Over the weekend Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff picked up where his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, left off on Tuesday after officially launching her campaign.
On Saturday, Emhoff, along with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Senator Tammy Baldwin, gave remarks at the start of the annual Hmong people's festival in Wausau, Wisconsin. Afterward, Emhoff rallied canvassers at the Portage County Democratic Party HQ in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
That's your boring journalism-y lede. Now let's break down what that actually means before this red eye runs out.
Wisconsin is a swing state (duh). Like many midwestern states, the once reliably blue voting blocs have begun to get all purple. There are large swaths of voters up for grabs, but they're all in different demographic and geographic blocs. And the best way to reach those voters is through simple, old-fashioned door knocking, and face-to-face politicking.
At least that seems to be the strategy Democrats are utilizing in Wisconsin right now. If there's a chance, we'll sit down with Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler and talk nerdy over some cheese curds.
We're literally only a week into Harris’s campaign, and a lot is still in motion. The shift of resources and staff from President Joe Biden to Harris is being carried out at a dizzying pace. Signs and buttons can be pushed out in a day with enough time and money, but a presidential campaign can't just pick up an entirely new staff this late in an election. People need to be vetted, get-out-the-vote strategies need to be crafted, roles need to be assigned, local party offices need a budget for coffee and pizza. It's truly impressive what Harris’s people have accomplished in such a short amount of time.
This brings us to Doug Emhoff speaking at the Hmong Wausau Festival on Saturday.
The Hmong are a large diasporic group originating from Southeast Asia. In the US, there are over 360,000 people who identify as Hmong, and over 55,000 are in Wisconsin alone. During the Vietnam War, the Hmong people served as fierce allies of US forces. After the war, they were persecuted, jailed, and worse. Over the last few decades, many have made their way to the US as refugees only to face racial prejudice from ignorant assholes.
So it makes sense to see Evers, Baldwin and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez saluting and shaking hands with Hmong veterans who have yet to be federally recognized for their service. Emhoff sharing a toast of sparkling grape juice at 10 in the morning with Mr. and Mrs. Hmong National isn't just a great photo op (if you can get it), it's a powerful gesture of goodwill that will echo through a group of voters vulnerable to the anti-immigrant policies laid out by Donald Trump and Project 2025.
About two hours later, Emhoff was in Portage County giving a quick speech to canvassers at the local Democratic Party HQ.
Wisconsin Democrats have seen a surge in donations and volunteers since Harris's announcement, Wikler recently told Ezra Klein. Letting those volunteers get some face-to-face time with surrogates boosts morale. It might not seem important until you've been pounding the pavement and banging on doors with nothing but a clipboard and an empty bottle of water in the dead heat of summer. That's when a few humbling words and a joke can be the difference between calling it quits for the day, and pushing on to the next street.
There's an old cliché that "all politics is local," because it's true. After Emhoff's speech, I went outside from the packed little party HQ to get some fresh air and a cigarette. There was a gentleman milling about whose name I needed to match with a photo. He was big, tall, bespectacled, everyone knew his name and he was so damn jovial.
"Well, that makes,” he said. “I'm the mayor! Mike Wiza.” He shot his hand out and we laughed as we shook.
Mayor Wiza joked that he was surprised to see "an international photojournalist" in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. "Gosh," Wiza said, "I don't know if that's ever happened."
When I mentioned that I was thinking about grabbing some ice cream from the place across the street, Wiza lit up. He explained that we were in the “Ice Cream District” of Stevens Point, and that the place across the street, Belt’s, was the oldest ice cream shop in town.
"Try the Hunky Monkey," Wiza said. "It's chocolate flakes, walnuts, and bananas."
Standing in line with three members of the US Secret Service, we watched in astonishment as a kid grabbed a foot of ice cream towering atop a tiny cone.
"They do 'em big here," Wiza said with a laugh. “Get whatever you want, it’s all on me.”
As a journalist, I thanked Wiza for the offer but declined the offer for ethical reasons. Wiza shrugged and told me that he understood and appreciated my professionalism.
“‘Without fear, or favor,’” I told myself as I bit into the best damn ice cream I’ve had in years.
I want to go to a place where the mayor buys ice cream for strangers. And I'm unethical enough to accept it! ;-)
OT - the Social Worker has been and gone. She seemed impressed, but she did flag up a few concerns regarding my health, and our support network. It was nothing we weren't expecting, and tbh, I think I could realistically argue my case that their expectation are unrealistic.
The next step is to wait for a decision from the panel, we should have that in a couple of weeks.