so i would like to see us talking about the importance of reaching across the aisle and at those points that we don't disagree, finding common ground is the only way we can move the nation forward is to work together the kickoff in early september in iowa. today we are in downtown milwaukee for the c-span bus is parked in front of spectrum offices and we are on the bus by the milwaukee journal sentinel. the polls were all wrong about wisconsin and campaign 2016 when the state went republican for the first time since 1984. there was one out earlier this month that had the former vice president up by nine points in a potential showdown in 2020 with

the president. it is a snapshot in time and is probably correct. mark kent does a good job. it just means this is what people feell at this time with a strong lead over the president. bernie sanders with a lead justf just outside of the margin of error and if elizabeth warren and harris deadlocked with the president. it sounds about right, but it's not a prediction it is just a moment in time. 14 months away. if the president is going to hold wisconsin in 2020, where does he want to take the fight in the state, what issues and where regionally in the state is he the strongest? >> guest: the issue is the economy. the economy, looking good right

now in wisconsin, that's what he's going to fight on. the poll that you referenced shows it is one point underwat underwater. it shows people were negative about what the economy might look like a year from now so that would be concerning. as far as where you go in wisconsin, you go everywhere. little bits and pieces can do largela things. we've had a lot of close elections going back 20 years. obviously the obama elections were outriders because basically this is a purple state and one or two points can decide the race. the president will attempt to reconnect with his voters out of state which is in the parts of say wausauutside of

down across green bay and obviously waukesha and washington. you are going to hear a lot about that. the democrats have to do well in milwaukee and madison and do better in the rural areas. we are talking about wisconsin politics in the battleground with the phone lines are open if you want to join the conversation, we are talking with bill of the milwaukee journal sentinel. (202)748-8000, republicans 8001, independent 8002 and a special line for the wisconsin residents, (202)748-8003. you said a second ago democrats are going to hawaii and wisconsin taking the national convention next summer. talk about why they made that pick and how they are going to

attempt to bring wisconsin back into the blue wall. >> but it fell apart in 2016. the democrats felt it this hard especially with what happened in 2016 of course famously hillary clinton did not campaign during the general election, democrats didn't do enough out-of-state and they need to reconnect with the state in order to win its seemingly asset that is why they here. they talk about it being a blue-collar town, uniontown in milwaukee and wisconsin with many of the problems and possibilities of other states, so that's h why they are coming here. it is a midsized city that will hold the convention.

it's going to be an interesting place. it's beautiful during the: summertime. >> which of the candidates so far have been coming to wisconsin the most. >> you are looking at cory booker, amy klobuchar and amy sanders, joe biden has not yet been here. ethere's been about 20 visits. many of the candidates showed up there. elizabeth warren hasn't yet been here during the campaign she has been here, but a lot of the contenders came in 2018 on behalf of tammy baldwin, so they are familiar with the territory.

joe biden of course even though he hasn't been here during the campaign, very familiar with wisconsin so it is within everybody's site and the primary fault an interesting spot on the calendar. you can imagine somebody making a last stand here before going on in the later primaries. >> host: do we know a if any are coming to wisconsin this week? >> guest: i don't believe any are coming this week. amy klobuchar was here last week. it was her third visit to the state, she was the first one in the state. i remember coming to her events in february. it was right after she announced her candidacy. she wanted to tell people she was willing to campaign anywhere and everywhere and that is why she came to wisconsin. so she was the earliest arrival the state. and castro, whom he and castro

has also been here several times among those multiple folks that have been here multiple times. >> host: we are talking washington politics. our guest joining us from on board the c-span bus. we are in milwaukee this morning. a special phone line for the residents (202)748-8003. otherwise phone numbers as usual democrats (202)748-8000, republicans, 8001, independent, 8002. as they are calling in, we want to develop such a battleground in the presidential race. why aren't there more competitive seats on the congressional side. a look at the cook political report has only two of the state's congressional seats come even in play and one is a likely democratic seat and won his likely republican.

