Looking ahead to the 2026
midterm elections, Wisconsin
Attorney General Josh Call announced
this week he's running for
reelection to that office,
not for governor.
Where does this put the crowded race
on the Democrat side and the not
so crowded field of Republican
candidates?
We check in with our political
analyst, Republican Bill McCaushan
and Democrat Scott Ross, and thanks
for being here.
Thanks for having us.
So Scott, first to you,
would it be fair to say that Josh
Call would have been considered the
front runner?
Oh, absolutely.
He's a statewide elected, you know,
statewide elected official who's won
twice in tough environments.
So, yeah, he would have been he
would've been a great candidate.
He'll be a great attorney general
candidate again. And I believe that
if some changes are made in terms of
the environment, that he'll win
again.
But, you, know, Democrats have an
embarrassment of riches. They have
some really, really good candidates.
They have some candidates who are
still talking and thinking about it.
But, you know to run against, you
know, what I would argue is
the front runner in Tom Tiffany, who
is, You know.
Basically an extension of Donald
Trump and everything that you
dislike and fear about Donald Trump
is embodying Tom Tiffany.
So, but again, it's about the
environment and I think Democrats
have to do some things to change
that.
What is the reaction on the
Republicans' part to Josh Call not
running?
I agree with Scott.
I think he would have been the front
runner the day he got in.
He's running one statewide twice
before he's got a record.
He's got to base a statewide base.
So it's big news for us that
one of the top tier candidates got
out of the way.
So that leaves Democrats.
I think their bench is a little bit
short right now.
The top tier is David Crowley,
Milwaukee County executive, Sarah
Rodriguez, Lieutenant Governor.
And they're waiting to see whether
or not former Lieutenant Governor
Mandela Barnes gets in.
That would be their top tier.
And I feel pretty good about our
chances against that.
So this leaves Tom
Tiffany, you think, who has
announced his run in good shape.
Yeah, there's no question.
Tom Tiffany is the front runner.
I mean, he's a sitting congressman.
Congressmen all have districts with
760,000 people.
He's got a base, and it's a very
red base.
Where he's less known is
southeastern Wisconsin.
And as I pointed out, the last time
Scott and I were on his show,
the deficit for Tom has always been
fundraising. He wasn't very good at
it. He's already raised more than a
million dollars in the first two
weeks in the race, including 250,000
at a single event last week.
So...
He's going to be our front runner,
but I think Josh Holman's going to
stay in the race.
Josh is a, you know, he's got a
couple of advantages. Josh is just a
younger man. He's 24 years younger
than Tiffany, and he's geography on
his side.
All of the votes in a GOP primary
come within 100 miles of where Josh
lives.
I just want to stay with you a
minute, Bill, and ask
you your reaction to your former
boss, Governor Tommy Thompson, once
again saying he's seriously
considering a run.
I think he's misunderstood on
that. I love Tommy Thompson.
I wouldn't be where I am without
him. I think what he really was
saying was if these guys don't get
out of the blocks, I'll be
available. I'll in the bullpen
warming up and that would be next
spring. I don't expect that to
happen, but I hope I have half
the energy he has when I get to be
83 years old and I don't
expect him to be a candidate.
He'll be ready there to wish
youngster Joe Biden a happy
birthday, right?
I think they, do you know that
they're born on the, basically on
the same day, right, yeah, right.
But the former governor is a year
older. I mean, I think the great
news about Tom Tiffany being the
front runner, and he is the
front-runner, and I expect that he
will be their nominee, is that that
nationalizes this race because he is
so tied to Trump.
And you know, the definition of
fascism is an authoritarian
political ideology
defined by a dictatorial
leader, centralized governor and
suppression of opposition.
That is part and parcel of
everything that has happened in
these, you know, what seems like 10
years, but is really nine months
of Trump being in office.
They have control of everything,
they have control the Supreme Court,
they have the control of Congress,
they have controlled the executive,
and they are running the fascist
playbook. Up into and including,
I watched something on Friday where
they were calling the March
plan for October 18th, a peaceful
march, saying no kings, as
a terrorist outfit.
