Here & Now

Political Panelists Talk DNC, Kamala Harris and Kanye West

Zac Schultz:

PBS plans nightly coverage of the virtual convention next week. I’ll appear from Milwaukee on the PBS NewsHour’s convention program during the 8:00 hour Monday night. After NewsHour’s coverage, stay with PBS Wisconsin for more at 10:00. That’s when DNC Milwaukee, a 10/36 Special will air. A co-production of Milwaukee PBS and “Here & Now.”

But you don’t have to wait until then to get great political analysis. We’re joined now by Republican strategist and Managing Partner of Capitol Consultants, Bill McCoshen and Democratic strategist and member of the State Ethics Commission Scot Ross. Thank you both for being here.

Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross:

Good to be with you.

Zac Schultz:

Let’s start with you Scot. Does a virtual Democratic convention still have value for Wisconsin and Milwaukee?

Scot Ross:

Well absolutely. I mean, Democrats are certainly sad that the convention won’t be in person here in Milwaukee, but I think with the global pandemic, that the bundling of the Trump administration has resulted in 160,000 Americans and 1,000 Wisconsinites dying from this pandemic, I think that the Democrats, you know, are going to put this all in perspective. They will be showing Vice President Biden. They will be showing Senator Harris, and they will be showing what they will do to restore honor, decency and integrity to American government so much that has been lost under Trump. And, you know the thing is that, it’s a setback, but not really because you know since Trump got inaugurated Republicans have lost seven of the eight statewide elections in Wisconsin in which they’ve participated in. That ain’t a canary in the coal mine. That’s the state of Wisconsin giving the bird to Donald Trump.

Zac Schultz:

Bill, Trump’s going to be here. Is he filling in a political advantage?

Bill McCoshen:

Well he’s doing what Biden isn’t doing. So, let me pick up on some things Scot said. First of all, I think it’s a tragedy that Milwaukee’s not getting the benefit of having a national convention but not just Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin, it’s the entire state. These were going to be 50,000 visitors coming here spending lots and lots of money, over a five to seven day period of time and we’re not going to get any of that economic benefit. So that’s a tragedy in and of itself. The second part that I think is actually a tactical mistake by the Biden campaign is not accepting the nomination in Milwaukee. That’s a mistake. Regardless of the global pandemic, the candidate and the vice presidential nominee could easily have come to Milwaukee, accepted the nomination here, at least for the symbolic value of it. My guess is overall, Zac, both on the DNC and on the RNC, these will be the least watched national conventions ever because we’re all sick of Zoom calls.

Zac Schultz:

That is accurate. Now what impact does Kamala Harris have on the ticket? Bill, what do you think?

Bill McCoshen:

You know listen, there’s two things you want in a VP. You want to do no harm and you want at least appeal to a key coalition, a voting coalition or a geography. I think she checks both of those boxes. I don’t know that she’s going to be a difference maker here in the state of Wisconsin. Let’s face it, Paul Ryan was on the ticket with Mitt Romney in 2012 and they lost Wisconsin fairly handily. It doesn’t always make the difference you think it might. If anything, it might have a slight benefit in the city of Milwaukee where about 50,000 Democrats did not vote in 2016.

Zac Schultz:

Scot, does that make the difference? Harris on the ticket in Milwaukee?

Scot Ross:

I think Senator Harris is going to be a — is an outstanding choice and is going to be an outstanding vice president. She has focused her career on bringing equality and justice to people in California and she’s going to do that with the United States. And we couldn’t be at a more important time when we have a Republican Party that is essentially run by a white supremacist in Donald Trump. I mean daily — the daily attacks that go on are unprecedented and I think Republicans are just — we’re just all waiting to see whether or not Republicans and Trump go after Senator Harris for being a woman or being a person of color. Right now, it’s a little bit of both.

Zac Schultz:

Now, Donald Trump has been talking and tweeting a lot about defending the suburbs and speaking of Wisconsin geography, saying Democrats want to fill them with low income housing. Scot, is this just good, old-fashioned dog whistle politics or is there a reality here about housing and the suburbs?

Scot Ross:

It’s not a dog whistle. It’s a blow horn. Trump has only one chance and that is if he can cheat in order to win this election. And he is trying to — but he is trying to bring every racist along with him. It’s unfortunate because Wisconsin is better than that. You know, we are better than that whether you are Republican, Democrat or independent. The problem is, is that, we can’t continue to function this way. We need adult leadership. That’s what Joe Biden is going it bring. He’s going to bring again that you know that idea of listening, of learning and acting like an adult.

