>> The Democratic
primary for
governor starts to
get negative,
and one candidate
turns to
national live
streams to raise
money. Not
everyone is happy
about it.
This is
inside Wisconsin I'mtics.
Shawn Johnson
here with Wagtendonk and Rich
Kremer Eau Claire.
Hey, gang. >> Hey,
Shawn. >> So I
want to start this
discussion with a
simple question.
I think a peoplef
probably associate
political campaigns
with negative
attacks. Candidates
run for they attack their
opponents. So,
Anya, I'm wondering
why is it
noteworthy that inere
the middle of summer, we
have overt
negative in thiss
Democratic primary?
>> Yeah. You forow, I think
the last couple weeks,
months, there have been
some snipes, what I
might sort of
a Midwestern,
nice approach to
trying to
get negative. This
was the
first week that we got,
you a press
release from
a candidate explicitly
saying, my
opponent has done
something bad. I am
going to do something great.
And that was Mandela calling out
Sara Rodriguez, former
lieutenant calling out
a lieutenant
governor over
donations that she
received while she
was the
Assembly and essentially
trying to to
suggest that she is
viable, not. Sois
making an
issue of this in moreuch
explicit littleSo a
bit of a shot the bow, six
weeks out from midterm to really kind
of start to make explicit points.
>> Rich, I
think this kind
of pales
by comparison
from attacks you
would see
in national
politics right now,
for sure. And
in past
Wisconsin campaigns. you seen
anything like
this yet
this summer?
>> Not really.
I mean, it's
it's as
Anya mentioned,
these these have been pretty
mild. And I we'res if
thinking about,
you know,
boneless buffalo
wings, these would
be the
ranch and
the, the
blue cheese type
of attacks that
we've seen
thus far. We're
starting to get
into the
actual, you know,
Frank's redhot
kind of territory.
But even
still, it's pretty
tame. And what
I was thinking about
is the earlier
veiled thatticisms
we heard, like
during Democratic
convention or
something, most
people really
tuned in to
this race
yet. That is
your regular
voter. But
the people
that might
be getting
these communications from
the candidates
could be,
you know,
fellow politicians
looking to
endorse one of
the six
candidates in the
race could
also be
messaging out
to money
groups or
donors. I mean,
that's speculation.
But really, unless you're
really tuned
in, you wouldn't
be able to
connect the dots between some
of until thiss we've
moment between
the candidates
when they're talking
about orlectability
first time politician,
etc. You'd really
have do some
homework to find
out. And
now it's,
it's a little more
blatant, >> So you
would have to like a convention, for
example, when Kelda
Roys says,
we can't
have anybody
without experience
stepping here at
this time,
she's, you know, we
kind of whoow
she's referring to, but
she's not saying
it. Francesca Hong
saying, you know,
voters can detect
BS. I
don't know, I suppose
she everybody butng
her. But
this is
like a
candidate against
another candidate.
So I guess
I'm wondering, what
does it
say about
Mandela andes
Sara Rodriguez that now
the isttack
coming from
Mandela Rodriguez? And by
the way, responded
in kind.
>> Absolutely kindht. It was
of a forceful exchange
of words. So then response was,
essentially, you
ran for Senate
and Ilost.
ran for
lieutenant governor and
won. And so
again, them's
fightin words. That's a
little bit
not Midwest
nice. So I think
it tells us a of things. One,
it says considered to
be a serious
contender, right? You don't need to
take down
somebody nowhere
to come
down from.
Another thing is
that Mandela Barnes
is really
trying to make utility
rates a kind of
central platform.
And so using this
particular thing,
donations around
utility rates is
also a way to kind
of draw attention to himself. And then I
think know,youd thing
voters checked out,
even though, are less than six
weeks away from the absentee ballots have
already started being sent out.
