Wisconsin
Wisconsin Democrats look for do-over with rural voters after Trump-era shellacking
![Wisconsin Democrats look for do-over with rural voters after Trump-era shellacking Wisconsin Democrats look for do-over with rural voters after Trump-era shellacking](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220512183820-wisconsin-democrats-split-super-tease.jpg)
Barnes is much from the one Democratic Senate candidate seeking to activate these voters: Milwaukee Bucks government Alex Lasry has held occasions touting his plan for rural Wisconsin; state treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who was born in Eau Claire, has made interesting to rural voters central to her marketing campaign; and Outagamie County government Tom Nelson typically argues he’s the one candidates from a rural a part of the state.
For Barnes, a part of the journey was admitting that whereas he’s considerably politically misplaced in stretches of rural Wisconsin, he’s prepared to pay attention.
“Some folks assume you purchase a Carhartt jacket and a few boots, take a pair photos on a farm, then that is your attraction. It is manner deeper than that,” he mentioned after a 90-minute roundtable with farmers, a few of whom beforehand voted for Johnson. The farmers and Barnes spoke about points Democrats are prone to face this 12 months, together with inflation, value of gas and a misunderstanding of the farming lifestyle. In reflecting on the roundtable, Barnes added, “Folks do not feel like their voices are being heard.”
For years, Democratic candidates — particularly on the statewide and nationwide degree — have been rejected by voters in much less populated areas, with each two years bringing a brand new all-time low for the social gathering’s standing exterior its city and suburban consolation zones. The development started with the rise of the tea social gathering in 2009 as a rejection of then-President Barack Obama however was accelerated by Trump’s skill to pit city Democrats towards these he branded the “forgotten” folks. The break was aided by a rising perception that Democrats cared much less concerning the rural lifestyle than they did about extra liberal metropolis dwellers — one thing amplified by a continuing drum beat of speaking factors from conservative media retailers.
That dynamic has led to the political map of Wisconsin, like many states throughout America, changing into a sequence of blue islands in a sea of pink. When Obama carried Wisconsin in 2008, he did so by successful 59 of the state’s 72 counties. Twelve years later, Joe Biden carried the state by successful simply 14 counties — an uptick from the 12 Hillary Clinton gained whereas she misplaced the state in 2016.
This isn’t a brand new downside for Democrats, both.
Obama, within the wake of Trump’s 2016 win that underlined the social gathering’s rural downside, warned Democrats of changing into a “coastal liberal latte-sipping” social gathering, stuffed with “politically appropriate out-of-touch people.” However the social gathering has continued to battle.
In 2018, Democratic Senate incumbents in North Dakota, Missouri and Indiana had been drowned by the Trump-propelled rural surge, dropping reelection regardless of elevated turnout in suburban and concrete areas amid that 12 months’s blue wave. The development continued in 2020: Biden’s help from suburban and smaller metropolitan areas helped ship him the White Home, however Trump sustained his robust rural margins. And in 2021, Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe confronted intraparty criticism for primarily ignoring rural voters in his gubernatorial loss to Republican Glenn Youngkin, who managed to enhance on Trump’s rural margins from only a 12 months earlier. McAuliffe and his high aides believed the social gathering had hit all-time low in rural America — an assumption that was proved flawed on Election Day.
At present, Democrats maintain solely three of the 20 Senate seats within the nation’s ten most rural states — Jon Tester in Montana, Patrick Leahy in Vermont and Joe Manchin in West Virginia — with two rural-state independents caucusing with the social gathering. Of the 30 seats within the US Home from these states, Democrats solely maintain six.
“We have got work to do out right here,” mentioned Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff, who’s working to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Ron Variety in a district that features a lot of the state’s pastoral southwest. “As a nationwide social gathering, we have moved away from the fundamentals. … I do know that individuals out right here really feel ignored and left behind. I hear that each single day… they usually have a purpose to be.”
He added: “As Democrats, we’ve missed it.”
‘That is how we lose’
For Democrats, the main target is now not about successful rural counties. It’s about maintaining the margins down in order that the social gathering’s dominance in city areas and newfound success in suburban communities can propel them to victory.
That is the playbook Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin wrote in successful a second time period in 2018.
“Voters of Wisconsin do have some unbiased traditions, and particularly in rural areas, exhibiting up issues, listening issues, placing within the work issues,” Baldwin advised CNN, including that the very best factor Democrats can do is level out what they’re combating for and what Republicans are standing towards.