>> guest: that is probably for the democrats seats for the republicans. gerrymandering or how they split the congressional districts has been some dispute. of course the state legislature especially. but it is also a sorting of people, milwaukee and madison were democratic. plus two seats that used to be swaying more could have been swing outside of green bay. it seems to have slipped away from i the democrats. >> host: the one that is listed as a likely republican in the wake of the resignation of sean duffy.

>> there may be a primary, the democrats don't yet have a challenge. there may be other candidates coming in, but that seat is if emthe democrats get it within single digits, they will have done well. it's an important seat for the republican base to turn out. it's important for president bottle on the house while. he campaigned in wausau for the republican u.s. senate candidate who lost heavily against tammy baldwin, the democratic u.s. senator. >> host: as they ar we are talkg wisconsin politics in the battleground states, mark is the first out of new hampshire. good morning.

>> caller: wisconsin being a purple state up for grabs, do you think that the challengers would have a chance next year in the primary for the republican party? >> that is a great question. this was the last stop. ted cruz did very well in the primary but since then, republicans are on board here in the state and it would be a heavy lift to beat him in the primary. for that part of the republican fracture coming together and

wisconsin. >> host: before we leave the question, can you talk about the demographic trends in the state and what should viewers know about 2016 and 2020? >> it's like a lot of states in the upper midwest. that's no surprise in terms of politics, you know, republicans have done well since 2010 and finally broke the dam in 2016, but the state remains pretty stableta from 2016 to 2020. there's not a lot of growth. there is obviously a large african-american population here in milwaukee, smaller in madison and there is a heavy latino vote but the state remains the same.

>> host: if you want to talk fwisconsin politics, bill is our guest joining on the c-span bus. if you want to check out the no walkie sentinel on the tale of two governors what have we learned in the first few months in office? >> guest: things have returned to normalcy. scott walker was a very polarizing figure. he was loved as well as.

tony remains a popular governor and legislature also is more popular now so if things had gone back to normal, they see the governor but not with a the passion that you had in the years. everybody had an opinion about scott walker but not everybody has an opinionon about tony to t >> host: do you think there will be more of an opinion when the convention comes into town, is that the time for him to take a national spotlight? >> guest: i don't know if he is going to be taking a national spotlight. he is pretty low-key.

he will be making the rounds, but obviously i he was the state school superintendenschools sups governing that sort of model.ov he's basically a guy that once to do policy in dissent necessarily as political as other governors might have been. >> host: you talked a minute ago about the logistical challenge ahead. what will be the biggest challenge, is the city goingg to t ready? >> guest: i think the city will be ready. obviously the biggest logistical challenges are going to be security, that is out of the city hands. that goes to the secret service, transportation and hotels, so you will have delegates coming from as farit away as o'hare international airport, rosemont illinois about an hour and a half away and you have to be

moving thousands of people on the system that they will be making up justle for the event,o thatat is obviously going to be the biggest challenges. i think the city is big enough and it is a compact area where we will be having conventions and they sort of political midway. they have a beautiful building to hold the convention if there will bin afarewell the sites ale waterfront delegates can go see, so that's going to be an interesting place during those four days of summer. >> host: in our conversation this morning taking texts as well and facebook comments, one out of mesa, arizona asking why does everybody call biden president of trump's opponent in 2020. ond he win the nomination from the party backs he did the best in potential head to head match ups in wisconsin in that marquette law school polls earlier this month. can you talk through the rest of

the polling and where it stacks up in wisconsin? >> guest: it's basically biden, sanders, orrin and harris in the top of the poll. you have to remember in 2016, bernie sanders did very well in the primary/hillary clinton in e the primary. so, there is room obviously for somebody to the left of biden to do very well in the primary and as it appears now obviously elizabeth warren has a so-called momentum nationally and has not yet translated into the polling in wisconsin. we may follow this everyday. most people on this monday are talking about the green bay packers win at the university of wisconsin beating michigan and the milwaukee brewers making a

