Along with the weather, the heat is
also on in Wisconsin's primary
election campaigns with just about
six weeks to go before
the August 11 run-offs.
There are congressional races, like
in the seventh and third districts
to watch, and the race for governor,
where six Democrats are still vying
to be chosen to take on the
leading Republican in the race.
As the campaigns heat up, we turn
to political panelists, Republican
Bill McCoshin and Democrat Scott
Ross. Thanks for being here, guys.
Thanks for having us.
So first to you, Scott, with
absentee ballots going out and now
being arguably into the final
stretch, who is breaking through
on the Democratic side
for candidates for governor and
why?
I mean, it seems like it still could
be anybody's ball game.
There's a lot of spending going on
right now. I guess if, you know,
they say it's not a sprint, it's
a marathon, but we have crossed the
20-mile marker, and
we're getting to the point where
people are going to have to start
making up their minds about who
their candidate is going to be.
I think the Democrats have an
embarrassment of riches.
I think they are fighting, you now,
they're running downhill because
the Republicans are so
in trouble because of the record of
Donald Trump and the fact that their
nominee, Tom Tiffany, is a radical
extremist who is completely and
totally tied to Trump in every
single way.
So Bill, do you want to respond to
that?
I don't agree that there's it's
anybody's ballgame one is already
dropped out missy hughes uh...
I wouldn't be surprised if two more
dropped out in july we got thirty
eight days to go i think
it's really three people are
seriously in contention to win this
it's francesca hong uh...
Legislator for madison andella
barnes former lieutenant governor
and current lieutenant governor
brought sir rodriguez i think i
think those are the only three who
have a legitimate shot to win at
this point based on all the polling.
We will have a new Marquette poll
out in about 10 days here in
Wisconsin. That'll sort of give
everyone the picture of where things
are at.
But what we know from private polls
and some other publicly released
polls is those are the top three.
And Hong is the one that's surging
at this point.
Speaking of Francesca Hong,
Scott, what democratic strategists
make of democratic socialists?
I mean, listen, for the last 50
years, when a Democratic elected
wants to spend money that's not on
tax cuts for rich people or
corporations, Bill's party calls
them socialists.
They call them welfare. They call
the worse. I mean for God's sakes,
they were calling his old boss Tommy
Thompson's signature achievement,
badger care here in Wisconsin
welfare. That's what the speaker of
the assembly was calling it.
So you know, we're a big tent.
And the fact is, is that when
it comes to people's...
Expenses, when it comes to gas
prices, Republicans are a failure
for Wisconsinites, a failure for
America. And that's why Democrats
are going to win this election in
the fall, not because of labels that
Republicans have been putting on us
for 50 years anyhow.
Republicans are putting that label
on her?
Well, I mean, Democrats
are
owning it and and proudly
owning it. And I think that's
actually worked to Francesca Hong's
advantage. I mean she's gone on
national podcasts with a guy named
Hassan Piker who's got several
million followers and she raised a
hundred grand in one day.
Why? She's the boldest
progressive in the race.
She's willing to say what
others are not willing to and she's
willing to be a democratic
socialist.
And none of the others have attacked
her for that.
I can guarantee you Tom Tiffany's
gonna contrast with her if she ends
up getting through the primary 38
days.
I mean, Tiffany's been attacking
Barnes and Hong the
entirety of his campaign.
And again... Which I think is smart.
Yeah, of course.
But, you know, let's not kid
ourselves. Tom Tiffany was on a
podcast last week with a book burner
who says that foreign governments
are turning our kids trans.
So like, if we want to talk about
the Internet and who is appearing on
Internet things, I think that's a
fight that Democrats...
But nationally, you only have 13
Democrats in the Congress who have
signed up to sort of fight the
Democratic Socialists.
That's less than 10% of the
Democratic members of the House of
Representatives.
So it is
a tough line to hoe
right now for Democrats.
They're not sure if they should be
with the Socialists, guys like J.B.
Pritzker have come out in favor,
said we need more Socialists in our
party. That's stunning to me.
I think the thing you think about
that is that All the candidates
who are calling themselves
democratic socialists and the ones
who have been elected are all
younger, they're all millennials.
They're all ones who are staring up,
standing up to the gerontocracy that
is the democratic party with our 75
year old Senate majority leader, you
know, Senate minority leader Chuck
Schumer. So I think it's, you know
ideologically, Democrats are all
in the same camp, which is
we want fully funded schools, we
want access to affordable
healthcare, we wanna protect our
clean air and water, we want our
civil liberties and we don't want
ICE Gestapo, you now, disappearing
38 people in Wisconsin
yesterday.
