Wisconsin is among a handful of states that will choose the next president.
But the battle for Wisconsin's vote won't end in 2024, because Wisconsin isn't just a battleground state in elections. It's a battleground state for ideas that shape our nation.
Whether that's the battle over who controls our cities.
"Over the past couple of decades, we have seen a little bit more of sort of a Big Brother approach by state government to say that there are certain things that we are going to want to ensure that we have a say in how city leaders are spending state dollars," says Rob Henken, president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Or the battle over union rights and union power in a post-industrial world.
"Not trying to say, 'Hey, you know, would be great is let's just make it like 1980 again,' we want to build a union movement that is going to change the jobs of bartenders and baristas and cooks and cashiers and cleaners and servers and security guards, the kinds of jobs that exist now for people who come from all different kinds of backgrounds," explains Peter Rickman, the president of the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization.
Or the battle over who controls the narrative.
"We had been so successful in criticizing the bias of the mainstream media that we had succeeded in destroying the credibility of all of the fact-based media," says political commentator Charlie Sykes.
What happens in Wisconsin mirrors and shapes national political discourse and policy. For one reason or another, Wisconsin has been a place where people in government have tried to do new things, things that netted the attention of people across the country.
Our new podcast, Swing State of the Union, explores why Wisconsin remains a battleground state and what that means for our future.
Episodes drop every Wednesday for 10 weeks, starting May 1. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
