Here & Now

Ben Wikler on Wisconsin Voters and Democrats in 2024

Frederica Freyberg:
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.

Ben Wikler:
Great to be with you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So as you head into your party convention, what are the stakes in this upcoming election up and down the ballot?

Ben Wikler:
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 the freedom to get a family-supporting job, be able to organize for representation in a workplace, build an economy that works for everyone. As against from the Republican MAGA 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.

Frederica Freyberg:
In Wisconsin, polls indeed do show a nail biter between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. How do you think Trump’s 34 felony count conviction plays, even as he is massively fundraising off it?

Ben Wikler:
Trump’s 34 felony convictions 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 U.S. 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 might be on his enemies list. This is not a comfortable situation for democracy. And the felony convictions underscore that he will do anything, break any law in order to grab what he wants, even if the public does not want to give it to him.

Frederica Freyberg:
On the other hand, how does Joe Biden overcome low approval ratings and the apparent blame for inflation?

Ben Wikler:
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 better off Joe Biden and 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.

Frederica Freyberg:
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?

Ben Wikler:
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 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 security bill agreed to by Democrats and Republicans that Trump shot down. So this is, this is a far cry from an actual 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 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.

Frederica Freyberg:
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?

Ben Wikler:
The abortion ban 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 know someone personally who is directly affected by that abortion ban. We’re 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 U.S. 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. And we know there’s an anti-abortion extremist running for Supreme Court in 2025: Brad Schimel. 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, it’s 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 Wisconsinites are ready to accept.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right Ben Wikler. Thanks very much.

Ben Wikler:
Thanks so much for having me on.