Zac Schultz:

Bill, how does this play in Milwaukee suburbs?

Bill McCoshen:

Well, in the most recent Marquette Poll Trump’s numbers in the suburbs are actually up. And the issues that voters care about like defunding the police, is overwhelmingly negative for Democrats. So, I think Republicans are actually better positioned in the suburbs today than they were two months ago on the Marquette Poll. That’s going to continue. I don’t think the president needs to call out, “Hey suburbs, I’m talking to you” with this tweet. I think that’s unnecessary and somewhat of an unforced error, but the reality is, if he keeps talking about law and order, defending the cops, safe neighborhoods, he’s going to do well in the suburbs. There’s no doubt about that.

Zac Schultz:

Republicans have been working to get rapper Kanye West on the ballot in Wisconsin. Bill, is this from the dirty trick playbook or is it all fair game in presidential politics?

Bill McCoshen:

Listen, a little bit of dirty tricks but I think he will get on the ballot. I mean our Elections Commission is generally tends to lean towards the candidate if they came close unless there is some significant errors in the nominations. At the end of the day Zac, he’s probably a protest vote, but so was Jill Stein. Remember Jill Stein got 2 or 2 1/2% percent here and that was the difference in 2016. So, depending on where Kanye gets his votes from and if he does any advertising particularly in the central city of Milwaukee, he could get that 2 or 3%.

Zac Schultz:

Scot, does Kanye take Black votes away from Joe Biden in Milwaukee?

Scot Ross:

Absolutely not. I think it’s a good indication of how out of touch the Republican Party is with Black voters that they would think in the midst an economic collapse, global pandemic and a white supremacist in the White House, there are people who would flip their vote because Kanye West is on the ballot. It’s simply not going to happen. I think the interesting thing that will happen as Bill said, what the Elections Commission is going to do. And you have two members, the two Republican — two of the three Republican members who are on the record saying a deadline is a deadline. So it seems pretty hard for them to reverse on that. We’ll see if they do, but it’s not going to make a difference. Democrats should ignore it because I don’t think their strategy had anything to do with catching a voter who would flip to Kanye West because he’s on the ballot.

Bill McCoshen:

If the Elections Commission bounces somebody for being 14 seconds late, it will be the first time they followed their own rules.

Zac Schultz:

This week we’ve heard a number of stories about Trump’s post master general reorganizing the postal service resulting in shut downs and slowdowns in mail delivery. Trump himself said he won’t support additional funds for the post office to help with all of the mail-in ballots. Scot, the Marquette Poll shows most Democrats plan to vote by mail this fall. Should the party rethink that plan?

Scot Ross:

Absolutely not. What should happen is the Democrats need to rise up in Congress and try to work with Republicans to stop what is going to be — what is an attempted stealing of our election. I mean it is as simple as that. But it’s not just the election. I mean, seniors, veterans, [inaudible] their medicine. You know, this is just again another way in which the Republicans have acted. You know in Wisconsin, they don’t do anything. Governor Evers has been trying to get them to come to the table for 120 days and they won’t do anything. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is going around by just flat out trying to prevent people from voting.

Zac Schultz:

Bill, does the post office factor into this race in Wisconsin?

Bill McCoshen:

I don’t think it does. I don’t think it’s an issue that voters vote about. It’s not a top tier issue for sure and I think it will ultimately get resolved before the end of the Congressional fiscal year which is September 30th. I’m not sure it’s going to get resolved in August but I think it will get resolved as part of the budget deal at the end of the year.

Scot Ross:

I think it’s a little hard to say it’s not resolved because they are literally taking out sorting equipment to try and thwart the post office from being able to do its job.

Zac Schultz:

A couple seconds left for each of you. What do you think the impact of these conventions will be? Bill, we’ll start with you. Just a few seconds.

Bill McCoshen:

I’d say, you know, look for the Thursday nights where the two nominees get their nomination to be the biggest nights. Look for Trump to put on a show. He is a showman, and you know I would expect to see a pretty good turnout on the Thursday nights, but these will be the least watched conventions in our lifetime and the next time you will talk about these candidates is after the first debate.

Zac Schultz:

Scot, what about you?

Scot Ross:

I’m incredibly saddened that we won’t see a sea of cheese heads in the Fiserv forum, but I think we’re going to hear a lot of reasons, a lot of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans and I think the Democratic message is what is going to resonate with the American people.

Zac Schultz:

Thank you both for your time. I really appreciate it.

Scot Ross, Bill McCoshen:

Good to back with you.