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Thank you.

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Governor Evers making a comment

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there on political fortunes

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going forward.

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What will those fortunes look like

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in the midterm elections?

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We welcome our political panelist,

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Republican Bill McCaushan and

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Democrat Scott Ross.

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And hello. How are you?

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Pretty good.

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So Bill, Tom Tiffany said

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Republicans got their butts kicked

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Tuesday night.

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How in your view did that happen?

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Well, he's right about that.

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If you're gonna win statewide, you

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need three things. You need money,

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organization, and message.

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Mom, we had no money.

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Didn't look like we had any

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organization.

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And I'm not sure what the message

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was. So I think we failed on all

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three of those points.

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And ultimately, it wasn't

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the worst Supreme Court

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election in state history, but

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it was pretty close.

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And, you know, when...

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Uh, Maria Lazar is losing

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her home county of Waukesha

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by 43,600.

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She got 43, 600 fewer

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votes than Brad Schimmel did in

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her own county.

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That's a rough night.

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Scott, was it about the money

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advantage for Chris Taylor?

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No, because we've seen advantages

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before where, I mean, I've been part

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of ones where the Republicans had

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all the money and the liberal

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candidate didn't have any and we've

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never, I haven't, you know, the most

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I saw was like, I think seven points

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back in 2013.

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But the fact is, is that this is a

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combination of a couple of things.

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First and foremost, that the

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Republican brand has broken.

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The Donald Trump Republican Party

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has taken us to war,

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it's taken us into the poorhouse,

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and it keeps doubling down.

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And I would point out that, you

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know, in the same interview where

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Tom Tiffany said they got their

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butts kicked, he also endorsed, you,

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know, Trump's, you know,

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announced intention to commit war

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crimes and every economic

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policy that he has pushed forward,

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including.

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Trying to overturn the results of

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the 2020 election,

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considering this race was about

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fairness, freedom,

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and rights, there's no

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wonder the Republicans lost.

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So, Bill, how big a factor is

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Trump in these elections?

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I don't think the race was

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nationalized. I don't agree with

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Scott on that.

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It may have had something to do with

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some people staying home.

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I mean, the truth is they didn't

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know Marie Lazar.

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She raised less than a million

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dollars, which is far less

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than Brad Schimmel.

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I mean a year ago, we had the most

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expenses of a Supreme Court race in

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history, $115 million.

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This one combined was around

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10 million.

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So people didn't know who she

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was. So I'm not sure that

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Trump was a huge factor

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in this race, but the truth is,

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congrats first of all to

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Justice-elect Chris Taylor, but she

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won seven out of eight congressional

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districts, including.

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And they went up 71,

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71 of the 72 counties had a

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higher performance than in 2025

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images.

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So how does this travel into

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November?

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Well, I think that the trend is

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irreversible in terms of the

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Republican performance and Trump's

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brand. And I would just, I mean,

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again, I just have to disagree

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because if you look at past

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elections, you know, like for

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instance, in 2016, where Rebecca

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Bradley, I means, she lost, she won

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by 94,500 votes.

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You know, when there were 97,000

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more Republicans who voted in the

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presidential primary that year,

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that's not even close to 20 percent,

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it's not close to double digits in

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terms of the difference between the

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two. You know, Republicans have,

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in the Trump era,

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lost races where tons of money, the

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most money ever spent, they've

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lost when not a lot of money's

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spent. They've lost by

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double digits each time that

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we've had these things.

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It's just, again, the brand is

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broken. They are doubling down.

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The cult will continue.

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Tom Tiffany, Derek Van Orton,

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and whoever Republicans can finally

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try and get to be leader of the

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Senate and Assembly Democrats

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or Republicans, you know, come

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November.

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It's just a disaster, but again,

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Democrats have to do the work in

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order to get there.

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Not a great correlation between

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spring elections and fall elections

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in the state of Wisconsin.

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If you look at 2023, Janet Protaseo

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has won a Supreme Court seat by 10

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points.

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2024, Donald Trump wins Wisconsin

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with the most votes of any statewide

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candidate in history.

