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After a Monday news conference where

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she fired her campaign manager

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for messing up the financial reports

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but still vowed to stay

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in the race, Democratic primary

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candidate for governor Sara

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Rodriguez today dropped

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out.

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She said the fundraising reporting

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mess would be too big of a

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distraction.

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Senior political reporter Zach

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Schultz is here with details and hi

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Zach. Hello Fred.

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So this has been almost like

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a slow-motion train wreck exactly

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what happened

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It's been a back and forth all week.

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Last week, we were talking about all

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the momentum she had.

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The candidates that had dropped out

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were endorsing her.

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I was in touch with the campaign to

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see where she'd be out in the field

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this week. We were gonna touch base

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with all the Democratic candidates.

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And they got back to me and said,

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well, we're still figuring out that

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schedule. Well, by Sunday, they'd

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fired her campaign manager.

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By Monday, she has a press

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conference saying, I'm in the race,

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but fundraising's a little weaker.

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As we talk to the other candidates,

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they're like, what a mess.

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Your whole authority says you can

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run things and you don't have any

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oversight of your own campaign.

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Her campaign finance sheets come and

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show she's broke and deeply in

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debt. Then she makes another press

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conference to say that she's got all

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this money and then quickly says,

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nope, sorry, that was an error as

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well. And now she's out.

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So it's been back and forth.

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People really tried to figure out

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where is the truth.

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And when she says it was a

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distraction, she's 100% correct.

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That may be the most honest thing

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that's been said about the campaign

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all week.

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Is this was dominating all

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of the headlines and would have if

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she would have stayed in this race.

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She was considered a

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front runner though.

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Absolutely, when you're looking at

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the, if you look at that Democratic

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primary in terms of lanes, there was

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clearly Francesca Hong in the more

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progressive far left lane.

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She had owned that for quite a while

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in this race.

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And it was a question of who could

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call less more, that centrist

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moderate candidacy.

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And Sarah Rodriguez was taking that

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over. And now that it's gone, it's a

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question who takes advantage of

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that. Where do those voters go?

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So now Governor Evers is

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reportedly talking about backing an

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effort to draw David Crowley back

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into the race.

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What happened there with him?

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Well, David Crowley dropped out

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almost a couple of weeks ago, saying

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it was clear he wasn't going to have

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a lane.

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It was assumed he was contesting

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with Rodriguez, saw her momentum,

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and knew he couldn't get there.

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Fundraising reports that just were

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filed show that he actually has

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plenty of cash on hand, a lot more

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than her significantly.

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If her campaign had been transparent

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from the beginning, there's a

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question of whether he would have

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dropped out, because he would've

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been significantly ahead of her.

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There are other centrists that are

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saying, hey, bring him back.

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He's the next best person.

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To take that mantle with Rodriguez

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out of the race. And now it's a

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question of whether he will do that.

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And what will that look like?

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Yeah, who else stands to

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gain?

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Well, Joel Brennan clearly says this

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is his moment to shine and people to

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hear his name for the first time if

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you're not finally tuned into this

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race. Kel DeRoy's, Mandela Barnes,

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they all claim that they can benefit

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from this.

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Francesca Hong, to a degree, because

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there were people that backed,

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that just want a Democrat who can

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win. And now she may have a more

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open race all the way.

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To winning this primary if her main

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contender from the centrist

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candidacy falls apart.

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So, meanwhile, Republican candidate,

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Tom Tiffany, not only has

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gobs of money, comparatively,

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but this must be great for

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the GOP.

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Oh, they absolutely love this.

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Anytime you see the other party

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falling apart on their own

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missteps, then it's

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good news for Tom Tiffany because

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he's had this whole opportunity all

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summer long to run positive ads.

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He's got a ton of money in the bank,

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two million cash on hand.

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Pretty much all of that coming from

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billionaires who have given to the

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party that are given to him.

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The billionaire loophole that he

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came on our air and criticized a few

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months ago, he's now taking

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advantage of, but that's politics.

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He's definitely in a much better

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position. I did ask the Democratic

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candidates this week.

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Can you overcome that after this

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primary? And they said, absolutely.

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Once we get past August,

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then we can start contrasting

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the record that he tries to portray

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versus his record attached to Trump.

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Meanwhile, the Republicans are

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airing ads talking about

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Francesca Hong, and

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what are they doing there?

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Well, technically they are negative

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ads, but they're airing them in

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Madison, Milwaukee, to Francesca

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Hong's base in attempt to rile them

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up. We've seen groups play

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in democratic primaries across the

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country in an effort to boost what

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they view as a weaker candidate, a

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more socialist progressive

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candidate.

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There are lots of statements in

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Francesca's Hong background that she

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owns that do not

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play well according to centrists or

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perhaps in a regular contest

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in November.

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Have you ever seen anything

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like this in your coverage of

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politics in Wisconsin over the

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years?

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Not like this.

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We've seen campaigns fall apart.

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We've see campaigns run out of money

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and be deep in debt.

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That's not new.

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It's the discord that

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it all came out in this back and

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forth throughout the week.

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If this had come out in February or

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March and those statements have been

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corrected, she probably could have

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survived and moved on because she

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still had support this week.

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Just this week, talking to people

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out in the field, she won the

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Ozaukee County Democratic Straw Poll

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with Francesca Hong in the audience.

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So... The support was still there,

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but it was clear that she could not

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change the message away from her

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oversight of her own campaign to

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back to one being about the primary.

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All right. Well, Zach, thanks very

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much for being here.

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My pleasure.