The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.
2024 election coverage fromNow"
mental institutions and historic debate between Joe Biden and
Donald Trump is 90 minutes full of bluster and blunder.
>> I really don't know what he said at the end of that
sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either. The fact of
the matter is, he is what he's telling you is simply not true.
>> I'm Frederica Freyberg tonight on "Here& Now" we hear
from voters attending debate watch parties. And Mordecai Lee
helps us dissect and decode what Trump and Biden said. US Senate
candidates weigh in on abortion. Two years after the fall of Roe.
And finally, how communities are managing the highs and lows of
short term rentals like Airbnbs. It's "Here& Now" for June 28th.
>> Funding for here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS. Wisconsin.
s Marquette Law School poll showing a 50
over 50 dead heat in the race for president in this critical
battleground state, the match up on the stage for candidates Joe
Biden and Donald Trump took on extreme importance, certainly
leaving some disappointed. Special projects journalist Murv
Seymour checked in on debate watch parties for reaction.
>> This shouldn't be a debate with the wealthy.
>> He had the largest tax cut in American history.
playing on the big screen at the Barrymore Theater
in Madison isn't the normal movie or show. On this night,
all eyes are centered on the first presidential debate of the
2024 election between Democratic President Joe Biden and former
Republican President Donald Trump. Billed as the most
important debate of a lifetime, this free watch party is hosted
by the Devil's Advocate radio show and the progressive
magazine. Both groups say they look to educate voters before
election Day. At times, voter reaction to this clash of the
candidates sounded more like debate watchers were watching a
huge sporting event. 's not a lot of mystery
about these two candidates, so I think a lot of people come to
this debate with preconceived notions, and I think it's
important. I think it's all about Joe Biden proving he's up
for the job. >> Whether President Biden
proved he's up for the job is definitely part of post-debate
conversations. now that I'm going
to get anything out of it because I know how I'm voting, I
don't know, maybe a feel for what other people are thinking.
Maybe I can get that out of it. Maybe some hope.
es to the east, a lot more than bowling is going
on at Boulevard Lanes bowling alley.
e anybody that allowed our country to be
destroyed here. >> The Republican Party of Dane
County sponsors its own debate watch party.
>> I think this is one of the most important debates of all
time. It's a president versus a former president. So it's sort
of like the heavyweight champion against the former heavyweight
champion. There's huge issues with the border and with the
economy and inflation, and people want action and they want
answers with the highest of all stakes on the debate table.
>> Linda Mishler says the debate hasn't changed a thing about who
she plans to vote for in November.
>> I knew President Trump would do an excellent job, and he
really outshone Biden. You know, I was really, expecting to see
exactly what I saw. >> Thank you very much for
coming all across the state. >> And cities, suburbs and rural
communities, Wisconsinites took part in public and private
debate watch parties like these, with hopes of seeing something
that helps propel their candidate from the debate stage
towards the lane all the way back to the white House.
Reporting for here. Now I'm Murv Seymour in the moment reaction
from debate watchers. >> And now, after a day of
reflection, expert analysis on performance and the stakes,
UW-Milwaukee Professor Emeritus, political scientist Mordecai Lee
joins us. And thanks a lot for being here. Mordecai glad to be
here. Thank you. So what was your first reaction when Joe
Biden started speaking? >> I didn't understand why he
was speaking so softly and he was mumbling and he sort of
wasn't finishing sentences. I initially thought that maybe
this was some impact of the fact that he's been a stutterer all
his life, and all his life he's had to overcome stuttering and I
thought, well, maybe that's it. But as the hour and a half
rolled on, it really didn't change, did does this go down as
much more than a missed opportunity for Joe Biden? Well,
I think the debate was a train wreck for both of them. Because,
you had Trump blustering and you had Biden mumbling. And, for
those of us who care about the substance of government, we sort
of walked out of there like it's a soccer match. There was zero
zero. Nobody scored, Trump was sort of fact free and Biden was
fact heavy. So I think it was a huge missed opportunity for both
candidates because for Biden, I think the, the score for him is
pretty obvious for Trump. I think the negative was that
while he had really good presence and a good voice and
real confidence, he really projected, but he had 2 or 3
soundbites and punchlines that he kept repeating through the
entire hour. And a half. It was a major disappointment. It seems
to me, in terms of the benefit to the viewers.
>> So Donald Trump packed so many things, including, as
you've said, falsehoods into each response and then often
non-responses to the question. It's like it left Biden
spinning, but but shouldn't Joe Biden, with all his people, have
been prepared for that kind of thing?
