convicted, the maximum sentence is six years in prison. When it
comes to elections, Wisconsin is the land of the nail biter.
Those words from our next guest state Democratic Party chair Ben
Wikler. He's heading off to the state party convention this
weekend in Milwaukee. We spoke to the state Republican Party
chair last month. Ahead of that convention. Ben Wikler joins us
now. Thanks a lot for being here. Great to be with you. So
as you head into your party convention, what are the stakes
in this upcoming election up and down the ballot?
>> This election really is a hinge moment that will swing one
way or the other in the fight for freedom, for the freedom to
make our own decisions about our own bodies, get the health care
that we need in our state, the freedom of the people to choose
their leaders as opposed to people overturning elections and
supporting job. Be able to organize for representation in a
workplace, build an economy that works for everyone as against
from the Republican mega politicians, from Trump down to
the state legislature over and over. Attempts to ban abortion,
attempts to shred democracy and overturn elections where the
people have made one decision and they want to throw that
decision out and on the on the right from the Republican side
of the aisle, we're seeing attempt after attempt to give
massive tax cuts for the ultra wealthy and then stick the
middle class with the bill. We think we should be bringing down
costs for the middle class, and the wealthy should pay their
fair share. Those are the stakes in this election, and you see it
at every level of the election. And Wisconsin specifically will
tilt the entire country. So it really could not be a more
consequential moment for American democracy and for
voters in Wisconsin. >> In Wisconsin, polls indeed do
show a nail biter between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. How do
you think Trump's 34 felony count convictions conviction
plays, even as he is massively fundraising off it?
underscore the threat that he poses to voters who want to be
able to make their own decisions about the kind of country we
should be. Trump cheated. He broke the law and then broke the
law to cover up his lawbreaking in order to get into the white
House in the first place, then when he was in office, he tried
to extort a US ally to make up attacks against Joe Biden. Then
he lost the election again, oversaw criminal conspiracy to
overturn the election. We just saw indictments this week in
Wisconsin and now he wants to get back into the white House in
order to, as he puts it, become retribution to exact his revenge
on the people he perceives as his enemies. And frankly, anyone
who voted against him before anyone who's concerned about the
idea that he should have total immunity and total power, you
This is not a comfortable might be on his enemies list.
felony convictions underscore situation for democracy, and the
any law in order to grab what he that he will do anything, break
not want to give it to him. wants, even if the public does
Joe Biden overcome low approval >> On the other hand, how does
ratings and the apparent blame for inflation?
>> What's striking about this election is that the more voters
learn about what Trump has planned for the country, the
more they support Joe Biden, and the more they know about Joe
Biden's accomplishments and what he has planned for the next
term. The more they support Joe Biden. So the more information
we can get out to people, the more we can communicate in ways
that break through the noise and are memorable and connect with
people's deepest values, the Democrats up and down the ballot
will be, and that is the job of every volunteer of the campaigns
of voters who believe that it's important to choose someone who
will bring decency and continue to bring integrity and a focus
on working. Wisconsin voters to the next term.
>> How is your base feeling about the president's executive
order effectively shutting the borders? In the case of reaching
a cap on migrant crossings, there's a lot of concern from a
huge swath of Americans about the situation at the border.
>> And what most Americans want is what people have been
advocating for years, which is a solution that involves securing
the border and creating pathways for legal immigration, a pathway
to citizenship for folks that have been here following the
law, paying taxes and there was actually a tough and fair border
Democrats and Republicans that security bill agreed to by
is a far cry from an actual Trump shot down. So this is this
legislative solution that that Trump refused to allow
Republicans to vote for. But it's President Biden working to
do something that that is within potentially within his reach to
do while he advocates for a more long term solution to this
crisis, this system, the situation we have right now, it
doesn't work for anyone. And Americans deserve better. They
deserve a bipartisan agreement that can ensure that we have a
safe and orderly system and can can address the crisis at the
border and the humanitarian crisis associated with it. And
ensure that people who are here to build a brighter tomorrow
have a legal pathway to follow the American dream.
>> Now, abortion figures prominently in your fighting for
our freedoms platform. How salient, though, is that issue
for Wisconsin voters who now have access to abortion?
>> The abortion man that was passed in 1849 and loomed over
the state as the court cases began right here, when every
abortion provider in Wisconsin stopped providing care after the
Dobbs decision that is in very recent memory for Wisconsinites
and many Wisconsinites who know someone personally who is
directly affected by that abortion ban, were one bad
election away from an abortion ban coming back into place.
Whether it's Trump with project 2025, his plan to create a de
facto abortion ban even without passing a law or the kinds of
national abortion bans that Mike Johnson would pass, probably
with help from people like Derrick Van Orden and Bryan
Steil if they go back to the US house, all the way to our state,
where Republicans in our state legislature have been supporting
and supported by the most not just anti-abortion, but anti
contraception extreme groups. anti-abortion extremist running
for Supreme Court in 2025. Brad Schimmel. So this is very real.
And the threat is felt very personally to voters. It might
not be what you think about every day when you wake up, but
what we found over and over is that when you have a
conversation with someone at your front door or with a friend
who's reaching out to talk to you about the campaign, this an
uncrossable line, the idea that a politician would invade your
family's private choices about medical care, that people should
be making their own decisions about. That's not something that