Wisconsin. Convention is next week in
Milwaukee, but the hyper focus remains on Joe Biden. And for
the president on the ropes. Tough choices. How does the race
shape up in the critical state of Wisconsin? We turn to our
political panelists, Republican Ross. And thanks for being here.
>> Thanks to be here. >> So first to you, Scott, in
all of this, what do Wisconsin Democrats want Joe Biden to do?
>> Well, I think they want him to continue to talk about what
he's done for the people of Wisconsin and what the choice is
between he and Donald Trump. I mean, you know, everything that
I see electeds activists and donors are all riding with Biden
still. You know, he had a tough week. But the fact is he has
emerged from it. His speech on Thursday was his his hour long
press conference with the media, where he was being grilled, you
know, showed him at the top of his game. And I think that
that's what Democrats want to see. They want to see that
contrast issues, abortion, health care, democracy. And, you
know, again, pivoting back to Donald Trump, a guy who has 34
felony counts, who on Thursday would have been sentenced if the
Supreme Court, which he controls, hadn't named him
immune from prosecution. >> He's definitely on the ropes,
though. I don't think we've ever seen
anything like this in our president has gotten out of the
race is March 31st, 1968. I was three years old. LBJ are we
going to see that in the next ten days? I'm not sure. But if
you look at how destabilizing the debate performance for Biden
was, we had a situation where he was literally on the mat and
came to Madison last week, didn't do that great, didn't do
very well with George Stephanopoulos, made some
mistakes. There. Does a full hour long press conference last
night, but he sends the Congressional Democrats a letter
on Monday saying, hey, I'm your candidate. I'm in the race. I'm
not getting out. Three days later, former Speaker Nancy
Pelosi is asked about this, and she says, well, he just needs to
make a decision. Either she didn't read the letter or she
didn't get it right. So Democrats are still saying he
needs to make a decision. In his mind, he's made that decision.
This is all very destabilizing. So it's good for Republicans.
Yeah. greatest thing for Democrats.
That's that's for sure. But what I will say is it shows the
contrast between the two parties. You know, the
Republican Party is all in for a guy with 34 felonies. You know,
a guy who threatens democracy, a guy who's who met with Viktor
Orban this week, you know, Putin's puppet, a guy who's
going to turn our country and to Putin versus a guy like Joe
Biden. it is for someone like US
Senator Tammy Baldwin running for reelection.
>> I don't I mean, she said she stands with Biden. You know,
that was the that was basically the statement, you know, and
that's the way she's always been. You know, Senator Baldwin
has never been somebody out there throwing bombs one way or
the other. She goes out, she does the work for Wisconsinites,
and she does the most important thing. If we're talking about
elections, which is win elections by delivering solidly,
by raising money and by getting out all over the state and you
contrast that with her opponent? I don't think, you know, I don't
think it matters. >> 17 congressional Democrats
have called for Biden to step aside, not to resign, but to
step aside from the race. There were reports yesterday before
the press conference that as many as 24 to 30 more were going
to ask for the same thing, for him to step aside. Only one has
done that since. So maybe he stemmed the tide. My sense is
Tammy Baldwin can run ahead of Joe Biden, but the question is,
if he's the nominee and he's a drag on the ticket, how much can
he drag her down? >> So Donald Trump wants Biden
to stay in? >> Absolutely.
>> Who would he least like to run against?
>> You know, for me, I think young female would be would be a
challenge for him for sure. But there isn't one out there that's
got universal name ID, although that can be bought. But the one
thing I'll correct Scott on major donors to Democrats for a
super PAC, $90 million. They've told the white House they're not
going to release that money unless Biden is removed from the
ticket. program, we described it as
Democrats holding their breath. Is that accurate?
