Announcer:

The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Frederica Freyberg:

As the winter holidays approach, Wisconsin remains in the grip of COVID. First Lady Jill Biden visits the state, mourning the loss in Waukesha and promoting vaccines.

Jill Biden:

The holidays are just around the corner, and I know you all are busy, but as you stop or you’re running errands, I hope that you’ll get vaccinated and add that to your list.

Frederica Freyberg:

And the New Year starts the clock on the race to the 2022 elections.

I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” we go to Wausau and the county public health officer to find out what’s happening on the COVID front in that part of the state. First Lady Jill Biden visits the state with condolences for Waukesha parade victims. A check-in with the political party chairs as they face down midterm elections. And our political panel of Ross and McCoshen look back and look ahead with their predictions. It’s “Here & Now” for December 17.

Announcer:

Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism of Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

In the midst of the holiday season COVID continues to pound Wisconsin with Delta still being the dominant variant and Omicron moving in. Forty counties are in the critically high category for positive cases. Daily numbers show 3,965 positive cases across the state today. And the rate of the state population who have received two vaccines sits at 57.7%. Marathon County is one of those in the critically high category. 53.5% of the county’s population has completed the vaccine series. We turn now to Laura Scudiere, public health officer of Marathon County. Thanks very much for being here.

Laura Scudiere:

Thank you so much for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what are the trends for COVID positivity looking like in your county?

Laura Scudiere:

Yeah. Well, currently Marathon County has one of the highest rates of disease, hospitalizations and deaths in the state. What we’re seeing is we’re at a critically high level according to DHS. What that means is our case numbers are climbing and hospitals in our areas are either at capacity or nearing capacity and they’re having staffing shortages.

Frederica Freyberg:

What are your concerns heading into the holidays, the holiday weeks ahead?

Laura Scudiere:

Yeah. We — I’m concerned about further spread, particularly with family gatherings between unvaccinated individuals and individuals that are taking no precautionary measures whatsoever. I think that there is a feeling within our county that people just want to be done. They just want to be done with the pandemic. And I wish I could say that we are done. We are not done with it. We need people to consider vaccination, seek out vaccination sites. And all the same precautionary measures we were taking this time last year should still apply.

Frederica Freyberg:

So Marathon County’s vaccine rate, as we mentioned, for two shots is 53.5%. What is your reaction to that level of vaccination protection in your communities?

Laura Scudiere:

I would really love it to be higher. We’ve been really working hard for it to be higher. I’ve done a great deal of research on what would, in effect, help people understand more about vaccination and encourage them to take that option. And what I found is that generally at this point people have been saturated with messages about vaccination. So really what we’re looking at is in order to move people towards vaccination, it would be extremely time-intensive resource, like lots of discussion one-on-one with individuals. So I think the better — the better measure that we’ve been taking is actually to work with individuals through listening, empathy, talking with people and actually sharing information rather than just forcing information about vaccine down people’s throats.

Frederica Freyberg:

We’re talking about getting vaccinated at all, but what is the uptake in your county for boosters?

Laura Scudiere:

Actually, we’ve been seeing a good deal of boosters get — go through. We have a vaccination site with the state here in Marathon County in addition to the hospital systems. And what we’ve been seeing is that there was a dramatic increase the week that boosters were offered. And we’ve also seen an increase in children getting vaccinated. We would love to see more people take that option.

Frederica Freyberg:

At this point, have you isolated any of the Omicron variant?

Laura Scudiere:

So we are not aware of Omicron being in Marathon County yet, but we anticipate it any day now. We have noticed that Omicron is in Wisconsin. But in our area, Delta remains the dominant variant. And to that, our strategies haven’t changed. Again, the best way to protect yourself against this variant and all variants is to get vaccinated.

Frederica Freyberg:

And yet Omicron coming into the state of Wisconsin, I mean, I have read that it is more transmissible and then if you have that higher rate of unvaccinated people, that’s got to be a concern.

Laura Scudiere:

Yes. So that is actually a big concern of ours. We expect that even if you are vaccinated, fully vaccinated and boosted, with Omicron we are expecting breakthrough infections to occur and we are looking at the transmission rate of Omicron because we believe it is higher. We’re not sure yet whether or not Omicron will actually cause more severe disease and cause more hospitalizations at this rate. We’re hoping it won’t.

