Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson says Donald Trump must campaign in Dem-dominated Dane and Milwaukee counties ahead of Election Day in order to win Wisconsin.
“They’ve got to reduce the Democratic votes in Dane County,” Thompson said on WISN’s “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “Number two, they’ve got to go to Serb Hall and have a rally. And just like before your time, Ronald Reagan came and opened up Serb Hall. South Milwaukee is a conservative Democrat area, and you can pick up a lot of votes there. And then go into Platteville and talk to the people down there about the Keystone pipeline and opening up the border.”
Thompson said he personally delivered the message to Trump when he campaigned in La Crosse.
“He listened,” Thompson said. “He listened intently, and let’s see what he does.”
Thompson, who’s helping advise the campaign behind the scenes, said Trump needs to focus on the issues during tomorrow night’s presidential debate.
“He’s got to make sure he doesn’t take the bait and become personal,” Thompson said. “He’s got to talk about, like he did at the Economic Forum in New York, talk about the importance of tax cuts, talk about economic development, talking about closing the border, reducing the illegal drugs.
“The choice I think is quite simple,” he added. “And I think if Donald Trump gets that message out during the debate and pins her to the positions she’s always taken and lays out his vision.”
During a bus tour throughout parts of Wisconsin, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says public schools, including in Wisconsin, are under attack.
“While underfunded in many places, we’re seeing money being taken away to pay for private tuitions and vouchers,” Cardona told “UpFront.” “So we’re defending public education. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for public schools that I attended and for the great majority of students across this country.”
When asked about the law Gov. Tony Evers signed that increased funding for both public and choice schools, Cardona said while he’s a “big believer” in choice, public school funding is paramount.
“I want to make sure that our local neighborhood school has the resources it needs to move forward,” Cardona said. “Nothing against choice, but I want to make sure that before we start saying that our schools are not meeting the needs of students, we’re properly funding them.”
Cardona also said he doesn’t believe school resource officers should be federally mandated inside each school. The new state law requires officers to be reinstated within Milwaukee Public Schools, which hasn’t yet happened.
“I’ve seen school resource officers used in a way that really builds relationships with the students and not only creates a positive learning environment, but also gives students an opportunity to explore another career option to public service, public safety is a career option,” Cardona said.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman says he’ll spend the following months “making his case” to lawmakers for an additional $855 million in state funding as part of the next state budget.
“We’ve been talking about Wisconsin being 43rd out of 50 states in terms of public support for its university system since I started in my role,” Rothman told “UpFront.” “So this is not a new conversation.
“It goes to things that are really important, that goes to ensuring affordability with a tuition promise, that goes to accessibility,” Rothman added. “It goes to areas around student success, investing in academic advising, career advising and mental health. It goes to ensuring quality, paying our faculty and staff at market levels.”
Rothman said if the $855 million is approved, he would not propose a tuition increase during the next two-year biennium.
“We have increasingly become more tuition dependent,” Rothman said. “Tuition now comprises a larger percentage of our budget than does our state support. That never was the case. I think we’ll have to see how this plays out. I don’t want to have to go back and raise tuition. I think we want to make sure that we are as affordable as we can be.”
Rothman again rejected an idea stemming from a legislative committee, proposing UW-Madison spin off from the rest of the system.
“It’s a proposal that’s been floated before,” Rothman said. “It’s been rejected before. And I think, quite frankly, it should be rejected again. Our 13 universities that comprise the Universities of Wisconsin, including our flagship UW-Madison, are better together. Separating them and pitting universities within the state against each other makes no sense to me.”
Rothman said universities like Madison and Milwaukee are prepared for more pro-Palestinian protesters, adding university officials spent part of the summer focused on the issue and communication among campuses and police.
“We are prepared to deal with whatever might come,” he said. “And we will respect people’s First Amendment rights to protest, and if they protest within the law, that’s fantastic. That’s part of what the university experience should bring. But it also has to be within the law, and we expect more activity, but we are prepared for it.
“The encampments were a violation of Wisconsin law, full stop,” Rothman added that if they are set up again, “We’re going to have to address them, and we are prepared to do that.”
ABC News Washington Bureau Chief Rick Klein says neither presidential candidate will receive questions or topics in advance of tomorrow night’s debate despite the unfounded claims by Trump.
“No, of course not,” Klein told “UpFront.” “It’s actually stipulated in the formal rules. And no candidate gets any kind of an advantage like that, no. No glimpse at the topics, the questions, any of the sort. And the ABC News contributors are not part of the debate prep. It’s journalists that are working on it and will be David Muir and Lindsey Davis asking the questions.”
The debate will include no audience, and the candidates mics will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak.
“They’ve never been in the same room in a sustained way that we’re aware of before, and they certainly have never interacted in a policy discussion,” Klein said. “It’s all brand new for so much of the country, and given the upheaval of the last couple of weeks and months, it seems like an enormous moment all around.”
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