>> I'm really surprised. You know, there's a certain rule of,
political debates that the incumbent always does poorly in
in the first round, Baldwin did poorly six years ago, Ronald
Reagan did poorly against Mondale. Maybe it's the fact
that when you're the incumbent, you just don't have quite as
much sort of interaction and high speed input and then
statement. So maybe Biden would be better the second time
around. But still, he was trying to say so many facts and he
trailed off so many times. Or when he'd say, well, first of
all. And then second of all, it it really didn't cohere. He had
a lot to say, but he really never packaged it for the
audience. >> Do you feel as though, Joe
Biden candidate Joe Biden can recover from this?
ne that he really, really wants to continue and is
going to have to somehow negate the impression that he left. In
other words, he's going to have to do a lot of, town hall
meetings where it's back and forth with the questioners. He's
going to have to do a lot of press conferences where it's
back and forth with, challenging questions. He really has to show
that he's got it. >> Did you hear anything in in
the debate last night that would have resonated? One way or the
other with Wisconsin voters? >> I didn't hear anything last
night that would resonate with Wisconsin voters, because they
were always talking in generalities, they were never
really talking about the issues that would be of concern to the
half dozen states that are in play, including Wisconsin, so I
think that was a letdown. You would normally expect in a
debate that there would be a couple of throwaway lines where
they're sort of suddenly addressing Pennsylvanians,
michiganians Wisconsinites, but neither of them really did that.
>> What happens if Joe Biden did step aside, as some, even
Democrats, are now suggesting? I mean, what happens then?
>> If he were to withdraw? You'd have a wide open convention and
that you you'd have a couple of governors who have been in
waiting for the last three years who are going to jump in and
then it's going to be a delegate hunting one by one, trying to
persuade these former delegates to vote for them.
>> We'll see what happens. Mordecai Lee, thank you very
much. >> In the race for U.S. Senate
in Wisconsin, the latest Marquette Law Poll showed
incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin up 52% to 47% over Republican
challenger Eric Hovde. The issue of abortion in the race is front
and center, and it's fast moving. The Wisconsin Supreme
Court is reportedly poised to take up a lawsuit that seeks to
declare that access to abortion is a right protected by the
state constitution. As health care providers and patients
still face legal uncertainty when it comes to abortion.
Reporter Stephen Potter is covering the U.S. Senate race.
He asked candidates Tammy Baldwin and Eric Hovde about
their stance and the future of abortion access.
>> I am pro-choice, I believe that politicians and judges
shouldn't be, a part of, women's health care. And, I am appalled
to see what has happened to folks since the US Supreme Court
overturned Roe versus Wade and the Dobbs decision two years
ago. ty of
life. I was blessed with two daughters and three
grandchildren. And I agree with exception for rape, incest and
the health of the mother, I also believe early on in a woman's
pregnancy, she should have a right to choose. But there comes
a time when a baby B can be born healthy and alive that it's
unconscionable to terminate that baby.
to be both a national and a state path, at
the National level, we need to pass my women's health
Protection Act. That act would codify Roe versus Wade. But take
the very necessary additional step of telling states like
Wisconsin and Texas and Florida and all these states you've been
reading about that you can't at the state level, burden access
to abortion care, that's inconsistent with Roe versus
Wade. That's what the Women's Health Protection Act would do.
I'm the lead of that on that bill, and we must advance that
at the national level, at the state level, not only does
Wisconsin have, this ban that was criminal abortion ban that
was passed in 1849. We have a lot of other restrictions that
are unnecessary, mandatory ultrasound, 24 hour waiting
period. Those burden people's access to health care. And that
shouldn't be the case. And so we have a state level fight.
>> 2 y is abortion, in your opinion, a state issue rather
than a national one? >> 2 think that it's going to be
done at the federal government level is just ridiculous. You're
going to have to have a president, 60 members of the
Senate and control of the Congress for either party to try
to get something done at a national level. That's just not
going to happen. We're too divided of a country, and you
would have to have 67 senators to get to that spot. So it's
been put back to the states. You know, I think a lot of issues
should be dealt with at the states because there's certain
states that may want to have a more expansive view of when an
abortion can happen. And there's certain states and communities
that will have a more restrictive view. So I think we
should have our own solution here in Wisconsin. I think the
people of Wisconsin should decide this.
for this office before in the past, your opinion
was different on abortion. Why did your opinion change?
>> well, my position was not fully different. I always agreed
with exceptions. If you look to Western Europe, it tends to be
in that first trimester period. You know, late end of the first
trimester, beginning of the second trimester. So I think
that's probably a pretty reasonable time frame that
should give a younger woman that's placed in this very
difficult position a chance to, you know, make a choice.