Baldwin is the exception, nonetheless. Republicans, particularly since Trump’s first run for president, have dominated rural areas and plenty of Democrats are publicly and privately questioning whether or not it’s attainable for voters who backed the previous President to be introduced again to supporting Democratic candidates.
Barnes drew scorn in 2018 when he mentioned “You may preserve them” about voters who backed Obama however then voted for Trump and nonetheless supported the Republican President. He tried to scrub up the remark — “I may have been extra clear,” he mentioned on the time — however when pressed on the problem just lately, he did not again away from the broader thought.
“It will depend on in the event that they assume the election was stolen or not,” he mentioned about successful over a two-time Trump voter. “For any person who thinks the election was stolen, that’s going to be an virtually unattainable promote, however there are nonetheless folks round who simply really really feel like they have been forgotten.”
“However I actually push again on this notion that we will not be aggressive in rural elements of Wisconsin,” he added. “Do I feel we’ll win a bunch of rural counties this election cycle? No. However we’ll make a dent, a considerable dent. We’re going to decrease these margins.”
As for whether or not a 35-year-old Black man from Milwaukee is the very best candidate to chop into margins in predominantly White and older areas, Barnes laughed: “Obama was our high-water mark. … From Chicago and an much more sophisticated title than mine.”
Barnes’ opponents largely say the identical factor on reaching out to rural voters — they plan to point out up, pay attention and study. Candidates reminiscent of Godlewski and Nelson tout their very own rural credentials by noting their ties to areas past Milwaukee and Madison. However whether or not that outreach will imply slimmer margins in rural counties is one other query.
“That is how we lose,” Godlewski mentioned of the concept that Trump voters aren’t winnable for Democrats. “What we’ve failed at up to now is we simply present up just a few months earlier than the election and anticipate them to say, ‘Oh, nice, thanks for exhibiting up. Now you care about me’ and actually, they’re like, ‘The place have you ever been?’”
Godlewski admitted there’s a “sure section that you just’re not going to have the ability to change,” who will simply “fall on their sword for what they consider in.” However she mentioned there’s a massive center in Wisconsin ” who’s the very best candidate, that is going to truly work for me and ship for me and, fairly frankly, will get me.”
Lasry mentioned many rural voters had been swayed by Trump “exhibiting up” in Wisconsin — numerous state Democrats have derided Clinton for not doing the identical in 2016 — however added that a lot of these voters stay winnable.
“For those who voted for Obama, Trump and Tammy, which means which you could be introduced again into our fold,” mentioned Lasry, who sees the race towards Johnson as “change versus the institution” with the two-term senator representing the institution.
He added: “Earlier than somebody began voting for Trump … they voted for Tammy Baldwin and [Democratic Gov.] Tony Evers. It’s not like this was many years or ages in the past the place we had been successful within the rural elements of the state.”
And Nelson, the underdog candidate, mentioned Democrats are at present being punished for taking rural voters as a right.
“Democrats are at all times on protection (with rural voters). They reply to the Republican playbook. They play into their palms,” Nelson mentioned. “What you bought to do is you come again to your message, you come again to what the Democratic Social gathering is all about … the artwork of the attainable.”
‘I do not know the place the underside is’
Rural America is hurting — and never simply in Wisconsin.
Cities have been hollowed out, with Major Streets crumbling as small-business development in rural counties has slowed and retailer fronts sit empty for years. Youthful generations have left for greater cities, leaving populations markedly older — a very important downside as rural hospitals throughout America shut. And household farms, as soon as the lifeblood of many rural communities, have turn into more and more dominated by massive companies and Large Ag.
It is a dynamic that state Sen. Jeff Smith — one of many few Democrats nonetheless in a position to win in rural Wisconsin — is aware of effectively.
Each few days, Smith drives his 1999 Dodge Ram pickup to part of his district, climbs onto the mattress and hoists up a big signal: “STOP & TALK — Senator Jeff Smith”.
After which he waits, till voter after voter — a lot of whom have lengthy left the Democratic Social gathering — come to pepper him with questions. Not all of the queries are simple, however Smith engages together with his constituents, hoping that even when they do not like his social gathering, they are going to like him sufficient to again him in November when he is up for a second time period.
“I do not know the place the underside is,” Smith mentioned of Democrats’ standing with rural voters throughout a latest Cease and Discuss occasion on the outskirts of Eau Claire, one of many bluer elements of his district. “I believed we hit backside in 2010, then I believed it was ’12 and ’14.
