Right now on Upfront the front lines is this the issue for Democratic voters? Abortion going into November, just hours from Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin again, the Biden campaign going all in on abortion, the stakes of this election could not be higher. The new efforts in battleground Wisconsin now our inside look at the campaign efforts and the political gamble. Will it work? I think it's going to take some work. We're not there yet. The match up close races for president and US Senate. What does it all mean? Six months out? It's episode two of a show that we already saw. Marquette Law School poll director Charles Franklin, with a new analysis. The conservative environmentalist. I think every young person should say to Donald Trump that his stance on climate change isn't good enough. The Wisconsin native and a Republican on a mission to combat climate change, Benji Baker, is out with a new book, is now here with us. Then he's in it's a do nothing diss functional Congress. Democrat Peter Barca looking to take on Republican Congressman Brian Style. The last time a Democrat held this seat was me. It was you. That's right. 30 years ago. Yeah. We're one on one. Just moments after his campaign launched, this is Upfront with Gerron Jordan and political director Matt Smith. Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Wisconsin tomorrow. The vice president will be in La Crosse. She's become a centerpiece in the Biden campaign's focus on abortion ahead of November. In recent days, more forcefully and directly going after former president Donald Trump. It's a message now mirrored on the campaign trail in key swing states like Wisconsin. Less than seven months until election Day, Caitlin and I are here in Wisconsin today because it will play a critical role from the North side of Milwaukee to the suburbs in Waukesha County. How those stories made you want to be involved? The Biden campaign is working intently, pushing to mobilize Democratic voters on the issue of abortion. Is abortion top the list this election cycle? It's number one. That's the reason why we're here. Thank you, said. Yeah, absolutely. Top of the list. The Biden campaign events across the state this past week featured Caitlyn Joshua from Louisiana and Amanda Zurawski from Texas. Both impacted, they say, after Roe v Wade was overturned and using what the campaign is pushing to be a consistent refrain, it didn't need to happen. It was preventable. But it did because of Donald Trump Zurawski, who's testified before Congress, is now suing Texas after being denied an abortion when her water broke at 18 weeks, nearly dying, she says, from an infection. Um, this is. The blanket that she was in her story now featured in a $30 million ad buy by the Biden campaign, airing now in key battleground states, including Wisconsin. I'm curious when all of these people leave, what is what do you hope their takeaway is tonight? What do you hope they go do after this? I am hoping that women and men that were here tonight literally take this conversation and bring it to their dinner tables, bring it to their churches, bring it to their organizational groups, and really talk through what reproductive justice is and what abortion care is in our country and how it's under attack. And most importantly, hopefully, that we're moving the needle for president Biden and Vice President Harris to get reelected. And as I say, is this a mobilization effort to get them to go talk to friends, neighbors, whoever before November? Oh, absolutely. And I hope people feel motivated after events like this. And I hope they feel optimistic and hopeful. The events in key Democratic cities like Milwaukee and Madison, but also suburban Waukesha County, a key Republican stronghold. The Biden campaign is needing to reach black and suburban women voters. The question, though, in Wisconsin, is will it work? Abortion has been front and center here in Wisconsin since the overturning of Roe. We're going to be front and center for presidential politics going into November. Is that what's going to mobilize voters still? Do you think Democratic voters in November, we go ahead. I was just going to say, I don't think I can only speak from myself if I guess, but I have never thought of myself as a one issue voter. I think there are several issues. You have to look at several things, because a lot of those issues overlap with another issue. At that point, we might not think that we're single issue people, but again, evangelical, whoever is a single issue for them. I have a friend who is so Christian and he's so full of morals and everything, and he's very much a strong pro Trumper. And I, I called him one day and I said, Robert, let's talk about this because I'm on the other side and I'm trying to understand where you're coming from. And we had a deep conversation like an hour opposite sides of the aisle. And he said to me, Yvonne, you have to understand for evangelicals, I mean, he goes to evangelical synods. That's how synods, that's how much he's involved. And he said, it's abortion. He said, it doesn't matter if it was Trump or anybody else. The issue is abortion for evangelicals. What do you make of Trump saying last week? Let's let's leave it to the states because he is a liar and because he didn't like everybody. I mean, it's been overturned in Ohio, Kansas, anytime there's been something. And now he wants to turn it back a little bit so that it's not him now, you know, he stood up and said, I got Roe versus Wade. I'm the one that did it. I did it. And now all of a sudden his I'm sure his his people are telling him, hey, that's not a good idea. So let's put it to the state. Let's. But you make my word. If he gets in and it comes across to him, he will sign a national ban and stay and states rights go back to the Civil War days. Right. And all that issue about states rights. And