Jay Weber Show transcript 9-10-21 6:10am
Later in the show, I want to talk about the organized carpet-bombing that WI Dems had ready for Rebecca Kleefisch yesterday, as she officially announced she’s running for governor next year.
Ben wicker and the state party, as well as Evers political team- were ready to slash and smear Rebecca... Because they knew she was running. She made no secret of that-so they had all sorts of time to do opposition research and focus groups and see which smears will work best on her-
And don’t be shocked when virtually their entire attempt is to lash her to Scott Walker and insist that she’s just the new face of an evil breed of Walker/Trump Republicans.
That will be-their entire- strategy.
But...they are also going so hard at Kleefisch so early because they know she poses a genuine threat to an increasingly unpopular Tony Evers.
He’s now underwater in the latest polls...and has seen a seventeen percent slide in his popularity just over the last year or so.
And Rebecca Kleefisch- as a female candidate can appeal not only to the traditional GOP and Trump voters of the sort that any male candidate could impress-
But she’s also got the ability to connect with-middle-aged and suburban women and moms-and that’s where a statewide race can be won in the suburbs surrounding Milwaukee and Madison...and up thru the fox valley.
Now consider that 2022 is expected to be another very good -to great- year for republicans.
As Reince Priebus told us the other day: no one is safe in wave elections. They wash away even incumbent governors like Evers.
In fact, I want to play a chunk of an interview I did with Reince on Wednesday, later in the show. He’s always interesting and knowing that he had considered a run for governor himself, and decided against it, i knew that he’d been giving some thought to the potential challengers he’d face- like- Becky Kleefisch.
It is still over a year away. And Rebecca Kleefisch has a -very-early jump on other potential GOP candidates and announced this early to scare others away, obviously.
I know she was on WISN’s other shows yesterday. I’ll have her on at some point soon. You just heard me say it in the Priebus interview:
I do question what experience she has that actually makes her ‘ready’ for the job, because we all know that-in truth- Lt. Gov. prepares a person for nothing-
But look-Evers is a proven failure- and I’d trust any smart, energetic house mom to slip into the job and do a better job than Evers has. I know Kleefisch is more than that- but my point is- if she’s smart, caring, and capable-she’s better than Evers.
and we will see who else gets into the race-but, yes. I believe Rebecca Kleefisch has a good chance of making Tony Evers a one-term governor. Yes, the landscape and the political stars appear to be aligning for her.
Reince Priebus interview below
Jay Weber Show transcript 9-10-21 7:10am
So... former lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch announced that she’s running for governor against tony Evers, yesterday. She is the first person to announce-as a republican- aside from a little-known businessman named Jonathan Wichmann...who announced his intentions months ago...
But Rebecca is the first known established GOP candidate. The first real threat to Tony Evers, if you will...
And as such-She was immediately pounded on by the Wisconsin left. Everyone from the Evers camp to the state party to individual Dem operatives and lawmakers all leapt to smear Rebecca Kleefisch is ‘too radical’...etc.
It wasn’t at all unexpected, but the ferocity of the attacks- and the early coordination of the attacks from the left, was notable.
Ben Wickler, the current head of the WI Dem party, is much more organized and much more capable than ‘little man’ Mike Tate was. Wickler is responsible for turning the state party around and massively increasing their fundraising and coordinating larger strategies, to try to -finally- have democrats winning some elections again, after the walker recall debacle.
And yes- as i predicted at the time that Tate and company engaged in the stupid and damaging recall effort against walker- it has been a full decade-
Ten years have passed-and as i predicted- the WI democrats-still- find themselves out of power and -still- haven’t really gotten their mojo back. Their series of three losses to Walker and five quick losses over-all- if you include the senate recall elections-set them back a decade-and counting.
But ben Wickler is a dangerously smart and organized option to Mike Tate, and he’s got the party growing, and with some swagger again.
And he had an organized p-r smear campaign ready to go against Kleefisch.
Why?
Well-in part-because she has made no secret of the fact that she’d be running-and that gave the democrats all sorts of time to do opposition research. Hold focus groups. Figure out what they think are the best ways to define her and beat her...
Etc.
That’s one reason they were so ready to go.