In the midst of relentless 45-degree rain, proper off a small freeway in entrance of an Advance Auto Components, Smith spoke with a handful of constituents, taking of their ideas and their issues. He does this often, he mentioned — a lot in order that his pickup has 209,000 miles on it.
And his hard-earned recommendation to Democrats is easy: Pay attention, do not assume you’re doing sufficient by simply having a rural plan, and be who you’re.
“What folks actually need is a alternative,” mentioned Smith, who has endorsed Godlewski within the Senate main. “If their solely alternative is an actual conservative and a faux conservative, they see by means of that. If we deal with folks like they’re silly they usually acknowledge you are not actual, they’ll vote for the true one. We have now bought to be genuine; we’ve bought to be who we’re.”
On whether or not Trump voters will ever vote for Democrats once more, Smith added: “We’re not that far separated (from) after they voted for a progressive Democrat. There isn’t a purpose to consider that if they’ve one thing to vote for, they don’t seem to be going to vote for that individual. … I grew up in a Republican family. So, I’ve a fairly good understanding that individuals can change.”
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Wisconsin
College gymnast from Chicago suburbs shot and killed near University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
![College gymnast from Chicago suburbs shot and killed near University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College gymnast from Chicago suburbs shot and killed near University of Wisconsin-Whitewater](https://media.nbcchicago.com/2024/05/tlmd-police.line_.123-5.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675)
A Chicago-area college student, who was a gymnast at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, was shot and killed in an apartment late Friday night, Whitewater police said.
Kara Welsh, 21, of Plainfield, Illinois, was found with multiple gunshot wounds when police responded to an apartment at around 11:54 p.m. in the 100 block of Whitewater Street, police said.
Police said late Saturday a 23-year-old man had been taken into custody on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed. An altercation occurred between Welsh and the unidentified suspect prior to the shooting, police revealed.
UW-Whitewater Chancellor Corey King announced Welsh’s death in a message to the campus community, writing she was majoring in management at the College of Business and Economics and a standout member of the Warhawk gymnastics team.
“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community,” he said, in part. “It is a time when we are all called upon to support one another, to process, and to grieve.”
UW-Whitewater Warhawk Athletics posted about Welsh’s death on Facebook, saying, “Our hearts are broken with the tragic loss of one of our own, UW-Whitewater Warhawk Gymnastics senior Kara Welsh.”
Wisconsin
Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better?
![Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better? Wisconsin beating Western Michigan didn’t answer crucial question: Are the Badgers better?](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/31101058/USATSI_24117504-scaled.jpg)
MADISON, Wis. — In an ideal world for Wisconsin football, the Badgers would have built a multi-score lead early during their season opener and never relented, cruising to the type of victory that said one thing to ease an uncertain fan base searching for more: Hey, this is progress.
That’s not exactly what transpired during Wisconsin’s 28-14 victory against Western Michigan on Friday night. Yes, the Badgers did end up winning by multiple touchdowns. They also trailed by a point as late as four minutes into the fourth quarter and needed a fortuitous bounce on a muffed punt just to end up in scoring position for the go-ahead touchdown.
It was a performance that, while able to avert calamity, left plenty of questions on the table about whether this team — and especially this offense — will take the necessary steps forward in Luke Fickell’s second season after a 7-6 debut.
“I’ve been in these games before, and sometimes they’re not the most fun,” Fickell said. “But what it comes down to is you’ve got to find a way and you got to make some adjustments that maybe you didn’t envision you’d have to make, you didn’t want to make in game one. But you have to make some of those adjustments. And we did.”
Relive last night’s win 🦡 pic.twitter.com/10af1WvGuQ
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 31, 2024
Fickell acknowledged earlier in the week that “we know as little as we ever have known” about an opponent entering the first game of the season, and the chess match that ensued has to be factored into the equation. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor hired a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator during the offseason. As a result, Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said he spent the week watching clips of Louisiana Tech, where Broncos defensive coordinator Scott Power previously worked.
“They didn’t show any of what they did there,” Van Dyke said. “They were trying to keep everything in front of them, playing a lot of Cover 3 and not letting us take any of the deep shots, really.”
