Assad’s Exit, A McDonald’s Arrest, and Ben Wikler’s Democratic Blueprint

Summary

The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Episode: Assad’s Exit, A McDonald’s Arrest, and Ben Wickler’s Democratic Blueprint
Release Date: December 10, 2024
Host: Jon Stewart
Guest: Ben Wickler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party

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Introduction

In this episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Jon Stewart welcomes Ben Wickler, the Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, to discuss pressing political developments both internationally and within the United States. The conversation navigates through the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, a bizarre arrest at a McDonald's, and Wickler’s strategic vision for the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

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The Fall of Assad and Its Aftermath

[02:19] Jon Stewart:
"We can often get cynical about the state of things in the world... But then at our lowest, we get images like these from this weekend. A moment in time of pure, unalloyed joy..."

Jon Stewart opens the discussion by describing the dramatic overthrow of Syria's Assad regime. He paints a vivid picture of Syrian citizens celebrating the end of Assad's 50-year rule, highlighting the toppling of statues as symbols of fallen dictatorship. Stewart humorously contrasts the destruction of Assad's monuments with everyday moments, such as people looting his palace furniture.

[06:07] Ben Wickler:
"Assad fleeing with his family to Russia, where he had been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds."

Wickler provides clarity on Assad's exit, explaining that Assad fled to Russia, subsequently involving himself in the conflict in Ukraine. Stewart humorously speculates about the ensuing chaos in Assad’s absent palace, emphasizing the swift and unexpected nature of the regime's collapse.

[09:39] Ben Wickler:
"The leader of the Islamist rebel group."

The conversation takes a serious turn as Wickler introduces Abu Mohammed Al Jelani, a former Al-Qaeda member who now leads the rebel group that overthrew Assad. Despite a $10 million bounty on his head and alleged ties to ISIS, Jelani presents himself as a reformed and benevolent leader striving for a democratic Syria.

Notable Quote:
[10:37] Ben Wickler:
"There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect."

---

Ben Wickler’s Democratic Blueprint

Transitioning to domestic politics, Jon Stewart engages Wickler in a discussion about his role in revitalizing the Wisconsin Democratic Party and his aspirations to lead the DNC.

[17:03] Ben Wickler:
"Republicans took over Wisconsin in 2010 and immediately smashed unions, suppressed voting rights, gerrymandered the living daylights out of legislative maps to make sure they'd never lose power..."

Wickler outlines the challenges faced by Democrats in Wisconsin, particularly focusing on rampant gerrymandering and suppression tactics employed by Republicans to maintain political dominance. He highlights significant victories, such as flipping two state Supreme Court seats and reelecting Governor Evers, which led to the redrawing of fair legislative maps.

[19:28] Jon Stewart:
"Defensiveness."

In a candid moment, Stewart probes whether Wickler has encountered resistance within the DNC establishment. Wickler emphasizes the importance of grassroots organizing and authentic engagement with voters, contrasting his populist approach with what he perceives as a more corporatist vibe in traditional DNC strategies.

[20:46] Ben Wickler:
"What we want is a government that is structurally required to pay attention to what people want and is held accountable for what happens, whether or not they actually deliver it."

Wickler advocates for a Democratic strategy centered on accountability and direct support for working-class voters, stressing the need to move beyond mere analytics and data-driven campaigns to genuine, impactful governance.

Notable Quote:
[25:10] Jon Stewart:
"Is someone writing this down? Stop with the analytics. Just, oh, I'm sorry..."

---

Challenges Facing the Democratic Party

The dialogue delves into the systemic and messaging challenges that the Democratic Party faces in contemporary politics.

[23:09] Ben Wickler:
"These voters have a lot going on in their lives... if you're experiencing hardship, you're gonna vote for change. You're gonna vote for something else."

Wickler addresses the disconnect between Democratic messaging and the lived experiences of working-class voters, emphasizing that policies must resonate on a personal level to drive electoral success.

[26:08] Ben Wickler:
"If we're not winning working-class voters again across race and ethnicity... we're gonna lose. And we are the party that actually believes everyone should be able to join a union and fight for better working conditions and wages."

He underscores the necessity of rebuilding connections with voters who feel marginalized by the current economic and political landscape, advocating for policies that address their immediate concerns.

[29:00] Jon Stewart:
"Or vote to overthrow any status quo."

Stewart and Wickler discuss the implications of political cynicism fostered by Republican strategies, highlighting the importance of the Democratic Party presenting a clear and competent alternative.

---

Strategic Vision for the Future

Ben Wickler outlines his vision for the DNC, emphasizing grassroots engagement and authentic communication.