>> I think that, the path forward has to involve keeping
politicians and judges out of the delivery room, out of out of
people's lives, you know, there's this debate between
should the states decide, should the federal government decide? I
believe women should decide. And I think, I think there is common
ground to be had. >> Churches and faith based
organizations across Wisconsin lead efforts to get more people
to vote. And engage with elected officials. Reporter Murv Seymour
tells us more about the historical connection between
the church and voter engagement. >> And then after getting people
registered, that is another. And even greater responsibility.
>> Echoes in the fight for the right to vote during the civil
rights era have long rung out, and that is to go out to vote in
the primary. More than a half a century later, let us march on
ballot boxes. The urge to march on continues in some areas.
>> You see three churches. >> On one block it rings from
the one place. Some consider the catalyst for community
engagement. where you go,
the church is the most powerful entity that we have in our
grasp. te me for
what I have. >> Oh happy day.
>> Reverend Greg Lewis not only preaches what I think will be a
happy day, he also leads the nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization souls to the polls. >> Church, you have work to do.
>> It's goal. >> Talk to your friends,
neighbors, relatives. Call them. Tell them. Listen Involve
yourself in the process. We have power. We have the numbers. We
just need the energy. >> Get everyone in his community
who's eligible to vote. >> This is something that we can
really make home for early voting. Amen
>> Yes, we always intentionally went to the early vote location
at Midtown when the Midtown early voting site in Milwaukee
unexpectedly shut down. >> Let's work harder to get out
and vote early. Even more than before.
s. United with more than a half dozen
community groups and some of the 400 pastors Lewis says he has in
his contact list. >> We're going to make sure that
we really push early voting, the goal keeping early voting site
in this neighborhood. This is important. This is where we have
to start in what feels at times like an outdoor sermon.
>> Reverend Greg Lewis preaches the importance of early voting.
>> This is how we get economics. This is how we get housing. This
is how we get jobs. We have to put people in place who will
help us do the things that need to be done in this community,
and voting is number, you know, it's great to register people,
but if they can't vote, it really hasn't accomplished much.
>> A few miles to the south in a residential neighborhood, this
is the Milwaukee Zen Center, which has been here in this
place for over 30 years, sits a Buddhist temple.
meditate here in the mornings and we take classes on
this day. >> It's a meeting place.
>> Anything the system needs to know, it's going to ask for it.
>> To learn about registering people to vote.
>> Today we are going to do a voter registration training to
use the online system. >> Someone has to already be 18
years old every vote counts and it is important that we take
care of that. >> Organized by Buddhist priest
Reirin Gumble and presented by the League of Women Voters, in
order to vote, you have to prove who you are.
re registering, you have to prove where you
live. ly learned
about how to best prepare themselves as election workers,
guided by faith. This nonpartisan, nonprofit spiritual
center also sends out thousands of written letters before
election Day encouraging people to vote.
>> We ask people to very carefully look at the agenda
that certain people have and then make a vote according to
their own values. And I think, you know, everybody needs to do
that for themselves. >> The vote is one piece of the
whole advocacy picture in the heart of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison campus. Faith communities have had a role in
advocacy for a long time. >> Reverend Michael Burch at
Crossing Ministries looks to educate this college community
about political activism. Listening to the students,
that's my main role. >> He does so by bringing
together students with and without faith.
>> It's not all about really being on one end of the spectrum
or the other, but, learning to be versed in what you're
advocating for and understanding it and also being willing to
move your position, what is it that you want them to do?
>> Be really clear in your ask on this night. If you're on the
mailing lists for different organizations, I'm sure you've
gotten asked to sign this petition. Put your signature on
this letter. >> Rabbi Barney Margulis of
Wisconsin Faith voices of Justice Schools, a small group
of students on how to engage with their local politicians and
communicate with their voice and their vote.
ly need to understand the power of their
voice, and that they really have , not just the right, but also
the responsibility to vote to learn about issues, to look into
things that they care about that are important to them, and to
build relationships with their elected officials.
>> Benjamin Dorava listens from the front row with a purpose.
>> Tonight, I hope to learn sort of how to take my first few
steps in, being more active politically. Aside from just
voting in elections. >> Ask the students to come up
with the questions that they want to have asked. Have a
moderator choosing not to vote is a choice as much as choosing
to vote. And if you don't vote, then the person who did vote
gets to choose for you who your elected official is. So if you
want your values and your beliefs to be reflected in who
gets elected, then you need to exercise your right to vote.
