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Inside Politics

Establishment Pick Crowley Narrowly Defeats Socialist Hong; Do Wisconsin Results Signal Limits To Far-Left Surge?; Last Primary Results Fuel Democratic Identity Battle; 14-Term Rep. John Larson Loses Primary To 47-Year-Old Challenger; Wisconsin GOP Gov. Nominee Was A Leading Election Denier In 2020. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 12, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: The Democratic pendulum swings again, exposing a party deeply divided over where it goes next.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

It is a cliche we know politicians love. The only poll that counts is Election Day. In the last 24 hours, Wisconsin reminded us why that cliche actually matters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CROWLEY, (D) WISCONSIN GOV. CANDIDATE: Today, I stand before the people of Wisconsin after we rose from the ashes, after we -- after we rebuilt this campaign with purpose, and after people of Wisconsin decided that the bright future that working Wisconsin families deserve is worth fighting for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was David Crowley today accepting the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin governor, something that was unthinkable just last month because he dropped out of the race, only to jump back in 10 days later after another candidate exited. Crowley pulled off a razor-thin victory in a crucial swing state, beating Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong by less than 4,000 votes. Signs pointed to a Hong victory until the closing days of the campaign, when the sitting Democratic governor Tony Evers hit the trail with Crowley and openly questioned whether Hong could win in November.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Madison still, and you have been there, Jeff, for several days leading up to the election, talking to voters as they went into the polls. Now, what are you hearing, and kind of what are your thoughts given your experience there on the ground for so long?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, even the smartest of Democratic strategists who have worked in Democratic politics here for years and years did not see this coming. They believed that Francesca Hong was sort of capturing this mood inside the Democratic Party. But looking back at the results, it's clear that some voters actually did see this coming, and it was that argument from Governor Evers, who is really making this direct appeal to voters using words like, don't squander what the party has done.

And after we cover these races, as you as have done over the years as well, you kind of think back to those voters who crystallized what this campaign was all about. Well, right now, I am thinking back to Karen Neff, who I met the other evening at a Crowley rally, and she summed up her view of the race like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN NEFF, WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC VOTER: I don't think there's anything wrong with being a Democratic socialist, but she's come up so strong that I think she's going to scare people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, I think she's going to scare people, talking about Francesca Hong there. That really was a through line of many of our conversations with voters about electability. Will Democrats be able to hold the state house in Madison and all that means? And Republicans may have done something that backfired a bit here.

Talking to Democratic strategists here this morning. They believe those ads from the Republican Governors Association, about $4 million in ads, effectively trying to prop Hong's candidacy up, may have motivated some Democrats to vote against her. Again, pushing that the label of being a Democratic socialist, I mean, it was going to be a moment for that label to be attested statewide. We've not seen that, but that clearly will not happen. So, David Crowley, the Milwaukee County Executive, he reintroduced himself this morning, but clearly this race now is just being rejoined with Tom Tiffany.

BASH: Yeah, definitely. And what an interesting bit of reporting there. I mean, all of it, but specifically, I was struck by what you said about the Republican ads potentially backfiring to boost Hong. Jeff, don't go too far. We're going to bring you back in on the conversation about last night. Progressives did score a win next door in Minnesota.

Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, trounced moderate Congresswoman Angie Craig in the Senate primary. Flanagan also had the backing of the senator she's seeking to replace Senator Tina Smith. He's going to join us later in the program.

Now I'm joined by a group of terrific reporters, including our political director, David Chalian. David, take it away.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR & WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, when you started the show, you said the pendulum swung right, and I was thinking, well, it's swinging like this. You know, I mean, it was still super close. So, I don't think if you are on the establishment side of the party and talking to people there, I don't -- some of the smart establishment Democrats I've talked to don't see this as some sort of death knell for the progressive movement. That is still where a lot of the energy is inside the party and the divide is clear.

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What I did hear from those establishment Democrats was a sigh of relief in this race because they were really of the mind that had Hong emerged as the nominee here, that that really would have put this seat in greater jeopardy than it otherwise would be in a battleground state, and they weren't looking for any kind of jeopardy.

So, I did hear that. I do think, though, as we saw in Michigan over the last week, we've been seeing the party trying to come together. That'll be the task here now too for Crowley to really stitch the party together and really keep the focus on Tiffany with a unified front.

BASH: Yeah. And just going back to how to read this about -- when we're looking at the bigger picture and the fight within the Democratic Party. What you said is really key about her candidacy. I spoke to Anna Greenberg, who is a Democratic strategist and pollster. She was actually working for Peggy Flanagan, who won last night.

But on the question of Hong, Anna told me she was a bad candidate without national support. Candidate quality matters. And then David, on the sigh of relief from National Democrats, Tom Suozzi said this to me in a text. Let's just say it's a day of Thanksgiving and seen.

CHALIAN: Exactly. Suozzi is good with the turn of phrase there. What Anna Greenberg saying, I mean, you were noting some of the endorsements Flanagan had in (inaudible), but Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they were not with Francesca Hong in this race. So that was one key indicator that she wasn't seen as somebody that even that side of the movement, those leaders wanted to get on board with.