Frederica Freyberg:

Hoping it won’t because you’ve already described how the hospitals are at capacity or very near. Are you looking into alternative places to care for patients?

Laura Scudiere:

Well, currently we’re actually trying to talk about how to be more creative with the hospital systems that we currently have. So hospital systems, in the past if you had to go to a hospital, you would be admitted to that hospital and be there for your entire stay. At this point, that seems like that’s not exactly what’s going to happen going forward because, again, they’re thinking creatively about how to use staff and how to use resources effectively. If someone goes into a hospital system in our area right now, they may be transferred to a different hospital based on whether or not they get better or worse. That’s something we’re trying to help patients in our area understand that that could happen to them.

Frederica Freyberg:

We wish you luck as you battle this going forward. Laura Scudiere, thank you very much.

Laura Scudiere:

Thank you so much.

Frederica Freyberg:

In Waukesha this week, First Lady Jill Biden met with community members affected by the Christmas parade tragedy. The first lady honored Waukesha’s loss and recognized how the community came together in the aftermath.

Jill Biden:

We love with every piece of our hearts, even if they might be broken, and though we have been changed by this tragedy, we are not diminished. Instead, we grow together to hold both our sorrow and joy. The grannies keep dancing. The high school band keeps marching.

Frederica Freyberg:

What happened in Waukesha garnered national attention, as did what happened in Kenosha in 2021. In January, the local DA decided that no charges would be filed against the officer who shot Jacob Blake. And last month the jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse for shooting three people, killing two in the midst of street protests over the Blake shooting. To understand the impact this has had on Kenosha, particularly its Black and brown communities, Marisa Wojcik sat down with James Hall, interim president and CEO of the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha. They started with Hall’s reaction to the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

James Hall:

If we don’t stop this now, what are we teaching the younger, white males that are 15 years old, 12 years old that’s watching this stuff on social media and on TV? We’re literally telling them you can do what you want and nothing is ever going to happen to you.

Marisa Wojcik:

Is there exhaustion from fighting this same fight over and over?

James Hall:

Year after year, month after month. There’s new cases around the country. And, you know, Kenosha, Wisconsin just put on display when the Jacob Blake situation and Kyle Rittenhouse, the sentiment that rippled throughout the country. And the problem is that the Black and brown population is just grown used to it unfortunately. We don’t expect any justice anymore in this country. We don’t — we have no expectations to be treated fairly. But we’ll still figure out a way to continue and go forward.

Marisa Wojcik:

What are you asking for from the people of Kenosha specifically?

James Hall:

What the leadership in Kenosha is — the leadership in Kenosha needs to begin to invest in the Black and brown community. Serious investment. When I say invest, I’m saying reexamine their schools that’s in the Black and brown community, the parks in the Black and brown community, the local police and policies that are located in the Black and brown community and literally we need to really physically invest in this community as a whole because I believe a raising — a rising tide raises all ships.

Marisa Wojcik:

People have been seeing and reading about Kenosha even in international news, like we’ve said, for more than a year. What do you want those who have been on the outside gazing in to know and understand about your community?

James Hall:

I believe the people of Kenosha is a very fair, resilient and respectful people that help each other out. I mean, oftentimes when the snow — we have lots of snow that falls here and you’ll see neighbors helping each other. You know, helping one another dig out of ditches and be a part of each other. During this epidemic, during coronavirus, excuse me, we have people grocery shopping for one another. It was a strong community here. That’s what we have here. But we do have problems. And the problems that exist in Kenosha are long-term, institutional problems. It’s not personal. It’s institutional problems that need to be fixed. But I believe Kenosha could be the example. If we get this right, if we get this right, Kenosha has the potential to be an example for the entire country because we’re a small microcosm of what exists in America, how America exists today.

Frederica Freyberg:

You can watch the full interview by going to PBSwisconsin.org and then clicking on the news tab.

Turning now to elections, Senator Kathy Bernier chair of the State Senate Elections Committee, criticized her own party’s investigation into the 2020 election led by former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.