Even if the opener provided unexpected challenges, this was still a game against a MAC team coming off a 4-8 season that Wisconsin had hoped to dominate. The Badgers were, after all, 24-point betting favorites. As Wisconsin readies for Week 2 foe South Dakota — ranked fifth in the FCS Top 25 — with Alabama looming the following week, we’re left to wonder exactly what the result means.
Tyler Van Dyke went 21-of-36 for 192 yards in his Badgers debut. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
A year ago, Wisconsin opened the Fickell era with a 38-17 victory against MAC opponent Buffalo that foreshadowed the team’s uneven offensive performances because the Badgers led by just four points in the third quarter. Wisconsin then averaged just 23.5 points per game, its fewest in 19 years. Is this group in for more of the same?
There were at least some encouraging signs. Wisconsin’s 1-2 running back combination of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker ran with tenacity and power. Both players scored on touchdown runs that featured them knocking back defenders on the way to the end zone. Fickell said the primary objective was to run the ball and establish a physical identity, even if it meant sacrificing on some deep passes.
Wisconsin’s top two slot receivers, Will Pauling and Trech Kekahuna, are dynamic and should be among Van Dyke’s favorite targets all season. The offensive line allowed just one sack when Van Dyke remained in the pocket too long and didn’t throw the ball away. Van Dyke himself produced some decent moments, looking at ease on quick throws over the middle and showing a willingness as a ball carrier on read options. Wisconsin’s first four drives went for 16 plays, 16 plays, 14 plays and 14 plays — the type of possession control reminiscent of previous Badgers regimes.
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2024/08/25165705/0826_BillCallahan-1024x512.png)
GO DEEPER
‘We’re gonna change this crap’: Bill Callahan and Wisconsin, origin stories intertwined
But within all those positives were enough concerns to keep the coaching staff busy. For one, those four 14-plus-play drives yielded just one touchdown despite the Badgers reaching the red zone each time. Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo can spread defenses out with his version of the Air Raid, but that becomes trickier in a more condensed part of the field. The Badgers ranked 63rd nationally in red zone offense last season and scored a touchdown just 63 percent of the time.
Fickell said the lack of red zone efficiency was glaring in the opener. Van Dyke’s decision-making was a part of that process. He threw a couple of passes that could have been intercepted, including one in the end zone before Wisconsin settled for a field goal to take a 13-7 third-quarter lead. Van Dyke also lost a fumble when he scrambled out of the pocket and kept the ball too loose in one hand as he was being pursued.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect for the offense was the lack of explosive plays. Mellusi averaged 3.9 yards per carry and Walker 4.4 yards. Wisconsin produced 11 pass plays of at least 10 yards but none of at least 20 yards, with Van Dyke often finding his pass catchers on shorter throws. Van Dyke’s longest pass play came on a third-and-6 early in the third quarter when he tossed a quick completion to Pauling, who turned upfield and did the rest of the work on a 17-yard gain. Rarely did the Badgers even attempt anything down the field. Of Van Dyke’s 36 attempts, only three were thrown with 15-plus air yards, per TruMedia. None were completed.
Mellusi attributed the overall performance to “some first-game jitters.”
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Mellusi said. “But watching film all week, their goal was to stop the run. Not to say we weren’t expecting to break a big one. Of course you want to break a big one all the time. But you’ve got to be OK with the 4- or 5-yarders, and eventually you’re going to bust one.”
Former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez used to cite a theory he gleaned from Lou Holtz that a great team needed five great players and no glaring weaknesses. Fickell was asked whether he believed a lack of playmakers on this team was an issue.
“It’s hard to say whether there’s not enough playmakers on the field,” Fickell said. “If you’ve been here long enough, you know that there’s going to be days — I don’t want to make excuses — days like this. But games like this, that all of a sudden become that slow, methodical. I would think around here, you’ve seen a few of those. It’s not what maybe you envision every single day. It’s not maybe what we envision going into this thing, but I give our guys a lot of credit for their ability to adjust and adapt.”
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2024/08/31003421/GettyImages-2169523623-1024x683.jpg)
GO DEEPER
Badgers survive scare against Western Michigan: Wisconsin football opener instant takeaways
Wisconsin does indeed deserve at least some credit for how it finished because the outcome could have been much worse. Western Michigan took a 14-13 lead on Jalen Buckley’s 1-yard touchdown run with 14:15 remaining in the fourth quarter — a potentially backbreaking moment for the Badgers after the Broncos converted a fake field goal into a 26-yard run and a first down to the 4-yard line.