Now, perhaps if she had won, there would have been a coming together on that. But when it was about Wisconsin Democrats making a choice here, it wasn't like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were trying to put their thumb on the scale.

BASH: Yeah. And you mentioned stitching the party back together, which is what any Democratic nominee has to do after a tough primary fight. Listen to a little bit more of what David Crowley said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: We may not agree on every policy. We may not use the same labels, but we all want safe communities, strong schools, affordable healthcare, good paying jobs, and a brighter future for all of our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, what I find so fascinating about this race, and I agree, I think it's from the conversations I'm having are more of the national scales about what this means for the movement overall and where the party is looking. And I think in a battleground state, that was really what I wanted to see. In Wisconsin, would they come out for Francesca Hong, like they have in all of these different urban cities, or is there a limit to it? I agree.

Given it was such a narrow margin, I'm not sure that it really says that this movement is over, you know, at all. And I've seen some commentary about that today, but at the same time, I think there are limits to it, particularly in a state where they are very worried about the Republican. And I know that I'll say this in my conversations with people at the White House and other Republicans about what they're trying to do in their messaging ahead of November. Having someone like David Crowley is going to be to them much harder to message against, and I think that's of course the message that resonated in Wisconsin.

BASH: Right. There's a reason why Republicans were trying to boost Francesca Hong because they thought she was an easier candidate to beat, which is why a lot of the Democrats didn't want her to get the nominee. And we saw Tom Tiffany, who we're going to talk about a little bit later, who is the Republican nominee there for governor.

He went after Hong a lot in a way that made clear what the strategy would have been going forward. You said something that I think is really important on the whole question of the pendulum swinging, and it is -- it's like this right now. And that's not just with either party, it's not just Republican to Democrat because it's a split country, but it's with -- we were talking about this this morning. It's within the parties, particularly the Democratic Party.

The fact that it was 3000 to 4000 votes that made the difference, and it was also surprisingly close last week in Michigan, tells you a lot about not just the fight within the Democratic Party, but just how split it is and how tough it's going to be to kind of find that terra firma.

ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, what it also tells me is the decisions that these voters are making are still like very sophisticated. It's very nuanced. I think that there's been a lot of hand wringing, especially among the establishment, that there's this progressive fervor that whoever's on the furthest left, whoever can kind of outflank, is going to be the one that wins.

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And what this shows us is that primary voters are still kind of trying to think through electability and do I like this candidate? Do I think they will be good at governing? Can they beat the opponent? All things that are, you know, kind of exist across the spectrum still. And so, yes, there may be more enthusiasm now for ideas that are more progressive than people would have contemplated, you know, four or five years ago.

But there is still a calculus going on for voters of, you know, ultimately if I'm a Democrat, I want a Democrat to win, if I'm a Republican, I want a Republican to win. And how do I kind of help contribute to get to that part? So, it's just a lot more, I think, thinking than maybe that, you know, folks have given voters credit for in the last few weeks.

BASH: And then there's the question, the energy is there in the Democratic Party for new, for different, for a fight. It's also for, get the people who are there, especially if they are older, out of there, and we saw that in Connecticut last night. John Larson, who has been in Congress for decades. He is 78 years old. He lost, lost big. You see there with that vote board to Luke Bronin, who's 47 years old. It wasn't even close. And this is not an ideological question. If you say the energy is on the left of the party, John Larson fits that. It's a generational question.

CHALIAN: I mean, he was seeking his 15th term in Congress. And as you said, I mean, he's been there since 1999, and this was the argument that the former Hartford mayor was making, Bronin in this. And you are right. We saw it in our polling last week also, Dana, like a majority of America -- and this is not just happening on the Democratic side.

A majority of Americans do not think these the current entrenched political establishment deserves renewed contracts. They want to see a change, and they're hungry for it. And I think some of these generational battles have -- given real -- a real vehicle to that sensibility among voters in some of these primary.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, in the House alone, 10 incumbents have lost. I believe, seven on the Democratic side. This is just the House. Of course, we have the high-profile Senate races where the incumbents --

CHALIAN: And that number 10 is like a high-water mark, going back to like 1970 for a non-traditional census redistricting year. Yeah.

BASH: All right, everybody, stand by. Up next on the Republican side in Wisconsin. A 2020 election denier could become the governor of this swing state, really swingy state in America. We'll explain the stakes of that. Plus, new reporting reveals what triggered a presidential escape even Hollywood couldn't script. The man who wrote the thriller, Air Force One says this real-life operation defied even his imagination.

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BASH: If last night was the first time you heard from Tom Tiffany, the GOP nominee for Wisconsin governor, he probably sounded pretty moderate to you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM TIFFANY (R-WI): Whatever your political label, Republican, Independent, politically homeless, or a Democrat, there's a place for you in the commonsense movement. If you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in the land of opportunity, join us. If you're ready for new leadership that puts Wisconsin families first, join us. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That message leaves out pretty important part of Tiffany's record, election de nihilism. Congressman Tiffany objected to the certification of President Biden's 2020 victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He signed onto a lawsuit to overturn the results in his own state. Although presumably he was fine with the results in his own district, which he won. He also cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in ballots. If he's elected, Tiffany would have the power to appoint the state's top election officials to oversee the voting and counting in the 2028 presidential election.