But there's
like a
way these
candidates to be
drawing contrast
between themselves
in a crowded race
where there's super
strong distinctions, right? On
the the of
major issues,
they're relatively
unified. And so this
is oflso a way
like distinguishing
in ofms
lanes. So he didn't go after, for
example, Francesca Hong,
who is
a little bit
more on
his wing of
the Democratic
Party, he went after
somebody who's a little more moderate. And
so it's of, I think, again,
trying to draw starker distinctions
between inanes
this race,
not just individual
candidates. to maketrying
sense of the lanes in this race. I
mean, I have a sense of
it, feelingy are
it out too. And that is kind of
the way I it too, is that
Mandela Barnes probably s
like I'm not going win over the
Francesca Hong rily,rters necessa
but those
Rodriguez supporters,
they might be
my people.
>> 1 in a
crowded primary,
you're fighting over the
same voters. You're
fighting over
Democrats, right? And
so you
also, it's
the kind of where a few
thousand votes between winning
and not. certain ways in
than a general. so like the contours
of in the primaryon looks
is also >> Rich.fferent.
>> And this kind
of me ofnds
something I heard a campaign
strategist 2022.n
This was the Senate race
between Mandela
Barnes and Ron
Johnson. Ron
Johnson's polling
numbers, you
know, approval
ratings weren't
super high. And
this this
person who was a
Republican campaign
consultant, said
Johnson doesn't
need to
improve his numbers. He
just needs
to hurt
and bring down the
numbers of Barnes.
So in a
primary like
this, might
be part of the
calculus. Like if
someone seems
to be
whether it be
from internal
polling or
whatever, getting some
ground in your campaign
doesn't like
that. Try to
knock them down a
bit. >> So
I guess I wonder if
this is
kind of uncorking
the bottle, so
to speak, you know,
like, is this
going to be the new
norm fightat a
started? it
okay for
Democrats to say,
well, you know,
I didn't start
it, but but
I to finish it now,
or see sorthey
of urgency of
the primary
coming up. And,
and want toy
stand out, do they
have to attack? Is
there any
signs that
that's happening?
>> Well, it's a little
bit of a
calculation because,
you know, on
the one hand,
negative attacks
can get you more
attention if of're kind
sassy on social
media, that tends
to resonate a little
bit more. But at
the same time, you don't want to weaken
fellow Democrats
terribly because
ultimately gohey're going to
up against, Tomesumably,
Tiffany in November
for what
is going to
be a close
race, like a general
election in
Wisconsin is Andose.going to be
so you want to kind of
weaken your opponents that you can get
across the finish line, not so much
that you kind leave your entire party
susceptible to Tom Tiffany,.
picking up
what you've
already said
and running with
it. >> Rich,
what do >> Yeah,nk?
it's it's, I agree
100%. And
I mean, no matter
who the Democratic
candidate is,
it would be
surprising if the
entirety the
party doesn't
try to
rally around
them, this race
is pretty
critical for them
as they're
hoping,
you the best
case wouldio
be a
trifecta where they
win state
assembly, state
Senate and
keep the governorship.
So maybe
that's also why the
attacks have
been kind of
mild. But
whoever it is,
that bad blood
will likely
magically disappear, at
least publicly
after the August
primary. >> So,
Anya, there
was a
story that you covered
this week
involving Hongncesca
fundraising strategy
here. It was at the
end the fundraising period,
by wherey,
she awent on
couple of
national livestreams
to raise
money. Tell us
about who talked
to and why is significant?
so she went on on Monday. One
was Mike PA,
who's sort of a progressive
streamer aligned with the
Democratic Socialists of
America. has
a pretty big
following. And then
she went on with Hasan Piker, who's
arguably one of
the biggest
political streamers
online, and
he's become
something of
a kingmaker
or perhaps
attempted kingmaker on
the oft
American politics. appeared
with a number
of DSA
aligned or sort
of leftist
politicians. And so she
went on with him.
It was about an halfr and a
appearance. It was a sort of
fun and
chatty. They
talked about
politics, but they
also ate
Korean food and they
talked about merchandise,
and they
talked about
whether they
should erect
a statue of
Scott Walker for people to walk
around and slap
when they
have big feelings.
So was
this really, you
know, it's a very
different kind of
appearance than
might occur
sort of here on
PBS Wisconsin or.