at that time, it was racially based. It's a very good way to keep people divided. In Marquette new poll, just 13% of registered voters said abortion was the most important issue headed into November, behind immigration and the border and the economy. Among Wisconsin Democrats, abortion barely topped the economy as the most important issue by two points, and those who consider themselves moderates potentially the key swing voters. The economy dominated as the most important issue by some 27 points over abortion. Go to every kitchen table, every restaurant, every person on the street, and talk about this issue that impacts us. Is that what it's going to take? That's what it's going to take daily. Big picture. How concerned are you when you look at mobilization efforts for Democrats and you look at the economy and immigration and some voters say, yeah, they trust Trump more than Biden on on, I must be hopeful in order to do the work in order to be a warrior in and a champion, I must be hopeful. I must approach this situation in the work that we have to do very optimistically, because families need to see that people need. Voters need to see that that we're optimistic. We can turn this around. Our voters here in Milwaukee energized at this moment, or is it going to take some work? I think it's going to take some work. We're not there yet, but we're getting there. I'm seeing some movements. I'm seeing people talking about it. I'm definitely determined to go to my email and now saying, use me, I'm here. I want to knock on doors. Tom Perez, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, now with senior adviser to the president in Milwaukee Friday, the campaign administration side is, well, talking a lot about abortion heading into November. Is that the right move? Is that a mistake to focus so much when voters are saying economy and immigration? Well, the president spoke in the state of the Union address about freedom and, you know, for not just women, but, you know, for families who are, uh, struggling with infertility. And the president has said very clearly that we need to codify Roe versus Wade and and we see that when you allow for, uh, states to do whatever they want, I mean, look, what's happening in Arizona, it's hard to envision a bigger difference between the president and, uh, the extreme Republicans, as I say, is this a strategy to win in the swing states? Well, again, this is about helping people. This is about making sure that the fundamental freedoms that, frankly, I thought were well settled and the president thought were well settled are maintained. All right. So the new Marquette Law School poll for Wisconsin shows an incredibly close race between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. Trump 51, Biden, 49, among both registered and likely voters, Charles Franklin is the polls director. He joins us now. Charles, welcome back to Upfront. Good to be here. So we learned a lot from these latest poll numbers. What do you think are the most concerning numbers for both the Trump and Biden campaign? As we head into this weekend? Well, I think if you look at the issues, the the top two issues are the economy and then immigration. Uh, but the parties differ a lot in what they think is important. The top issue for Democrats is abortion. The top issues for Republicans are the economy and immigration. And then nothing else. But Democrats. It's only give 1% saying immigration is their top concern. So that's a wide gulf. And it raises the question of, uh, addressing issues that the public is really concerned about when you're voting base doesn't think that's a top priority. There's still the personality issues. People still think Biden is too old. They still think Donald Trump has behaved corruptly. Uh, and those are personal deficits for both candidates that I think help keep the campaign close. Uh, because both sides have strengths and weaknesses at this point. Charles, let's add some more candidates to this presidential mix, which you did in some of your questions. Rfk Jr making some headlines this week, some of his family members coming out endorsing Biden. He got 13% in this poll among registered voters. He still has to make ballot access here in Wisconsin. I'm curious, though, at this moment, what is his impact in this race and who is he pulling votes from? What we found this time and consistently in earlier polling is that Kennedy draws actually a few more percentage points from Republican voters than he does from Democrats. It's about a 4 or 5 points more from Republicans. His support has come down just a little bit. But that gap between Republican and Democratic crossovers to Kennedy has remained pretty stable. I do think that what we see is Kennedy can have an impact, but if you look at the top line, it's a one point race between Biden and Trump, with Kennedy in the mix. It's a two point race without him in the mix. So it's a very modest change. I want to dig into this Senate race a little bit. Baldwin leads Eric Hovde, 52 to 47, among registered voters among likely voters, it's tied 5050. Why didn't this out set the stage? What's going on in this Senate race? Yeah, it's a close race. I think that's the easy answer. It's five points on the registered voter side, uh, Baldwin is drawing some Republican support more than we often see. Uh, Hovde he's getting a little bit of Democratic support, but not as much in independents are the real difference maker between registered and likely voters, with registered voters. Independents are solidly for Baldwin. But when we went to likely voters, the people that are sure they'll vote this fall, it actually narrowed to just a 5149 split. A ton of insight here, Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School poll. Charles, like always, thank you. Thank you. Up next, the young Republican taking on climate change and climate deniers head o