Adam, this is something that we have been sort of dealing with and talking about since 2020, but the fact that this individual has the potential to win in Wisconsin, which was so close so many times, and so key in this fight that Donald Trump and his supporters waged in Wisconsin is obviously going to be a big part of this race.

CANCRYN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it shows you how much of a kind of core pillar this has become of just kind of the GOP writ large. This idea that, you know, elections don't go your way. Suddenly, there's some kind of fraud, and let's figure out how to challenge it. And in part, that stems from it being the price of admission for getting a Trump endorsement for rising to this level in a Republican Party that is still very, very much controlled by Donald Trump.

And so, to a degree, Tom Tiffany, you know, he can't run for this record because then suddenly that raises all kinds of thorny questions about, you know, how strong of a supporter will he be of an ally will he be of Donald Trump. But for swing state, I mean that is a very tough thing to now have to go and make this appeal to independents and potential, you know, crossover voters and say, yeah, ignore that part, you know, everything else is for you and just try to kind of believe me when I -- when I say that's not going to be something that I will focus on going forward. There's no guarantee.

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BASH: Right. Because, especially in a year where it is expected that Republican turnout is going to be kind of depressed, he is going to need the core Trump supporters to get out and vote for him. So, it's going to be potentially hard for him to get away from that. But we'll see how he plays it. Speaking of price of admission.

Let's look next door at Michigan, because the Republican nominee there for Senate, the former Congressman Mike Rogers, was very against election denialism back when it was going on in 2020. So much that he penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, headlined the election was free and fair. This needs to end for the sake of our democracy. The president and some in his party are refusing to accept the outcome of the election, instead sowing doubt and conspiracy. This was an election that multiple independent observers, the courts and both parties have found to be free and fair. To imply otherwise is self- serving and stokes further discord in our country.

Fast forward to now, he is running for Senate, and he was very much in favor of and in need of. He thought President Trump's endorsement after the president gave his big election speech in July. Here's what Rogers said. I'm thankful for President Trump's commitment to transparency. The news coming out of the White House tonight is deeply troubling, especially that of a voter fraud scheme right here in Michigan. And we -- as we learn more in the days to come, one thing remains clear: if our nation does not have security and confidence in our elections, then we do not have much of a nation at all.

CHALIAN: Well, you know, thankfully, if you listen to that, we know that our nation's elections are secure, so that should be good news for Mike Rogers. As you said, price of admission. This is not surprising, and this is now the, you know, second cycle we've seen Rogers as a Senate candidate, and sort of you can just track his evolution. I don't know what the date was of the op-ed you wrote from --

BASH: January 5, 2021.

CHALIAN: OK, the day before the insurrection, he had written that. And then, you know, he was on our air and elsewhere saying about Donald Trump having responsibility for the insurrection that followed all this election denialism, and that is nowhere in his rhetoric to be found now either. You know, this again, you nailed it, Dana.

You -- if you are a Republican running in this political environment, the only way to try and mitigate the headwinds is to juice up turnout among the core Republican base. This is why Donald Trump and the whole White House operation, the plan for the midterm is all about discrediting Democrats far more so.

And portraying them as so far outside the mainstream as a way to gin up enthusiasm among the base rather than trying to at large sort of sell, what they've done or go and address directly some of the affordability concerns. They want to totally discredit the Democrats because that excites the Republican faithful.

BASH: No, absolutely. And on this conversation of election de nihilism and looking ahead to November and something that we talk about a lot here because it matters a lot. The question of what the president is going to do if he does in fact lose the House, and what kind of measures that he is going to try to take. He's hinted at a lot of them. Here's another hint from yesterday with a conservative MAGA host, talking about the potential for a national emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT, TV HOST: If they never get the SAVE America Act done, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections. So, if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship, and a limit to mail-in ballots, and get to the --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (voiceover): Let me just say stranger things have happened. OK, I'll leave it at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Alayna?

TREENE: Stranger things have happened. Look, this is obviously a type of argument that the president loves to hear. He is fixated on this idea of getting voter ID, a lot of the voter restrictions that are laid out in the SAVE America Act. He knows his advisors tell him, despite what he says publicly. He's being told on a daily basis, there are not the votes to pass SAVE America Act in the Senate, and he's fixated on it still.

Now, I will say in the conversations I've been having, even yesterday after that interview, they say there's no real plan to declare a national emergency to get all of those things done. But again, if the president decides that this is what he wants to barrel through with, we've seen how his team and how they're all loyalists around him move to try and make that happen.

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The other thing I will say is the president is very worried about the midterm elections. And I'd remind you, he recognizes what's at stake because it's less even about the candidates for him. A lot of it comes down to he does not want the investigations and the House oversight, and he doesn't want his legacy to be ruined by having his final two years in office be influenced by all of that. And so that's part of why -- where that obsession comes in for him?

BASH: All right, everybody, stand by. Coming up, we have breaking news about the trial of Luigi Mangione. He may be nearing a plea deal. Stay with us.

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