Kathy Bernier:

So what has happened is with my colleagues from the pressure from Donald Trump is to only look at politics and not at policy. And so their actions that they’ve taken is a reaction to politics. And so I think my advice would be to have Mr. Gableman wrap up sooner rather than later, because the longer we keep this up, the more harm, as my friend here pointed out, that — the more harm we’re going to do for Republicans.

Frederica Freyberg:

Bernier came under fire for her comments, later tweeting out, “I’ve been contemplating retirement, but I may rethink it. Right-wingers calling for my resignation is motivation.” Gableman’s election investigation was supposed to wrap up by the end of the year. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman, said this week the investigation will extend into next year.

Also this week, Governor Evers submitted new maps to the State Supreme Court as it decides the new voting lines.

Tony Evers:

The biggest problem was the Supreme Court saying that has to be a minimalist approach. That kind of eliminated a lot of things. So there wasn’t much left on the table for us to put forward. I believe we put forward the best maps possible, creating many more competitive races than we’ve ever seen in recent years in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

The current maps were drawn a decade ago and have brought significant Republican majorities in the legislature. The high court could hear oral arguments in the case next month.

Both Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for the campaign season that will culminate next fall in the midterm elections. We will hear from our political panel in a moment. But first, “Here & Now” reporter Will Kenneally checked in with the state party chairs to hear their perspective on the midterms.

Paul Farrow:

You know, when I look at it, I’ve been out in the last four months as I’ve been running around as the chairman of the state, there is passion.

Will Kenneally:

Paul Farrow was brought on as the Republican Party chair in August and he sees energy around the 2022 election.

Paul Farrow:

When you look at people in Wisconsin right now and I look at the Republicans, they want change. They want to see things happen.

Will Kenneally:

At the top of the ticket in Wisconsin will be the race for governor. Tony Evers’ first bid for reelection. Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler on his view of the front runners.

Ben Wikler:

Fundamentally, 2022 is a choice. It looks like a choice between Governor Evers, who wakes up every morning, waking up focused on doing the right thing for the people of our state, versus Rebecca Kleefisch, who is running for governor on a platform that is really quite radical.

Will Kenneally:

Kleefisch carries the Walker legacy as his former lieutenant governor. Wikler says her policies have shifted further to the right than her processor.

Ben Wikler:

She thinks control of elections should be turned over to our state legislature, which is one of the most extreme and do-nothing legislatures in the country.

Will Kenneally:

Farrow says the Walker legacy could be an asset for Kleefisch.

Paul Farrow:

What did they do in 2011 to 2017 to set up the state to be strong as it went forward? We saw a very robust economy. I think because of the systems that we put in place under the Walker administration and with Kleefisch there, I think that’s what she’ll be able to use moving forward.

Will Kenneally:

The winning issues for both sides? For Democrats, Wikler says it will be health care, schools and roads.

Ben Wikler:

We should be coming together and celebrating these bread and butter successes on common sense issues as our governor does. I think that’s the record Democrats can run on successfully.

Will Kenneally:

Farrow says he believes Republicans will win on education, the economy and public safety.

Paul Farrow:

We have to support our law enforcement to make sure we have our communities safe for individuals to raise their families, to go to work, to go to school. That’s what we’re going to continue to strive for.

Will Kenneally:

But at the end of the day?

Ben Wikler:

There’s no question that Wisconsin is absolutely critical in 2022 and that it will be a hard-fought election.

Frederica Freyberg:

That was Will Kenneally reporting.

President Joe Biden’s poll numbers are upside down and members of former president Trump’s staff are being held in contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, COVID-19 keeps on keeping on. What is going to move voters in the 2022 midterms? We turn to political panelists Democrat Scot Ross and Republican Bill McCoshen. Hey, guys.

Scot Ross:

Hey.

Bill McCoshen:

Great to be with you.

Frederica Freyberg:

Nice to see you in the studio just off from ours for the first time. So, again, thanks for being here. But so it is off to the races as the calendar turns to 2022, and if history is a guide, it could be a bum election for Democrats. What about that, Scot?

