Jay Weber Show transcript
Yesterday, I spent the seven o’clock hour giving listeners the most accurate take on the Wisconsin GOP primary race for governor. At least that’s how I billed it.
And 24 hours later?
No one’s saying I’m wrong.
Well, other than some Tim Ramthun reporters who don’t like me suggesting he’s kooky. But that was simply me passing along the ‘take’ on him that other people have on him, who have had to deal with him. It’s also based on his foolish insistence that our electoral votes can still be taken away from Biden and given to Trump.
They can’t.
But when it came to the other players in this drama that I laid out, I didn’t have anyone upset at me for being wrong.
A few might have been upset at me for being-candid, but that’s not being wrong.
I did talk to a member of the Rebecca Kleefisch campaign who didn’t disagree with my characterization of Tommy Thompson, Eric Hovde, and Tim Michaels as ‘seriously considering’ getting into the race.
But the Kleefisch campaign did object to my suggestion that this was because Rebecca hasn’t locked up the party insiders and organizers across the state, yet, after a year of trying.
The Kleefisch campaign’s take on these three is: they are men who know a red tsunami is coming in fall, and they have some money and some name recognition, and so that’s the ‘siren call’ that is calling out to them.
In short- the basic belief is that if you win the primary-you win the general. You beat Evers.
I don’t agree with that take-by the way, but that was the Kleefisch camp’s take. They say their polling-does not show- Kleefisch is soft with the voting public. These are just guys who see a big GOP year and might want to be part of it.
Meanwhile, Kurt Bauer of the WMC-the largest business organization in the state-and a group that has already endorsed Kleefisch in the race- sends me this:
I thought I would just remind you (and you are welcome to remind your listeners if you think it helps) that WMC endorsed Trump for president in 2020. It was the first time that WMC ever endorsed for president because we are a statewide organization and, as a result, stay in our lane. So I would think and hope we have some credibility with Trump supporters when we also endorse Rebecca Kleefisch. If we want to get big things done in 2023, we need someone who can work with legislative leaders. That isn’t Nicholson and it isn’t Ramthum. And Kleefisch is battle tested having served with Walker through Act 10 and the other major reforms, like right-to-work.
Bauer said I could pass that along, verbatim, and so I do. WMC knows what good work this sitting group of GOP lawmakers has done. Dozens of important conservative reforms during the walker era- and stellar defense on the Tony Evers agenda after walker lost.
This is a -very good group of lawmakers, as I have explained before. We just saw Governor Evers give his ‘state of the state’ last night, and I swear, every ‘accomplishment’ that he listed was because the republican legislature really accomplished it-and then he took credit-
Or- stuff he did with the billions in covid money the feds gave him.
Aside from handing out federal money like candy to left wing efforts, and taking credit for the republican budget surpluses and tax cuts, what has Tony Evers really done?
So, I pass that along-along with the Kleefisch take on the men who are still mulling- with my ‘take’ still standing: even if it’s going to be a good GOP year, and that’s why they are looking at the race-
look, if Thompson, Hovde, and Michel’s thought Kleefisch already had the nom locked down, they wouldn’t still be considering a late entry. Would they? That’s all i was saying, yesterday.
Meanwhile-as for my characterization of how serious these three were- I’d say this: it’s been 24 hours, and we haven’t seen any denials from their respective camps, have we?
No one in tommy’s camp has said, oh, weber’s all wet. The governor is enjoying his retirement, now.
Ditto for Hovde.
I know very little about Tim Michel’s and how serious he, ultimately is. I only know he’s interested.
But I’ve pretty much confirmed that both Hovde and Thompson-have been doing polling-and aren’t just giving this lip service. It doesn’t mean that either one of them will get in. It only means they are looking at it.
If i had to bet-today- do any of them get in?
I’d bet-against it.
Why? Because Thompson and Hovde have been mulling for some time now, and still don’t seem to be gathering staffers or gearing up.
And Michel’s is in an earlier stage of mulling.
So, I’d guess that there’s only a slight chance that one of them gets in-with! - one caveat.
When it comes to this race- remember the game changer: a Trump endorsement would be the game changer. If either Tommy, or Hovde or Michel’s, could somehow coordinate a Donald Trump endorsement to ‘wow’ the crowd as they entered late that’d do it.
That would make a splash.
I’ve also got some interesting things that affect this race coming up, yet this week, including, on Friday’s show assembly speaker Robin Vos is going to join me in the seven o’clock hour to answer my questions-and yours.
He's been under fire by the Nicholson and Ramthun camps for allegedly ‘not doing enough’ on election fraud, etc. I’ve invited him on the show to respond to some of the claims being leveled against him. That’s the entire seven o’clock hour Friday.
photo credit: Getty Images
It's been a day, and still no real pushback on my take on the GOP race