But wasat
this kind of
approach to,
according to Hongncesca
meeting, different
types of voters, more
disaffected voters, the
type of people who
keep these streams
going, again,
perhaps very
different voters
than our,
our
audience. But at the
same time,
Hasan Piker has
said numerous very
controversial past, in the
things about
Israel in
particular offended
some communities.
And so there's
also been a
response. havingnded the day
raised about $92,000
from those two different
streams. Hasan
Piker said
now he's outing to come
to Wisconsin and with her. But at
the same time, there's this kind of
pushback from Democrats
and others
saying, why
would you appear
with somebody who
has said X, Y, Z in
the >> And and
so seeke you did
some attack there from
David Crowley kind
of like saying
you should just
you shouldn't go
on here. I mean,
essentially, yeah. >> He said
those comments beyond
the pale. youd,
know, I should perhaps
specify what they were. he has said,
for example, 11 was deserved.
And he says that
he referring to
this idea that
America's foreign policy
actions have
consequences. again,n
a hismber of
comments about
Israel and
Zionism has
sort of
been seen as
conflating Jewish
American Zionists, this kind
of thing. And
so I spoke with,
for example,
Ann Jacobs, who's
the co-chair
of the
Jewish Caucus
of the
Wisconsin Party,tic
who was really
kind of
appalled by the
fact that Hong would
go thisngside
person and
said youat,
know, should Hong
received the
nomination in November, she feels like
she's going to have of work
to do to bring Jewish Democrats kind
of into the
ballot box
to make sure that
a Democrat
can still
win. And
again, know, I
reached out to the Hong campaign for comment
and they said, essentially, we are willing to
meet with ouryone to share
vision if we don't on these types
of platforms, conservativeat
messaging can to. So go
they're trying
to create this sort of big tent.
Some concern from
other whocrats is
all should be in
the big >>ent.
And how much did raise in a
day? >> $92,000,
$57,000 from
Hasan Piker
or from that
stream. >> And,
you know, for
somebody who's watched
those streams, they
kind of know what to
expect for
somebody who
doesn't. a bit
it's a little busy those streams, is
it not? As a, you know,
a say itlradio girly,
was a little bit stimulating to have that
kind of thing going. think people
who are ise like this
how they are getting lot of their,
their news in thisain,tion.
kind of funny, >> All right.
What do you Chad? I don't know.
Is that how it's >> Right, fam?
>> Rich, rich Kremer, are Republicans saying
about this appearance there by Francesca Hong?
>> They're saying a
lot. they're
framing it. As
you know, this
is the
entire Democratic
Party lurching to
the left
towards these
what they call
dangerous ideas
and comments.
So they've
been
very critical
of Hong.
But again,
they're conflating
this to
to try to say
that all Democrats
are essentially
Hasan Piker
fans and they
support everything that
he's ever
said, which
is obviously an
exaggeration, but that seems
to be the way
you do tryingics when you're
to bring down the other side.
>> And we'll
get a sense
in middle
of July,
July fundraisingn
reports are
due for the
first half of this
year. So seell
not only that
fundraising, but everybody
else's fundraising
up thatgh
point. And,
you know, you'll
get a sense of
who's formidable
campaign before
the campaign
wraps Essentially,
we're to be
in a very
compressed primary
campaign here.
Rich Tom Tiffany,
the Republican
candidate for governor, is
had the
benefit of not
having a real
contested primary on
his side.
And he's
getting a
correspondence now from president of the United
States about disaster declaration.
What happened
there? >> It was
really interesting. So
President Trump used
his his
personal social
media site,
Truth Social
to thatounce
Wisconsin has been approved
for around
$22.5 disastern
relief aid.
This is
tied to the
storms that we saw
earlier this year,
big time
flooding, other
kinds of damage that really hit
local governments
pretty hard.
