Consider This from NPR - Wisconsin's vote is vital to the presidency. What are residents there looking for?

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Consider This host Ari Shapiro and WUWM's Maayan Silver speak with voters along a 15-mile road that cuts through the Milwaukee area's segregated neighborhoods as election season continues in this crucial swing state.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

At the edge of Lake Michigan, in the city of Milwaukee, early in the morning before the sun comes up, it is pouring and a group of runners are undeterred. We love running! Good morning! Good morning! Y'all good? Oh yeah! Woo! Let's go! We're going to be traveling the 15-mile stretch of North Avenue, and I'm making this journey with my colleague Mayan Silver of WUWM,

the local member station here in Milwaukee. Hi, Mayan. Hi, Ari. Good to be here. This is awesome. Tell us where we are and why we're here. We are standing right near Bradford Beach on Milwaukee's lakefront. It's an actual beach? It's an actual beach. You've got this hill going up that way, and you hit right upon North Avenue.

North Avenue, this 15-mile road that runs east to west all the way through Milwaukee, and it's many different kinds of neighborhoods. Yes, it cuts through all the demographics. I mean, here's the thing about Wisconsin is it's such a crucial swing state. And North Avenue basically cuts through every different type of neighborhood. You've got urban, suburban, rich, poor, racially segregated, racially diverse. You've got all the different neighborhoods and you can find all those groups on North Avenue. Consider this. In a state of six million people where the presidential vote can be decided by a margin of 20,000 votes, it's not just one demographic group or block that

can make the difference in 2024. It's all of them. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. You care about what's happening in the world. Let State of the World from NPR keep you informed. Each day we transport you to a different point on the globe and introduce you to the people We'll be right back. from NPR. Vital international stories every day. NPR brings you the updates you need on the day's biggest headlines. The Senate narrowly passed the debt ceiling bill that will prevent the country from defaulting on its loans. Stories from across the world. Knowing how to forage and to live with the land is integral to a nice culture. And down your block. From CPR News, this is Colorado Matters. And you can find all of that and more in your pocket. Download the NPR app today. It's Consider This from NPR. I recently spent a day with WUWM's Mayan Silver

along a road that stretches from near Milwaukee's lakefront out to its suburbs, where we heard from voters who all had varying and nuanced thoughts about what's important to them in this historic election season and why they may or may not cast a ballot for former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris. Let's pick things back up with Mayan along North Avenue. The thing is, you know, people say, as goes North Avenue, so goes Wisconsin. And the reason we're here at the water's edge before dawn on this rainy morning is because some crazy runners meet up here, rain, sleet, snow, heat,

and they have agreed to talk to us about politics. One of the organizers of the OMG running group is 64-year-old Patrick Beezer, and he says when this crew runs along the lake before dawn, they usually don't talk politics. I would say our particular group here, the Milwaukee Running Group, has a more liberal lean. And so we are reasonably, we agree with each other mostly. So there's not a lot to discuss. Somebody's just run up soaking wet with black and white cow shorts. You want to introduce yourself? Come under the awning. Hi, my name is Hans Goldenberg. I'm 34 years old and I live in downtown Milwaukee.

And his political views are different from the rest of the group. I don't know. I may or may not vote. You're the rare undecided may or may not vote. Yeah, I don't like either candidate to be completely honest. He wants lower taxes and less crime. He thinks Republicans would do a better job of addressing that. But he's also more socially liberal. Because I've gone both ways in the past.

I voted for Obama. You know, I feel like sometimes my vote doesn't really matter. 32-year-old Jackie Breen jumps in. I understand that because I have felt for many, many elections for a very long time, like, who am I voting for? I don't want either. She says her top issue is the environment, and she's a committed Harris voter. But she gets why Goldenberg is frustrated. We're someone who actually is closer to my age,

who understands that my generation is going to have debt for the rest of their lives. I know you all have jobs to get to, and it's so helpful to just be able to hear your honest points of view. Let's get out of this rain. Where are we going next, Mayan? I want to take you to a place called Beans and Barley. It's right up the road. It's a coffee shop, restaurant, gift shop. I could use some caffeine. Beans and Barley first opened its doors 50 years ago. I like to say they introduced tofu to Milwaukee. Jim Neumeier started as a teenage dishwasher here, and now he's one of the owners. How do you feel about the phrase hippie food? I think it's like a perfect description, to be do you feel about the phrase hippie food?

I think it's like a perfect description, to be honest. Kind of like a hippie cracker barrel. I mean, of course, like maybe the opposite side of the politics of that. Two-story windows let daylight stream in here. It's a gift shop, deli counter, and restaurant. There's a sign on the glass that says Black Lives Matter. On the reverse, it says racism is an insidious cultural disease. Milwaukee is only 40% white,

and it's also one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. As a small business owner, one of the biggest challenges Neumeier faces right now is the price of ingredients. Some of his costs have gone up 20%. You know, we're not like a super-duper fancy restaurant. We're like an everyday restaurant. And in order to be a place that people in the community, for instance, can gather daily, we have to keep it really reasonable.