I would sum his up in two words,
they want bold progressivism, and
that's why Hong's in the game.
Eight years ago when Tony Evers won
this primary with 42%, by the way,
the winner of this will not come
close to that number.
She would have been a fringe
candidate. Today she's got a chance
to win it.
So Bill, who would Tom Tiffany most
want as a general election opponent
and who would he be afraid of?
I think he would have been more
concerned about those that are not
going to make it to the finish line,
believe it or not.
I think Democrats decided that the
sort of more moderate who
can appeal to trade union guys
or sort of the moderate old school
Democrats, they're not going make it
the finish line in this race.
So all three of those who
we've both agreed are sort of in
the front of the pack are pretty
progressive and that's a good
contrast for Tiffany.
So I don't think he has a problem
with any of the three top
tier candidates.
Tom Tiffany's biggest problem is not
who he's going to face, but the fact
that he's on the ballot at all.
This is a guy who took money, he
took food out of the mouths of
children to give billionaires tax
breaks. He wants a national abortion
ban. He took $300 billion
from rural health care.
So rural Wisconsin, when your
hospitals are closing, you can thank
Tom Tiffany for that.
And he supports the
$2 billion payoff for the January
6 terrorist
insurrectionists.
So this is a guy who is radically
out of touch with where Wisconsin
folks are, especially now when
prices are higher than they've ever
been, gas prices are a higher than
they'd ever been because of the war
choice in Iran, and the fact that
Trump is making billions of dollars
while people can't afford food.
The landscape is challenging for
a sitting congressman in this cycle,
there's no question about that.
But I think Tom Tiffany can easily
make the contrast between common
sense and crazy, and I think most
Wisconsin voters will side with
common sense.
He's trying to make over.
It's not going to work. He scrubbed
his website before he got in the
race, and he can't
hide from his record.
He can't run from it. As much as he
ducks the media, he cannot run from.
So, Bill, in the third and
seventh congressional races,
will Donald Trump's endorsement
carry the day, of course, in a
primary, presumably, but in the
general?
Both of those seats lean
red.
Remember, our congressional maps
were not changed.
These are the same ones that we've
run on for the last couple of
cycles, which means Derek Van
Orden should be considered the
favorite, he's the incumbent.
And it means that the Republican,
whomever comes out of the primary in
38 days, should be the favorite in
the seventh.
I think Donald Trump is going
to help Derek VanOrden.
I think he's gonna be in Western
Wisconsin once or twice, I think JD
Vance will be.
I think, Donald Trump.
Will ultimately help in the
seventh, but I think they also don't
wanna have to spend too many
resources up there.
That's kind of a messy primary,
which is unfortunate on our
side, between Kevin Hermaning,
former Iranian hostage and
successful businessman and
young man, Michael Alfonso,
who did get the president's
endorsement.
My hope is that Republicans sort
of put down their arms and stop the
circular firing squad that's going
on on that, because I think either
would be ultimately a great
congressperson.
But right now, it's pretty messy
for the Republicans.
Scott, what do the next six weeks
look like in these races?
I think the next six weeks are in
the third and in the seventh or day.
I think you're going to see
Republicans ducking the media.
Derrick Van Orten is just terrified
of going before any sort of camera,
you know, that's not some right-wing
podcaster.
I think that he is the one who is in
the most trouble.
You know, whoever comes out of the
primary, and obviously, there's
Rebecca Cook, who has a massive
fundraising advantage, and Emily
Berg, who's the
councilman up in Eau Claire.
I think either one of them contrasts
great.
Against the record of Derek
Van Orton. I mean, he's been, you
know, if Tom Tiffany wasn't in
Congress, he'd be our most extremist
member of Congress.
So I think that he's got a lot of,
he's gotta lot to answer for, and
I think the voters are gonna hold
him accountable for that.
All right, we need to leave it
there. We'll circle back with
you both before the primary and
after, of course.
Bill McCroshen and Scott Ross.
Thank you, thanks for having us
Um, no, it's OK.
But the way you guys did at
the conventions with Zach, that
would be so fun.
Yeah. Just like.
Go yeah
We should do it. We should think
about that.
We could do that.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, of course you could.
Summer? I want to go in September,
but I don't, I don t.
It's sort of up to my wife kind of.
I'm kind of trying to be
responsible, be a better husband,
be the best husband.