>> We picked up folks here at the church and took them out to
vote. We had folks who they went to their homes and they took
them to vote without a doubt, all of these faith communities
have long histories of speaking truth to power.
>> This election cycle, influenced from faith, and
church groups, will likely play a huge role.
>> We can't let anybody take care of our business, y'all.
It's got to be people we can trust and who wins and loses at
the ballot. >> Clergy and faith leaders are
trusted messengers. Whether you're at temple on Friday night
or the mosque Friday afternoon or church Sunday morning, clergy
have kind of a captive audience without faith, community
involvement in these issues. >> The entire picture is
different. >> Reporting for here. Now I'm
Murv Seymour. >> In other news, here's an eye
popping, wallet busting number with the NFL draft coming to
green Bay next spring, an Airbnb near Lambeau Field is going for
nearly $18,000 a night, according to local headlines.
Turning single family homes into short term rentals is on the
rise. Because of that kind of payoff, or even much more modest
rental income potential. In response to the growth of such
rentals in hot tourist towns like Ashwaubenon near Lambeau,
locals are enacting new ordinances putting restrictions
and neighborhoods. New rules are
slated to go into effect July 1st in Ashwaubenon. Mary
Kardoskee is the village president and she joins us now.
Thanks so much for being here. Thank you for inviting me. Good
to be here. So with the NFL draft coming to green Bay next
spring, how crazy has the short term rental business become near
you? hear the
same thing. You hear, you know, the $18,000 a night, $45,000 for
the week. You know, I if people want to rent out their homes,
you know, there are rules and regulations that have been put
in place that they have to follow. And we, you know, are
trying our best to make sure that they follow those rules to
keep everybody safe, especially the visitors coming to the area.
We have a lot of Airbnb. Licensed people. Every Packer
game, of course, is very busy. And, yeah, we do surround
Lambeau Field on three sides. So there is a lot of, a lot of,
rentals going on in our community.
that look like in a single family
neighborhood when the crowds aren't there?
>> Well, for the 100% of the time, Airbnb rental homes, you
know, your neighborhood is dark. There's not people out and about
and walking the dogs and saying hello when they're putting their
garbage out in the morning and kids running around on bicycles.
And so that's what you lose. You lose the fabric of your
community as you get more and more and more, how do outside
investors hike the value of single family homes?
>> And what does that mean for people who live there or want to
live there and their taxes? >> Well, you know, every time a
home is sold and I'm just going to use this, a three bedroom
ranch with a two stall attached garage that's probably assessed
at about $260,000. That home may sell for 400,000 500,000. And
then we have the one offs with the, 1.2 million. And, you know,
600,000. And those do change the makeup of your community. The
state gives you every year the amount of what your village is
worth. And then our assessor has to divvy that up. So of course,
it makes the taxes go up for those homeowners around there.
>> You've said you're, quote, trying to protect the community.
Again How so? >> So when the short term rental
statutes were put into effect in 2017, in the statute it states
that you can have, six night minimum seven day, six night
minimum for each rental. And it could be 180 consecutive days.
That was not originally in our original ordinance, but we did
put that in about a year and a half ago, and so we did,
grandfather, some of the previous, owners in licensed
owners in, for one year. But, other than the 180 consecutive
days they now will have to, as of July 1st, follow the six
night minimum. >> And how do all of those rules
kind of offer this protection of which you speak?
>> Well, it it makes it a little less attractive because you're
not able to garner as many rentals and, makes your probably
your profit margin go down a little bit. They'll have to
probably change up their business plan a bit, because
they can only rent once in a six night period. So they'll have to
figure that out. >> And what kind of opposition
are you hearing to that from the people who own these kind of
investment? Short term rental properties?
>> So originally they were upset with the six night minimum 180
consecutive days a lot of the ones who were licensed by June
30th of 2023 found out that the 180 consecutive days only
applies to the new rentals. As of July one of 2023, so, they
were opposed to the six night minimum. But our board decided,
last Tuesday night that they were going to hold up the six
night minimum. >> So the village is kind of
trying to thread this needle between protecting the
neighborhood and allowing short term rentals, which are in such
demand. >> All right. Mary Kardoskee,
village president of Ashwaubenon. Thanks so much.
>> Thank you for having me. Have a great day.
>> For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit
our web site at PBS Wisconsin. Org and then click on the news
tab to see all of our election coverage. Visit Wisconsin
Vote.org. That's our program for tonight I'm Frederica Freyberg.
Have a good weekend.
>> Funding for Here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS. Journalism and Friends of PBS.