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So it's not a perfect correlation,

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but I would say it's a warning sign

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for Republicans, and they ought to

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take it that way.

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So, Bill, what about the war in Iran

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and its repercussions at home?

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I think it's having an impact in

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this respect.

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Gas prices are up, whether it's a

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buck, a buck 50, and

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people feel that.

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So the fundamental question that

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every voter has to answer when they

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go into the voting booth is what's

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in it for me, if I vote for X or Y.

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And right now, that's not great for

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Republicans. For Republicans to have

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a shot this fall, gas needs to be at

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or below three bucks a gallon.

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And if it's not, it's gonna be a

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tough cycle.

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23% gas prices have gone up since

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Trump's war of choice in Iran.

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So if that

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somehow gets resolved,

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and those gas prices come down,

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and inflation comes down,

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does it kind of revert to

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a regular cycle then?

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Because people are still losing

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their health care. They're still

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seeing ICE, you know,

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the Gestapo in our streets, you know

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killing Americans who do

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nothing more than protest.

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Like those things aren't going to

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stop. And the cult of Trump within

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the Republican Party, of elected

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officials specifically, Derrick

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Van Orton and Tom Tiffany, who both,

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as Bill correctly pointed out,

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lost the congressional district.

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I mean, Derrick van Orton lost his

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district.

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Chris Taylor won Derrick van Orten's

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district by 22 points.

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Eau Claire and La Crosse were nearly

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40%.

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It could.

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It could revert to a normal cycle.

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Before the war broke out

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in the Middle East, the generic

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ballot was a couple points favorable

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towards Democrats.

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That's something that Republicans

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can compete in and win

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in. Now it's five or six

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and in some polls it's eight points.

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That's a much tougher environment

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for Republicans.

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So Scott, what about for Democrats

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in their splintered primary for

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governor with so many candidates?

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I mean, that just means there's more

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coverage of what Democrats are

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talking about because they're not

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attacking each other not going after

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each other It's same thing from 2018

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I mean there were hardly any even

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contrast leveled in the 2018 primary

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for for Democrats and what ended up

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happening Tony Evers upset

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Scott Walker who was trying to win

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win a third term and didn't you know

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I think that on top of you know,

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not just that ballot but talking I'm

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sorry to your question Not

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just talking about the

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Democrats in the in the primary

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But what that's going to do for the

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down ballot, the state Senate and

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state assembly, I mean, we saw

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things like, you know,

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some of the targets, the best target

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the Republicans have in the state

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Senate, Jeff Smith,

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Chris Taylor won his district by 30

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points.

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Like, you know, that's all I mean.

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There's even new, there's new meat

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on the table as a result of Tuesday

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night. Not surprising, but a

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different take. There's 123 days

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until the primary.

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If they do not define one

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another, Francesca Hong will be the

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Democratic nominee.

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What's the money race gonna look

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like?

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It's gonna be very different this

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fall.

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Maria Lazar got no outside help,

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including from ally groups like the

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Federalist Society and WMC

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who have always spent seven figures

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in Supreme Court races.

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This fall, the money will be there

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for Tom Tiffany.

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And what about the money on the

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Democratic side?

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Golly, yes, I think that the money

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is going to be there for Democrats,

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because they have been an incredible

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fundraising machine for the last,

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like, you know, since Wichler got

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Thankfully, Wichlar's gone.

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But Devin's doing a good job of

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raising the money, too.

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You know, again, Democrats need to

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do what, in order to win these

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races, it's not about out-raising

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the Republicans, it is about a

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consistent, relentless assault

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on what Republicans stand for

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and how they are hurting the people

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of Wisconsin.

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207 days to go.

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It's time to get the war over and

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get back to domestic affairs.

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Bill McCaushan, Scott Ross, thanks

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very much.

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For more on this and other issues

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facing Wisconsin, visit our website

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at pbswisconsin.org

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and then click on the news tab.

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That's our program for tonight.

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I'm Frederica Freiburg.

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Have a good weekend.

285
00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:27,570
Thank you.