But another reason is- as a female candidate and a middle-aged mom-Rebecca Kleefisch does post a threat to Tony Evers that a male candidate might not Kleefisch, depending on whether she runs a smart campaign, can appeal not only to the traditional GOP and trump voters of the sort that any male candidate could impress-
But she’s also got the ability to connect with-and draw larger numbers of suburban moms in. Including suburban women and moms that might have voted for Tony Evers.
Kleefish-or any GOP candidate who might get this nomination-have a few things going for them-including Gov Evers’ pretty terrible track record as governor-
He’s got several major blunders and failures to take advantage of-
And-the GOP candidate has the fact that 2022 is expected to be another very good year for republicans. GOP voters are expected to be jazzed and motivated to vote. Democrats are souring on Biden and their own party leaders. Every poll this week shows that about one-third of democrats are disillusioned and in no hurry to vote to prop up this regime.
Furthermore-all those same polls show two-thirds of independents have now turned against the democrats- meaning that if nothing changes-republicans could have a huge advantage with independents next fall.
And all of that translates to the ballot, on election day. A terrible showing for democrats could lift Kleefisch, or whoever the republican candidate is, into office- so long as they run a competent campaign and sell themselves as a capable alternative to Tony Evers.
And here’s what should be-very-encouraging for Wisconsin conservatives, even if you ignore the larger dynamics at play that suggest next fall will be a strong year for the republicans to turn out their voters-
Even if you erase or ignore that advantage for Kleefisch or a different GOP candidate for governor-
Just in a -straight up- match up, Governor Evers is now underwater with the Wisconsin voter...and it is some lasting failures of his that have made him so.
What i mean by that is- not only have a group of former Evers’s supporters soured on the guy-they appear to have done so over failures that Tony Evers and the democrats-cannot write off as ‘quickly forgotten’.
A new poll from the Wisconsin institute of law and liberty shows that -the Kenosha riots- and Evers’ failure to deliver unemployment checks on time during our covid crisis here-are two stains on Evers’ record that have not been forgotten-and will not be forgotten-by next fall.
the Marquette poll has past snapshots to compare these to- and they show that-since March of last year-Gov Evers’ approval ratings have slid seventeen percent.
His approval ratings have been on a significant and persistent slide for over a year. That does not bode well for a second term of Evers.
Provided there’s a credible alternative offered.
And given that a president’s approval ratings-really does- mirror the success or failure of his party in off-year elections- this finding from Rasmussen is also bad news for WI democrats:
Gov Evers vetoed several GOP elections reforms that would have banned ballot harvesting in this state...and would have required people who vote by mail to include proof of ID.
And to the average person, Evers’ move sounds like he’s trying to keep open some avenues to cheat.
But-far more significant than the election reform- for Evers and the democrat chances next fall-are Evers’ terribly insensitive and incompetent handling of the Kenosha riots-
And his terribly insensitive and incompetent inability to get people forced into unemployment by covid- their unemployment checks.
As i said yesterday: the Kenosha area-is-sort of a swing area in Wisconsin. Statewide races have been decided based on how the voters in that Kenosha/Racine area have voted. And the Kenosha riots have left a terrible taste in their mouths...for Evers.
And as for the possible effects of Evers botching the unemployment checks-I don’t think the democrats fully grasp how much this could hurt Evers. He failed-not just a small pocket of voters in Kenosha-
He failed-hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites-statewide- when he couldn’t get financial help that they were -desperate for-into their hands. And for weeks, and weeks, and months, and months, on end.
This unemployment check fiasco hit hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites-intimately- and it hit them hard.And they won’t forget about it next fall.
And so, yes. I believe Rebecca Kleefisch or-whoever- on the GOP side is nominated has a good chance of making tony Evers a one-term governor. Yes.
So long as they provide a credible alternative that appears to be more competent, more connected, and more energetic than sleepy, disconnected Tony Evers.
And Rebecca Kleefisch already has that.
I do question her credentials and what experience she has in her past that makes her ‘ready’ for the job, because lt. Gov. prepares a person for nothing-
But-she’s already more capable than Evers. He a proven failure.
photo credit: Kleefisch's Twitter page