Wisconsin took advantage of a Western Michigan’s muffed punt by scoring the go-ahead touchdown in just three plays, on Walker’s 6-yard run. The defense then stopped Western Michigan on a fourth-and-1 at midfield, which led to the Badgers scoring on Van Dyke’s 6-yard keeper to account for the final margin.
“We all rallied together,” Badgers inside linebacker Jake Chaney said. “Nobody really flinched. There’s a lot of work to be done, but that was a good team win and I don’t think that should be overlooked.”
Returning players and coaches said all offseason that the second year under Fickell and Longo felt different and that things were operating more smoothly. There were signs of momentum during spring and preseason practices, though it always comes with a caveat until it translates to the games.
Based on Wisconsin’s season-opening performance, there is substantial room for growth. And while progress means different things for different teams, the Badgers will need much more of it to have any chance of moving the needle this season.
(Top photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
Wisconsin
Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness
![Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness Wisconsin football fans react to Badgers’ 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener with uneasiness](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/08/31/PMJS/75024162007-mjs-uwgrid-30-3.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4641,2612,x0,y41&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Here are some of the reasons why quarterback Tyler Van Dyke came to Wisconsin
Here are some of the reasons why quarterback Tyler Van Dyke came to Wisconsin
The Wisconsin football team faces some challenging teams in 2024, with three of its opponents (Alabama, Oregon and Penn State) in the preseason top 10.
Western Michigan wasn’t supposed to be among the biggest tests. They were predicted to be seventh in the Mid-American Conference.
But the Broncos gave the Badgers all they could handle for much of the season opener on Friday at Camp Randall Stadium and even led Wisconsin briefly in the fourth quarter before Luke Fickell’s squad finally rallied for the 28-14 win.
There were some notable performances like Chez Mellusi’s impressive comeback — it was his first game since fracturing his fibula nearly a year ago — the important fourth-down stand in the fourth quarter that led to the Badgers’ final score and the incredible interception late in the game by true freshman Xavier Lucas.
But the Badgers, despite controlling the time of possession, also left the game with mistakes to clean up.
It began with a missed field goal, it continued when they couldn’t finish long drives for a large chunk of the game and it didn’t look good after they allowed a fake field goal that turned into Western Michigan’s go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
And taking into account the frustrating 2023 season, the showing for three-plus quarters led fans on social media to feel very uneasy about the prospects for the rest of the year.
5 takeaways: In Wisconsin football’s 28-14 win over Western Michigan in season opener
The Badgers should again be heavy favorites next week —they were favored by 24 points on Friday — against FCS opponent South Dakota, but national title contender Alabama comes to town in a couple weeks.
Here’s how social media reacted to Wisconsin’s Week 1 game.
Wisconsin defeats Western Michigan, 28-14
Ricardo Hallman is a reigning All-American for a reason
Xavier Lucas makes incredible interception late in the game with the Badgers ahead 28-14
Wisconsin football fans weren’t feeling too good about the showing for much of the game
Western Michigan took a 14-13 lead with 14:15 left in the fourth quarter after Jalen Buckley ran it in from 1-yard out. The Broncos’ TD came six plays after they recovered a fumble from Badgers quarterback Tyler Van Dyke at their own 34-yard line late in the third quarter.
The Badgers would regain the lead, 21-14, at the 10:35 mark after Walker scored from 6 yards out and Van Dyke connected with Trech Kekahuna in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion.
The TD was set up thanks to a gift from Western Michigan. Wisconsin’s special teams recovered a live ball on a punt after it hit a retrieving Bronco on his back as he was running down the field.
The Badgers held the lead the rest of the way but that likely didn’t change a lot of fans’ perceptions.
-
Connecticut1 week ago
Oxford church provides sanctuary during Sunday's damaging storm
-
Politics1 week ago
2024 showdown: What happens next in the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump face-off
-
News1 week ago
Who Are Kamala Harris’s 1.5 Million New Donors?
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump taunted over speculated RFK Jr endorsement: 'Weird as hell'
-
Politics1 week ago
Vivek Ramaswamy sounds off on potential RFK Jr. role in a Trump administration
-
World6 days ago
Portugal coast hit by 5.3 magnitude earthquake
-
Politics1 week ago
House GOP demands elite universities counteract 'dangerous' anti-Israel protests in the fall semester
-
News1 week ago
Video: Kamala Harris’s Political Pragmatism