How does that overlay on politics for you? I think what it means is that we have to have someone who's very interested in, obviously, the smaller business, not necessarily tax breaks for only the largest of businesses. We also need to see some relief from the prices and to hopefully see some of them be able to come down. Other voters we've talked to in Wisconsin have said, and that's why I'm voting Trump. Yes, well, I do not think that Trump would deliver that. In the restaurant, people are sitting down to order breakfast. It's a mix of retirees, parents with kids, and folks at the bar having a cup of coffee.

38-year-old Sandy Reitman is a freelancer and a staunch Democrat. I'm feeling very positive and hopeful. I'm an election poll worker. There's so much pressure on poll workers all over the country this year. Are you concerned about that? Actually, tonight there's a two-hour safety program. I've never gone to something like this before. Behind the scenes in the bakery, Raina Hartman has finished making a vegan almond apricot cake. And the smell makes it hard to think about anything else. Just put it in. It's amazing. Really love it, yeah. She's a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she participated in protests against the war in Gaza. She says

watching the deaths of Palestinians makes her think about what her own Native American ancestors endured in this country. She's especially opposed to U.S. support for Israel's military campaign. A lot of the way our money is allocated feels very surreal sometimes, especially being a student, you know, seeing more money go into military than it does education and schools. As a 20-year-old, this is the first time she's old enough to vote for president. In the Democratic primary this year, she was one of almost 50,000 people in Wisconsin to vote uninstructed, the state's version of an uncommitted vote protesting the war in Gaza. And now in the general election? Obviously, I don't want to vote for Trump. And it's kind of tough with the next best choice being Kamala. It's like, OK, yes, she is like she would be our first black woman president.

It's hard to improve a system that like is inherently broken. She still doesn't know what she'll do. And she says a lot of her college classmates are also on the fence. I don't see enough of my peers voting and being registered to vote. Like most big cities, Milwaukee is overwhelmingly Democratic. In 2020, Joe Biden got 70 percent of the vote in the county, while the entire state split almost exactly 50-50. Yeah, he ultimately carried Wisconsin by less than one percent, roughly the same margin Trump won by four years earlier. So any weakness in the urban Democratic base here could be a problem for Harris.

All right, Mayan, let's keep heading west on North Avenue. What's our next stop? We're going a couple miles down to a place called Bronzeville. It's a historically black neighborhood. It's an arts district. It's been through some rough times, but it's being reinvigorated. And you can kind of see just how segregated Milwaukee is in this short distance. Harold Turner just celebrated his 82nd birthday a couple weeks ago. He's a pastor and also the owner of the Milwaukee Times. Well, it's a weekly newspaper. What's the issue that's got your attention the most right now? Well, a change, and I do believe that Kamala is going to be the next commanding chief.

What do you think this community needs from a president? Well, I think jobs. I think if you work and you feel like you're somebody, if you got a job, you have some worth when you have a job. On the corner of this block, Harold Turner has a neighbor that stands out. The windows are plastered with political signs and posters for Trump. It's a campaign office. When we knock on the door, it's closed and no one is in. But as we keep heading west along this 15-mile artery of North Avenue, we'll leave Milwaukee and head into the suburbs where Trump lawn signs start to appear and the Republican Party is on much stronger footing. Mayan Silver, tell us where we're beginning this half of the journey. So we're starting at about the midway point of North Avenue within the city of Milwaukee.

It's a neighborhood called Metcalfe Park. It's a predominantly black neighborhood. We're going to an institution there called Bill the Butcher. It's been around for decades, but for the past three years, it's been owned by a woman named Latoya James. Hi, I'm Ari. How are you? Nice to meet you. Did you grow up in this community? I definitely did. I've been here all my life, all 45 years of it. When you were a kid and your family was shopping for food here, did you ever think one day you'd be the owner? Never, never, ever, never.

So it was kind of like patting myself on the back. Yeah. In the last two presidential elections, she voted for Hillary Clinton and then Joe Biden. And this time, she hasn't decided between Harris and Trump. He makes good points. And I'm kind of like, Kamala, sorry. But then it's like, OK, Kamala. He makes good points and I'm kind of like Kamala sorry but then it's like okay Kamala you got good points but then it's like uh so yeah I'm in between I'm in between. And what is it that you like about Trump and his policies right now? Trump is kind of firm. He say what he means and he means what he say. She doesn't usually talk about politics with

folks in the community and Lakeisha Ashford who's here shopping for groceries wants to avoid it too. She can't wait for the campaign to be over. To me it's like a bad representation of adults to kids because kids are watching. What's the most important issue to you? The price cutting for rent and food. And I do agree with Vice President Harris saying that affordable for people to buy houses in the neighborhoods. That's a good thing. That's what we really need. As we leave the city and enter the suburbs, we pass a sign that says, Entering Wauwatosa. We're still in Milwaukee County, but this small city on the outskirts used to be reliably Republican. Now it's been going for Democrats, which is a trend we see in suburbs nationally.