So he made
this announcement,
which is not
unusual, but he
didn't mention
Governor Evers
once. In fact,
he said that the
first call that he
made was
to Tom
Tiffany, who
he also
mentioned I
endorsed, and
he kind of
re-upped that
. also
essentially applauded
every Republican
in the congressional
delegation and
didn't mention a single
Democrat Wisconsin,
even though
Governor Tony
Evers and
people like
Tammy andldwin
the rest delegation
sent letters
in May
asking for
this assistance,
they were asking
for $27 million.
So it
almost seemed
like the president was
treating Tiffany like
he's theready
governor. And that
that Evers is
already kind of an
afterthought. So that
was was pretty
interesting to
see. >> And
the Evers
administration essentially doesn't know
the details, at least when you
talk to details know the
of the funding. You reached out to the
white and hadess office
a series of
questions for
them about the details, and
they had a
very brief response
to you.
>> That's right. I to Ited
asked, you know,
when this money
be What type of
aid? there'se
aid from the
from FEMA that
goes to businesses or
governments individuals.
I so
those the
questions I andked,
they just said, we
refer you to the
truth, which
means to the
president's post.
So they
didn't have any
additional information.
>> All right.
So we had
two very
big Supreme
Court decisions,
US Supreme
Court decisions
this week, which
were national
news. But I think
it's fair to say there are some
Wisconsin there.in
First, this this
birthright citizenship
decision. Rich,
I think this
was widely
expected that the
court would rule
against President
Trump's executive
order and say
that birthright
citizenship is
protected by the
US Constitution. But
there are Republicans,
and I mean
noteworthy Republicans in
Wisconsin who are weaying,
got abouto something
this. >> Yeah.
To to
borrow
Ange's term,
big There were
big feelings from some
Republicans in Wisconsin.
Congressman Derrick Van Orden
basically said that the
Constitution's 14th
amendment was aimed
at guaranteeing
citizenship to
freed slaves
and not
for children
of illegal
immigrants. He
said the
ruling undermines the
integrity of citizenship, and that
Congress has to do
something about it,
with it being declared
unconstitutional, at least the
executive order. It's
kind of
unclear what that
would look
like. Congressman
Toni WHEDA, another
Republican, said
that, you
know, this
amendment wasn't
intended for
what it's being used
for today.
There's all this
talk of
birth tourism,
where the idea
is that people that
are pregnant,
you know, women that
are countries come here, have
a strictly so
that they can
get that
child citizenship
automatically. One of the more,
I guess, aggressive
comments frome
seventh Congressional
District Republican
candidate Michael
Alfonso. He's the
son in
law of Shawn
Duffy, the U.S. transportation
secretary. He talked
about how
his newborn
baby can
trace her ancestry,
quote, back to
before the
Revolutionary and
that the ruling
essentially is
telling people
that children
like his
are not
equally as
American. To quote
Chinese spies,
anchor babies.
So lot
of a
lot of
thoughts coming
from some on
the right.
>> And Ana there
was this other
Supreme Court
decision involving
national parties
and how much
they can
raise and
spend. said it
would export the
Wisconsin model. What do
you mean? so here in
Wisconsin, since about
2015, have had
a rule on the books that says that
our partieslitical
can ande
spend moneyuch
as they want in
political races.
You've actually
reported on the fact
that this was a Republican law, that
in recent years,
Democrats made
very good use
of, particular, in
our enormous
Supreme Court races. Right?
Democrats, for
example, for the
election of Janet
Protasiewicz, spent
$10 and thatnn that
sort of theseashed
floodgates. Well,
now, as of
this Supreme Court
decision, this will be
the the at
national level, thederal level. So
national political RNCies
see these
kinds organizations.
They can spend
as much as they
want on these
races in
coordination with
campaigns. And
so essentially,
it's away
with a
major cap
on campaign
finance regulations
that, you people
I've spoken to have said, as in
Wisconsin. So
now we'll
go the nation.
>> Yeah. And I know
the thought for sure thisody
is It ended ups.
being helpful see whate'll
happens with this
change at the national level.
>> And opened the
floodgates for us to record breaking,
expensive elections. It seems like
every year. certainly did.
That's the time we
have today. Thanks for
joining colleague
Zac week. nextll be
This has been
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