they outspent Republicans at least 4
to 1, maybe 5 to 1, getting their message out, encouraging
people to vote no. It's always easier to get people to vote no
on referenda, especially when they're confusing.
>> But they don't lose very often in Wisconsin history.
>> Yeah, and I don't think we'll lose in November when we have a
referendum about only U.S. citizens can vote in Wisconsin
elections. I think Republicans will win that handily. So I
don't think there's anything to read in an August primary about
what might be what may come in November, because there's 78
days. It's really going to be about the top of the ticket
between Harris and Trump to a lesser degree in Wisconsin,
between Baldwin and Hovde. And that's what's going to drive
turnout. um. Money is
momentum. Robin Vos
brings these back again, they're going to go down again?
I don't know that Robin Vos is going to get the opportunity
to do that come January. You know I think there is an
entirely decent possibility that that the House could flip the
assembly could flip after this election. Now, would they come
back in the lame duck? Absolutely. They tried and did
it before they did it with voting rights. They did it with
Walker. They took away, you know, a bunch of the powers that
Governor Evers and Josh Kaul, you know, that they would have
had they were fine to have Republicans, you know, use and
such. So, you know, but again, this is a constitutional
amendment has to pass two successive legislative sessions.
>> So the only thing they could do is do one in lame duck and
the other one in January. But I'm not sure this one's coming
back. >> So Tony Evers did say today
that he expects to flip the assembly. He thinks that Robin
Vos is out as speaker. Is that pie in the sky? Is that fire up
the voters, or is that actually a real possibility right now?
>> Well, it's taken a thought back to 2008, you know, because
that was the last time the assembly was flipped. And in
fact, like the two years from 2009 and ten, I moved here in I
moved to Wisconsin in 1997. Those are the only two years
Democrats have had the Assembly in all of my time here. And so I
so I took a look and like those a wave election is the kind of
thing in competitive seats where you win. You know, it's as
simple as that. And that's why I feel that that is definite, that
the assembly is definitely in play. I think the Senate could
be in play. It's a lot tougher. It's a lot tougher.
>> It would be a much bigger stretch for the Senate to be in
play. ns, we can
bring Al Michaels in to talk about how miracles do happen.
>> The seats aren't up for the Senate to flip this time. They
could, but they're going to pick up.
y going to pick up without a doubt.
>> You know, seats for sure. On the Assembly side, I thought one
of the big winners on Tuesday night was Robin Vos. He was able
to beat back sort of the hard right flank. Some of which tried
to recall him twice this summer and then ran a primary against
him, and he defeated all that and got most of his incumbents
through the primary against some, you know, people that want
to go to Madison to burn the capital down. So I'd say he was
one of the big winners on Tuesday night.
ere seats that Republicans were going to
probably keep anyhow. So it didn't matter, you know. So like
so yes, he has less of a hassle. Yes, he has less of a hassle.
But but overall he loses those in a primary.
sn't have a governing majority. So it's a
big deal. >> It's a big deal for the
legislature overall just in terms of being functional,
right? Yes, I mean yes, if nothing else, no matter who runs
the majority to have people that want government to work.
ell, yeah. >> I mean, is the call coming
from inside the house? That was what he was worried about is,
you know, do 5 or 6 of these people knock off his incumbents
and then he can't pass a budget or a major bill?
>> Well, he may not be speaker either.
t's a little rosy thinking on the Democrats
part. >> Well, not necessarily from
losing the majority, but whether he can find enough Republicans
within his own majority. >> Oh, I think so. I think he
can. >> So talking about the election
deniers, what does that mean in terms of questioning the
election this fall? Were they still going to be vocal or if
they don't have that platform of being an elected official, does
that change some of those calls? >> I think it reinforces a lot
of, again, what's the message up at the top of the ticket, which
is the existential crisis to democracy? You know, we have a
president or an ex-president who is on the ticket who tried to
overturn the results of a democratically decided election,
and that has continued with the election denialism and the
culpability and the unindicted Ron Johnson Derrick Van Orton,
who is, you know, a terrorist, insurrectionist we're going to
get to over and over again for three more days. My point is
that the party has been taken over by the by the election
deniers. Whether Janelle Branch and Ramthun didn't get back in
or got kicked out, it's still a party of that. If you put a
microphone in front of any of the candidates, they're going to
say there were problems with 2020 when every independent
analysis, including a Republican one, said, that's nonsense.
>> I'd say it's good for the party. It's time to stop looking
backwards and start looking forward. Voters want to hear
about what you're going to do for them in the future. They
don't care about 2020 anymore. Some in our party may still, but
it's not a deciding issue, and the more time we spend on that
means, the less time we spend comparing and contrasting with
our vision for the future versus the Democrats vision.
>> I agree they should listen to Bill McCoshen. He's been around
a long time. >> Look at the gray hair.
>> I got it a few seconds left very quickly.
>> Summarize very quickly. Scott, what is the goal for the
Dems? This week? What's a good week for them?
>> The Dems is to show that they are the party that's going to
move this country forward. It's time to move forward.
>> What are the Republicans hoping comes out of this week?
>> Well, that people get to see who Kamala Harris is. I don't
know that they will. I don't know that she's going to get a
big bounce. But we want we want America to get to know Kamala
Harris and Tim Walz in a very personal way.
reement. >> All right, bill Scott, thank
you for your insights. We will see you back here tomorrow.
Thank you for watching this special presentation of "Here
& Now" 2024 election coverage. Be
sure to come back tomorrow. You'll find us here each day
this week. Tune into PBS evening coverage of the convention.
We're "Here& Now". We'll have another update on the day's
events. And finally join us on Friday to wrap up the week with
a special one hour presentation of Here and Now, starting at 7
p.m. I'm Zach Schultz. Thanks so much for joining us. Have a
great