As expected, President Joe Biden was praised highly at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention in Milwaukee over the weekend, and much criticism of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
A convention keynote speaker, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was one of several who mentioned Trump recently being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a hush-money case.
At a Saturday news conference, WUWM asked Pritzker if we’ll hear Trump being called a "felon" a lot of times over the next five months.
“Oh, I think you should," Pritzker replied, prompting laughter from convention delegates standing behind him.
But even with Trump’s troubles, national polls show Trump and Biden in a close race. Frequent WUWM guest JR Ross of Wispolitics.com asked Pritzker why that is.
Pritzker replied: “Well, you’re starting to see a change. I mean, I believe it has taken some time — partly — remember because our president has done so much in the last four years that it’s almost hard to remind people of all the great things he’s done.”
Wisconsin convention delegates from both near and far have additional suggestions for Biden.
Dawn Anderson of Waukesha County said to talk more about the Inflation Reduction Act.
"That’s huge. Huge. And clean energy, addressing climate change through that. Health care. I mean, that affects every single person. And, I don’t think the Republican Party is doing to do anything to help us," Anderson tells WUWM.
Ann Groves Lloyd, the mayor of Lodi, near Madison, said Biden needs to talk more about values.
“That is why I align with this party; it’s about inclusion. It’s about forward thinking. It’s about evolution, and growth, and tackling issues head-on. It’s not about hate," Lloyd said.
Nancy Stencil of Wausau said don’t forget about reaching out to seniors. “You see a lot of older people, and Social Security is a big thing. And we need to scrap that cap. And what that is, is after you make over $168,600 per year, you no longer pay into FICA," Stencil said.
FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act and is a U.S. payroll tax supporting Social Security. Biden has talked about raising the amount of income that can be taxed under FICA.
Biden’s campaign also has a team of paid advisors, and he’ll debate Trump on June 27th. Then, the polls will take another look at this year’s presidential contest and see if it’s still close.