>> I think that Democrats are trying to play this one out and
see how it goes. Now, I'll go back to what Bill said about,
like, who would be the best opponent, you know, who would be
the worst opponent for Trump? I'd say Kamala Harris. You know,
if you look at the demographics of what? Of who's winning, what,
Joe Biden is beating Trump in all of the age demographics
except for Gen X, 40 to 55 year old voters, he's down by 15
points with that. Kamala Harris would be our first Gen X
president, so he does definitely not want Vice President Harris,
who has a lot of name ID, who would have the operation and who
can stand on Biden's record creating 169,000 jobs, getting
27,000 people, student loan relief as opposed to the Trump
record 89,000 jobs lost. >> You know, if we stay with the
Biden Trump match up, though, what kind of a choice is this
for voters? Would they be voting for the platform, the party, not
the tricky. >> A Pew Research came out with
a poll this week. 63% of voters don't want either of these
choices. Yet here we are, 85% in that same poll and in the
Washington Post poll. This week, said Joe Biden is too old. So I
think a lot of Americans would like a do over. But here we are.
And so that's how it's going to shake out.
do some traveling and some friends of mine from abroad were
asking me, tell me about the election earlier this year. And
I said, well, about $5 billion is going to be spent to
determine whether or not an 81 year old or a 78 year old is the
future of the of the United States. I mean, that's that's
where we're at. >> So, down to the ground in
Wisconsin, what is the most resonant issue, do you think,
for voters? >> Well, the Institute for
Reforming Government released a poll this week of likely voters
in Wisconsin. They said it's inflation. 47% had listed
inflation as their number one issue. I think that's right. I
think immigration is a big issue here as well. And I think the
border is a big issue. I think those are the main three. Scott
will add abortion, I'm sure, and that is a big issue specifically
for Democrats, less so for Republicans and independents.
>> I mean, I guess if those are the issues that ERG says, then
it's bad news because border crossings are down, inflation is
down, jobs are up. I mean, you know, it couldn't be better. The
atmosphere couldn't be better, issue wise for Democrats, just a
matter of not, you know, hopefully they'll continue to do
what they do, which is outraise the Republicans outorganized the
Republicans and out get out the vote. Republicans again, in this
atmosphere in which we've got a real serious threat to
democracy, if this goes south for Dems.
be at the Republican National Convention, speaking every day
with senior political reporter Zac Schultz to offer your color
and insight at the RNC bill. What are you most looking
forward to seeing? >> I'm excited to hear who
Donald Trump chooses as his running mate, the list, I think,
is a little longer than has been released. JD Vance is on the
list. Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, my dark horse, is still Glenn
Youngkin. I think he's the one that adds the most. You want to
have somebody that can put more states in play. There's no
question that Youngkin can do that. I think my second choice
in that list would be Marco Rubio, because I think he helps
in both Nevada and in Arizona. >> So does the VP matter to a
Trump presidency? have someone like Glenn Youngkin
who can deliver the Virginia electoral votes, then the blue
wall of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, you know, Joe
Biden still got to sweep that to win.
>> What are you going to be doing at the Republican
convention? to see there as opposed to what
I'm not going to see there. The former Republican president of
the United States, George Bush, the former vice president of the
United States, Republican Dick Cheney, the former vice
president for Donald Trump, Mike pence. And what are we going to
see Melania Trump there? We haven't seen her on the trail so
far. And maybe finally, you know, we'll get Donald Trump.
It's been 154 days since he did a press conference. Maybe he'll
do one next week. >> Democrats are going to be
seen and heard there I understand.
>> Yeah, absolutely. pushed the protest lines back,
Democrats will find a way to get their message out. And, you
know, hopefully they'll say the right things at the right time
to the right people. >> We look forward to having you
on our air next week. Thank you very much.
>> McCoshen Scot Ross. Thank yo. Starting Monday, look for "Here&
Now" 2024 election coverage from the Republican National
Convention in Milwaukee at 2 p.m. live each day. Senior
political reporter Zac Schultz, with panelists McCoshen and
Ross. Then each night at 830, a Wisconsin update and on Friday,