stretch run to the playoffs.s that is what is on people's mind right now. >> host: on the topic of what is picking the headlines in washington and the papers is that phone call back in july and the iranian president is reported to be the topic of the whistleblower. i don't think it is playing out yet. not that i it isn't a vital andt doesn't translate outside of the beltway is it more of an

important story as we look ahead a have a fight shape the election? the auto industry is not as vital to wisconsin although there are not auto manufacture

manufacturers. it's still an incredibly important story to the upper midwest and the fortunes of a lot of the states. h >> host: the headline in today's post seeing major issue for 2020 democratic candidates visit the picket lines. those have been going on for about a week now. can you talk about the unions in general, the strength of the union in wisconsin and what we have learned about the strength in some of the biggest stories in politics in recent years? the republican legislature with scott walker passed early in his administration in 2011 2 effectively and at or curtailed the collective bargaining for the workers in union memberships have declined since then. it's got a little bit of a kick

up. they are still a force but not the ones they once were. they are rebuilding and they are looking very closely at wisconsin. i remember the afl-cio president was here, so they are taking a look at the state to rebuild the state that it is back for the unions. >> it's very important here in wisconsin and it is a secure system. they are taking a look at the thing. that is a usual thing in a presidential race.

>> caller: how do you feel about the surge of republican voters and the farm trade subsidies we had a series for the whole year focusing on the loss of dairy farms. farms are important here come the agriculture is important and so is the manufacturing as they play out but so far some

businesses have been hurt and there are some subsidies available to the farmers to get the agreement through congress, how important is the issue in the state for the folks that work there. they had a bed to pass this about two weeks ago but it hasn't gotten through the noise of everyday life. >> caller: i'm wondering why rs bill hasn't mentioned the crs in the farmers situation and why, despite the fact small

degree farms are closing at the rate of two per day how could they still be behind donald trump in the rural areas of wisconsin. we get a subsidiary of the journal. we have our own paper. >> thank you for bringing that up. as i said previously and i will reiterate the leading series on the whole dairyland crisis. she is correct, there've been lots of closures of dairy farms. hundreds of dairy farms i think more than a thousand in the last 19 months when it sold off.

so yes there is a crisis in the industry. donald trump does remain strong in areas of th the areas of the. >> host: cleveland, ohio. democrats, good morning. >> caller: good morning. about wisconsin and the battleground states across the country,bo somebody needs to explain why republicans have agreed to cancel their own primary. they need to talk about how republicans have decided to take away the votes of their own party.

and then even on impeachment, i thinkt democrats should go along with it and republicans who disagree with what the party has done for them should join democrats especially when it comes to russia and ukraine. i can't talk about the note of this. i will say on the primary issue they will be holding a primary here in wisconsin in april, so

it will be interesting to see how that works out. there's also going to be a race for the supreme court judicial race. one thing you should also note is there is a lot of activity done by outside groups, whether it is doorknocking on the conservative side or the prioritpriorities that are comin here and american bridge is comingan in here. we are going to have radio, tv, digital, lots of pouring into the state into some of it already, yes there will be a primary in april for the republicans. >> host: el paso, texas steve, republican. >> caller: good morning. i was wondering if i got the right -- i think i saw something

on the national news aboutut immigrants beating men in wisconsin and i wonder is that going to affecti the race and w that works. rr guest: i don't believe that that occurred here. milwaukee is a city that has some difficulties and opportunities and is having a moment right now. a very good moment and obviously people will report on some of the negative things and some of the positive things here. that is to be expected. the immigration issue is very uaimportant for farmers in terms

of their workforce. it's important to them and the public at large. there is nothing special about milwaukee and wisconsin -- it will reflect the country. >> host: reporter at the milwaukee journal sentinel. if you want to see some of his work joining us on board the bus this morning we appreciate your time.

the complaint stems from a phone conversation the president had earlier this year with the leaders of ukraine that included the talk about former vice president joe biden and his son. over the weekend details emerged about president