Scot Ross:

Well, I think anytime you’re the party in power, you have to answer for the things you have done and the things you haven’t done. I think in the case of the Democrats, they have a great record to run on both nationally and in Wisconsin. We’ve got Governor Evers leading us. This is a guy who cut middle class taxes by 15%. He restored two-thirds funding for public schools, something that hasn’t happened in 20 years. He’s increasing access to affordable health care. In the midst of the COVID — the anti-vax, pro-COVID Republican Party, he’s relied on the science to try and keep us safe and secure, something the Republicans seem to think is an anathema to moving forward. They want to win elections by trying to hurt as many Wisconsinites and keep COVID going as long as possible. That is a recipe for disaster for the Republicans come election time next year.

Frederica Freyberg:

Bill, what say you?

Bill McCoshen:

There’s a disaster coming for Democrats in November of 2022. Sadly for Scot, Tony Evers isn’t going to be the top of the ticket. It’ll be Joe Biden. The White House always loses seats, with a couple of exceptions over the last hundred years during a midterm election of the first term of the president. I expect the same thing to happen in a very big way. Governor Evers is running for reelection. He’s going to have to swim against the current because Joe Biden is pulling down Democrats nationally. His poll numbers range from 38% on the low end to 42%. For job approval here in Wisconsin, there in the low 40s. Joe Biden is going to be a significant drag on Democrats in 2022.

Frederica Freyberg:

Bill, is Senator Johnson going to run again?

Bill McCoshen:

You know, I don’t know that he’s made a final decision yet, but if I had to bet, I would bet that he is likely to run for reelection. You know, frankly, he’s caught some waves. In 2010, he caught a big Republican wave. 2016 Donald Trump won Wisconsin, first time a Republican had won Wisconsin since 1984. 2022 is going to be a big red wave as well. I think Ron is going to get out his surfboard and ride that wave again.

Scot Ross:

Oh, thank you Bill. That is the best news I’ve heard all week. Ron Johnson running again is terrific for Democrats. This is a guy who helped personally enrich himself and his donors and has been the nation’s leading voice for anti-vaccination, pro-COVID conspiracy theories. This is a godsend for Democrats.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do either of you think that all these investigations into the 2020 election here in Wisconsin will keep people home?

Bill McCoshen:

No. Republicans are more fired up than ever. I think we have the roadmap we need to change the laws or the administrative rules that are necessary. WEC, the Wisconsin Election Commission, is following those. The guidance laid out by the Legislative Audit Bureau, I think that is the primary tool we’ll use going forward. The Gableman thing is still hanging out there. I think that ought to wrap up sooner rather than later but the reality is there’s more energy on the Republican side than I’ve seen since 1994.

Scot Ross:

If I can respond, listen, this is a sham investigation costing real taxpayer money. The fact is even Republicans are calling for this sham investigation to end. And lastly, the hypocrisy is off the chart. Let’s remember that Robin Vos and the Republicans created the Wisconsin Ethics — Elections and Ethics Commissions because they were angry that the Government Accountability Board, the predecessor to WEC, was investigating Republicans for wrongdoing, including Robin Vos for collusion with independent groups. He changed the laws so he can do that now. He created the Wisconsin Election Commission. Now because the votes have been cast and Joe Biden won, they want to get rid of it. It’s ridiculous.

Frederica Freyberg:

Scot, what’s the point — the partisan point of these investigations?

Scot Ross:

I think the fact is if you don’t have the ideas, if you don’t have the policies, if you’ve stood in the way of progress like the Republicans have, you’ve only got three things you can do and the Republicans are doing it. They’re doing racism. They’re doing voter suppression and they’re doing racist voter suppression. That’s why it’s happening.

Bill McCoshen:

Here’s what we know. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and the Legislative Audit Bureau both did detailed analyses of the 2020 elections. Neither found any widespread fraud. So let’s dispel with that. But they did find a lot of problems with how local commissioners carried out the election. How the WEDC [sic] advised local commissioners what they could do. And frankly, there’s a list of 38 things the LAB recommended that needs to get fixed heading into 2022. That’s the hope that we can get those done before the legislature goes home.

Frederica Freyberg:

I got to run to something else and I want to do this, because you guys provided this. We asked you to bring your favorite headline from the year 2021 and a headline you think will run in 2022. So, Bill, your real headline was “Inflation hits 40 year high.” Why did you want us to see that?