You know what this journey is missing? Play. Let's head to the Little Village Play Cafe. Chris Balmer and his wife Leah, a labor and delivery nurse, are here with their 14-month-old boy, Jude. Jude is our first son out of an IVF pregnancy. And so the election is going to be really important to us for access to reproductive care and reproductive health.

That and working in labor and delivery, it really affects kind of every aspect of my life right now. I hate that so much of our life is in the balance as well, that because we have eggs in the freezer, if Trump gets elected, that there's a very good chance that legislation goes into effect that makes our situation illegal. You don't believe him when he says I support IVF?

No, not even a little bit, no. A three-year-old boy runs by with a toy cow. His father, Dwayne Tomka, voted for Trump in 2016 and sat the election out in 2020. And this time, he's leaning a Republican but can't commit just yet. What holds you back from liking Trump, though? He's abrasive, which I think that shoots him in the foot a lot of times. Honestly, I think it's a lot of the people like me just don't want to say what they feel, that they may vote for Trump. Our last stop of the day is out near the end of North Avenue. We're heading out to Waukesha County, which has been a base of Republican support for years.

So we're actually going to a retirement community in the city of Brookfield. The city of Brookfield is a battleground city within a battleground county within a battleground state. For two dollars, traditional. At Ruby Commons Retirement Community, happy hour starts at two, so the residents can start dinner at 4. And this afternoon is bingo. Bingo! Joanne Karstens is 94 and steps away from the game to chat in the hallway. She politely declines the chair we offer.

When I'm over 100, then I'll take my chair. She avoids talking politics with the other residents here, but she thinks about it a lot. I'm worried that Trump will not win. I am very, very concerned about the election. Tell us what your concern is. The open borders. The lack of police support. I-16.

How can a convicted felon run for office? I don't understand that one. 81-year-old Phyllis Glant has glittery blue rhinestones on the seam of her jeans. She used to be a fashion model, posing in ball gowns and wedding dresses. She also used to be a Republican, but she switched to supporting Democrats more than 60 years ago over the issue of abortion rights. And that disturbed me so much because these young kids that might end up pregnant could have to carry a baby to term. I just think that's awful if they don't want to. In one of the apartments at Ruby Commons, Louise Fogelstrom is watching Fox News with David, her husband of 63 years. D-R-U-M-P. Trump, Trump, Trump.

She's a former cheerleader. Stand them on their heads, stand them on their feet. Trump can't be beat. Hey, I just came up with that. The Fogelstroms used to work together in the building products industry. You were my boss, but I always told you what to do. Wrong. This husband and wife in their 80s used pretty salty language to talk about Harris,

the only Wisconsin voters we met who spoke this way about the candidate they oppose. Well, she lies. And that one commercial when she said, the migrants don't kill anybody. I'd like to take that laugh and shove it down her throat. I really would. If she came into this house, I'd say, get your butt out. I don't want to see you. There's a door. Don't let it hit you on the backside. That's right. Are there things about Trump specifically as a person that you especially like? I think he's just a regular guy. What you see is what you get.

Here at Ruby Commons, the staff seems to really care personally about the residents. There are fresh flowers in the vases and lots of activities every day. Jocelyn Clark told us she gets paid to do fun stuff with the seniors, and she's excited to cast her ballot. This year is the year I became an American citizen and it's the first year I get to vote. She's 30 and agreed to talk with us about the election with the clear distinction that these are her personal views

and not those of her employer. Her family is from Honduras. She moved here eight years ago. So for me, being able to live in this time where I can vote for the first female president is super exciting. What is it going to feel like when you cast that ballot? Like, can you describe it? Well, it was amazing when I got to vote for the primary ones.

And I honestly tear up. I say my voting sticker in a little box. And it just felt great because now you feel like you have a voice and you belong somewhere, you know. That's Jocelyn Clark, new American citizen and first time voter. And my Aunt Silver, thank you for hosting us here in your home state of Wisconsin and taking us on a tour of the many different kinds of voters that you can meet along North Avenue. It's been great having you, Ari. Come back anytime. This episode was produced by Karen Zamora and Mia Ven Avenue. It's been great having you, Ari. Come back anytime. This episode was produced by Karen Zamora and Mia Venkat. It was edited by Ashley Brown.

Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.