State Sen. Brad Pfaff says Democrats must focus on “bread and butter affordability issues” in order to unite and win in November as he hosted numerous candidates at his annual corn roast at the La Crosse County Fairgrounds.

“I think that is front and center,” Pfaff said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “One thing that Rep. (Francesca) Hong, she did capture a lot of attention obviously when we heard about Thanksgiving and things like that, but I really think the underlying message was the wealth inequality and the economic concerns that are taking place here in Wisconsin.”

The corn roast, now in its 25th year, was first created by former U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, and has continued under Pfaff, a former aide to the congressman. This year’s event included appearances from David Crowley, Rebecca Cooke and Ben Wikler, all urging a message of unity after the fractured primary for governor.

“We are a very diverse population when it comes to politics,” Pfaff said. “We are very, very middle of the road, and so you have to prove it as a candidate for political office. You have to prove that you can stand up and you can take the hits. You can also deliver a hit if you need to, but the most important thing is they don’t want cheapness. They want real ideas, and they want to see real results.”

Wikler, the former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, says “nobody thinks that the Democratic Party is the most wonderful thing in the world right now” as he urged Democrats at the corn roast to mobilize ahead of November.

“Because right now Democrats don’t have the power to stop Trump’s hammer blow against our most basic values,” said Wikler, as he wrapped up a nationwide tour for his book  “This is the Plan.”

“Even though all the cameras left Wisconsin from national news the second the (primary) election winner was called, the biggest story was at that breakfast table the morning after the election when all the candidates came together,” Wikler said. “I spoke to Francesca today; she’s like, everything I can do to help ensure that David Crowley wins this fall, she’s going to do.”

Wikler dismissed the notion of a growing divide within the party among democratic socialists and more establishment-backed candidates.

“So the interesting thing is whether someone identifies as the left wing of the party or a centrist in the party, everyone’s frustrated that Democrats don’t have the power to deliver the change that every Democrat stands for,” Wikler said. “So the frustration that, like, you know, I’m voting, I’m volunteering, I’m getting text messages asking me for money all the time, and yet Trump is still building monuments to himself and defunding hospitals that are closing across western Wisconsin.”

Wikler added, “After the primary is over, it turns to one focused goal, which is to throw out the people who are making life unaffordable and elect people who are going to fight for working people.”

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming spoke with “UpFront” about being in Dallas this week for the GOP midterm convention alongside a delegation of 33 from the state.

“A lot of delegates and alternates who participated before, some guests, Congressman Steil will be down there as well, Congressman Grothman,” Schimming told the show. “We’re dealing with some scheduling issues with Congress, and also we have a campaign going on here, but we’re going to have a great group down there.”

Others, like Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, are opting to stay back in Wisconsin.

“We knew from the start that either because of their day job or because of different campaigns going on that some folks would be pretty busy to make the trip,” Schimming said. “So that doesn’t bother me at all. I kind of assumed it from the start that would be the case. We have a good group going down, will represent Wisconsin well, as we all do.”

Schimming dismissed the notion that some Republicans like Tiffany would need to distance themselves from President Donald Trump ahead of the election.

“I don’t think so at all,” Schimming said. “In fact, we’ve had the president already. We’ve seen the vice president three times in the past year. Look, there will be a lot of national focus on the national political scene here at this convention, but the truth of the matter is, higher turnout helps Republicans in these target states like ourselves, like Ohio, like Pennsylvania. Our experience, our recent experience has been high turnout helps. The president and the vice president helped get the base out, so I’m happy to have them here, and I’m happy to be in Dallas participating in this convention.”

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