Bill McCoshen:

Because this is what’s going to drive turnout on the Republican side in November of next year. The reality is people are feeling inflation not only at the pump, they’re feeling it at the checkout line at the grocery store and they’re feeling it every month when they send in their heating bill. This is something that the Biden administration, the Democrats will not be able to get around. Inflation is up 6.8%. That’s using a new formula. If we actually used an older formula, it’s probably closer to 15% that inflation is up. That is what is going to drive voters more than anything next November. And the reality is it’s now cutting into wages. Wages are up 4%. Inflation’s up 6.8, which means people are getting a pay cut.

Frederica Freyberg:

Scot, what about that, the fed cooling down inflation with rate hikes would be a good thing?

Scot Ross:

Here’s what I think. I think people are going to the store to purchase things they can afford because they have jobs. They can thank Democrats like that. They have more money in their pocket because of tax cuts for the middle class. They can thank Tony Evers for that. When people go to the polls, they’re going to remember who was with them and they’re going to remember who was with COVID. The Democrats are with them. The Republicans were with COVID.

Frederica Freyberg:

Let me get to your headline, Scot. It is “Biden won, Trump lost.” You like that one.

Scot Ross:

Yeah, exactly. The fact is that this insane big lie that the Republicans have allowed to become mainstream in their party is the functional equivalent of surrender to fascism. You heard people like Robin Vos say, “Oh, no, the election was fine. It worked.” Then as soon as Trump shrieks at him, Vos changes course and does this $700,000 sham investigation with Mike Gableman. They’re intimidating local election officials to try and get their people installed in places where — these are not partisan — these have not been partisan games before. The fact is that if Republicans could win elections on their ideals, they wouldn’t be trying to subvert the vote.

Frederica Freyberg:

Really quick.

Bill McCoshen:

Here’s what we know. Joe Biden did win last November. But we also know the Legislative Audit Bureau said that corners were cut, mistakes were made. There is no doubt about that on the 2020 election. But for Republicans, we need to look forward. We gotta stop looking backwards. If we want to win in 2022, we got to focus on that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, Bill, your projected headline for 2022 is red wave bigger than 1994 or 2010.

Bill McCoshen:

In 1994 Republicans picked up 53 seats in the House of Representatives. The first time they controlled that majority since 1952. In 2010 they picked up 63 seats. They picked up six or seven seats in the Senate in both of those cycles. I’m projecting that the red wave will be even bigger in 2022. Joe Biden is Jimmy Carter 2.0, and voters are going to reject it wholeheartedly next November.

Frederica Freyberg:

Scot, super quick response before we get to your next headline.

Scot Ross:

Dems are going to win the U.S. Senate seat here. Tony Evers is going to get reelected and our dark horse, Josh Kaul is going to finish ahead of both of those races.

Frederica Freyberg:

Your projected headline in 2022 is still Biden won, Trump lost. What’s that about?

Scot Ross:

Well, as you see, Robin Vos is going to continue this sham investigation that’s costing taxpayers real money. Real money that could be going towards things that the taxpayers need. They’re going to keep doing this because they don’t have the ideas. They’re going to continue pushing nonsense like critical race theory. They’re going to continue to press with these racist pandering operations. And what they’re not going to be doing, they’re not going to be getting more teachers. They’re not going to be getting more jobs and they’re not going to be getting more help to the people of Wisconsin who need it.

Frederica Freyberg:

We need to leave it here. We will talk with you both in the New Year. Thank you so much.

Bill McCoshen:

Happy New Year.

Scot Ross:

Happy holidays.

Frederica Freyberg:

Finally tonight, clean-up will likely continue into the holidays for communities across Wisconsin after this week’s high-wind storms blew through the state. Northern parts of the state saw the highest wind gusts at more than 75 miles per hour. The wind knocked out power to thousands of customers and in addition to the damage, closed schools in some districts. And we wish luck to those folks cleaning up.

That is all for tonight’s program. A program note. “Here & Now” will be preempted the two next Fridays. In the meantime, visit our news page at PBSwisconsin.org for original reporting and updates. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.