This is this is not what America
is about and I would say to my
Democratic friends If you don't
start treating fascism like fascism
and calling it out You can't expect
people to see that America is in
crisis and that we need to step up
and and do something about this So
that we can stop it restore the
Constitution restore civil liberties
and stop things like marauding ice
Gestapo disappearing kids
in the middle of the night
Nobody on the Dem side has Tiffany's
record. He was elected to local
office, to state office, state
assembly, and state senate, and now
congress. So he's eminently
qualified. He is a strong,
consistent conservative.
So is Josh Shulman.
I think we have an embarrassment of
riches on our side, and it's gonna
play out pretty well.
Scott, the one candidate
that we've mentioned that has not
yet entered the race on the
Democratic side is former Lieutenant
Governor Mandela Barnes.
What's your take on his entry into
the race?
Well, his supporters tell me that
he would be the most experienced,
best campaigner to get in the race
if he got in the race and that he
spent, since he left office,
working to restore democracy,
protect democracy and lift the
lives of others.
And I think that all of the
candidates in this race have some
claim to that, whether it's David
Crowley or Sarah Rodriguez or
Kel DeRoy's.
They all have that claim that they
have stood up for democratic values.
Again, the question for me is who
is going to tell like
it is and step up to this
threat that America faces?
Because I don't think we can win
the race if we're defined by
the feckless politics of Chuck
Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
What is going on is it's
unprecedented in American history.
And we have to look at it that
way and we have to treat it that
because the people want
nothing less than to make
sure that the Constitution's being
upheld.
So I mean, swinging back to the
race, Bill, what do you think about
how formidable barns might be?
You got to remember 2022 was one of
the best midterms for Democrats
since Bill Clinton was in the White
House in 1998.
And Mandela Barnes lost.
This was the first election
statewide election post Dobbs.
He's one of a few statewide
Democrats to lose that
night. So we're not afraid
of Mandela Barns being their
candidate.
And if you think
Tom Tiffany's too conservative,
is he more conservative than Ron
Johnson who beat Mandela barns?
I don't think so.
I mean, the thing is, is that
Schumer left Mandela Barnes high
and dry for three and a half weeks
after the primary where there were
no TV ads from D.C.
Coming for Barnes.
I don't want to re-litigate that
campaign, but if you allow
your opponent to
define you, you're in a lot of
trouble. No question. And that's
what happened in that race.
I think it was, again, it was
a tough loss for sure, but
it was one that's explainable.
Beyond Mandela's.
The last statewide candidate in
Wisconsin that came back from a
statewide loss and one statewide
is Bob Caston in 1980.
It's been a long, long time.
Indeed.
That's a deep cut.
I wanted to ask you
both about the government shutdown
and which party you think goes down
as being blamed for it and whether
or not that has any kind of
political legs.
I mean, next week is payday for
a lot of federal employees and it
needs to get solved.
If Republicans think they're not
going to get blamed for this
ultimately, they're in charge.
And I understand the filibuster
rule. Frankly, I would do away with
the filabuster if I were John Thune,
and I would pass the CR today.
I think that's their best move.
And I would be ready with a health
care reform bill in the next two
weeks.
I mean, yeah, I think Bill's
right. The Republicans are in
charge of things and the Republicans
own this.
But again, let's see what's, again,
back to my point two, centralization
of government. On Friday, we started
to see illegal firings of union
and non-union employees in federal
government. Those employees will be
replaced by Trump partisans.
Again, remember all this, a part of
this is about,
it's taken the ability of
the House to vote to release the
Epstein files.
They're one vote short.
You know, Johnson won't
sit a congressperson who won a
special election so that that
deciding vote will make this happen.
So again, it's all about this.
It's about protecting dear leader
and it's about consolidating power.
We need to leave it there.
Scott Ross, Bill McCaussian, thank
you very much.
No, no, no. I know I was.
I knew I was...
But dear Bill, you do
that and then Bill says, well,
I think Tom Tiffany would be very
informative.
I know, I know.
I know, I know. I'm glad we didn't
have to trash the poll, because I
had to say, I was ready to say...
I was really ready to... I didn't
even reference it, did I?
I don't think so.
My thing was just, because Tony
is a friend, I don't want to blast
him.