Michael Hovde doesn’t like Donald Trump’s platform. But for this voter in the key Wisconsin state, the stakes in November’s presidential election go beyond mere political concerns: “Trump is an existential threat to democracy.”
“Terrifying” people surround the billionaire, said the 36-year-old, who met in downtown Appleton, in Outagamie County, one of the most politically divided places in the state.
He cites in particular the famous “Project 2025”, a program shaped by an influential conservative think tank and which takes up many ideas put forward by Donald Trump. The former president has, however, publicly distanced himself from the text.
According to Michael Hovde, these conservatives “really want to circumvent the balance of powers and muzzle the effectiveness of our political system.”
Not far away, beyond the city’s lush lawns and elegant Victorian homes, Casey Stern, 58, is championing the Republican candidate.
In his garden, above the corn cobs and zucchini, flies a “Trump 2024” flag. Another banner calls for the impeachment of Joe Biden with the message “We the people are pissed.”
If the message is direct, the reactions of passers-by are also direct, between rudeness thrown from the street or letters received at his home.
He acknowledges that Donald Trump’s “mean tweets in the middle of the night” can be disturbing, but believes the country needs a leader “with an iron will” to address Americans’ concerns: inflation, immigration and crime.
“Every time you go shopping, you can’t afford to buy a steak,” he laments.
He mocks Democratic accusations that Donald Trump is endangering democracy and accuses President Joe Biden of stifling public debate around the Covid-19 pandemic.
For him, “Biden has done more to harm democracy.”
“To be accountable”
If there’s one state where the Democratic message of Donald Trump as a threat to democracy can mobilize voters, it’s Wisconsin.
Once known for its polite politics, the state has transformed into an epicenter of partisanship and a key swing state in November’s election.
Donald Trump narrowly won the state in the 2016 election before being narrowly reclaimed by Joe Biden in 2020.
The election of Scott Walker as governor in 2010 was a turning point: the Republican implemented radical changes, far from the moderate political customs of the state.
He stripped power from unions and his team redrew electoral maps to secure Republican support in the state.
But in November, Democrats are hoping for a rematch, thanks to less partisan electoral maps drawn following a state Supreme Court decision.
Kristin Alfheim, a Democratic candidate for state Senate, believes that this increased competitiveness of constituencies can only be good for democracy.
“It keeps both parties accountable, knowing that they’re going to have to work together,” she says.
“A question of fairness”
For Arnold Shober, a professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, concerns about democracy have had “particular resonance” in Wisconsin since Scott Walker’s defeat in 2018.
But it can be a double-edged sword: Republican voters, who fear disorder, remember the protests, albeit nonviolent, in the state Capitol against Mr. Walker’s anti-union measures, known as “Act 10.”
And “when we talk about January 6 [l’assaut du Capitole à Washington en 2021] “In Wisconsin, right-wingers immediately say, ‘What about the Democrats on Act 10?'” Shober said. “They see it as a question of fairness: ‘You did it, so we can do it.'”
Paper capital in the 19th centurye century, Outagamie County was long dominated by Republicans.
But Appleton, with its cocktail bars, artisan bakeries and independent boutiques, is increasingly becoming Democratic territory.
This is a local manifestation of the division between towns and countryside that affects the whole country.
The county’s top official, Tom Nelson, though left-leaning, has been reelected consistently since 2011 despite the political polarization created by Mr. Trump, a man he said “stoked this malice, this contempt, this hatred.”
Mr. Nelson says he has succeeded in uniting the population around a simpler message than protecting democracy: People “want to be able to live in a safe and healthy environment, with a strong and vibrant economy.”