[32:43] Ben Wickler:
"There are thousands of people who work in politics... You actually have to fight in a way that makes a difference in people's lives so that they remember who was on their side when something went wrong."

Wickler advocates for a bottom-up approach, prioritizing community-driven initiatives and transparent governance to rebuild trust and ensure responsive leadership.

[34:14] Ben Wickler:
"We have to show that we're fighting for people, that it works, that we can deliver."

He stresses the importance of demonstrating tangible results and maintaining an authentic connection with voters to counteract political disillusionment.

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a lighthearted exchange between Stewart and Wickler, reinforcing the importance of passionate and effective political leadership. Stewart humorously announces Wickler as a nominee for DNC chair, highlighting the energy and dedication Wickler brings to the Democratic cause.

[35:33] Jon Stewart:
"Ben Wickler is a nominee for president of the... Democratic National Committee... this is official."

Wickler reiterates the critical role of leadership in mobilizing millions of people to achieve electoral victories, emphasizing collective effort and grassroots involvement.

[35:33] Ben Wickler:
"Listen, it matters who leads the Democratic National Committee... I'm running to get people involved. I want people to join and fight and win."

---

Notable Quotes Summary

• Ben Wickler on Democratic Strategy:
  “What we want is a government that is structurally required to pay attention to what people want and is held accountable for what happens, whether or not they actually deliver it.” [19:28]

• Ben Wickler on Voter Engagement:
  “These voters have a lot going on in their lives... if you're experiencing hardship, you're gonna vote for change. You're gonna vote for something else.” [23:09]

• Jon Stewart on Political Messaging:
  “Stop with the analytics. Just, oh, I'm sorry...” [25:10]

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition masterfully blends international and domestic political analysis with humor and sharp commentary. Jon Stewart and Ben Wickler engage in a thoughtful dialogue about the intricacies of political strategy, the importance of authentic voter engagement, and the challenges facing the Democratic Party. Through insightful discussions and memorable quotes, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the current political landscape and the pathway forward envisioned by one of its emerging leaders.

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Listen to The Daily Show: Ears Edition weeknights on Comedy Central at 11/10c or stream it on Paramount+.

Transcript

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[Jon Stewart]

Hey, everybody, Jon Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with Jon Stewart. Wherever you get your podcast.

[Ben Wickler]

You'Re listening.

[Jon Stewart]

To Comedy Central from the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news.

[Geico Advertiser]

This is the Daily show with your host, Jon Stewart.

[Jon Stewart]

Boom. Welcome to the Daily Show. My name is John Stewart. Man, do we have a good show for you tonight. The chairman, not the alderman, not the assistant, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Only at the Daily show does that get a big round of applause. Really? Wisconsin Democratic Party Ben Wickler is going to be joining us to discuss the future of the national Democratic Party. Specifically, is there going to be one?

[Ben Wickler]

I don't know.

[Jon Stewart]

But first, ladies and gentlemen, we can often get cynical about the state of things in the world, fall in a cycle of despair, as though the horrors and deprivations of our modern world can never be overturned or undone. But then at our lowest, we get images like these from this weekend. A moment in time of pure, unalloyed joy, the delirious, almost uncomprehending excitement for a people celebrating a suddenly bright and hopeful new future. Yes, even the people of Syria are celebrating the New York Mets signing Ron Soto, chanting, you heard them. You heard them in the streets chanting. I can only assume we're going to the series. I, I, I kid. Of course, those images were jubilant Syrians celebrating the end of the 50 year rule of the murderous, despotic Assad family, a result that would have seemed incomprehensible even two weeks ago. And you know it's the real deal because they sealed it with the universal symbol of fallen dictatorships, the traditional toppling of the statues. They pulled them down with rope, they toppled the horse. One, they knocked over the one where Assad signaled field goal. They even paraded Assad's head through the streets like a decapitated Charlie Brown in the Macy's Day parade. And if I may, a quick word to the many remaining despots in the Middle East. It is my deepest hope that when you see this footage, you realize once and for all that you are really skimping on statue structural integrity. Because when you are overthrown, and you will be. They're just going through these statues like it's tissue paper. I mean, this one here. Look at this one here. The guy just pushes it over with one hand. It's all boom. It's just one guy. This statue is a symbol of my eternal power and iron fist. That. Oh, no, don't touch it. It's just clay and pressed wood shavings. Father always told me, if it's worth putting up a symbol of autocracy, it's worth doing it right. And while the dictators could have made it fun for people by filling the statues with candy or something, Assad's former subjects are still finding a way to have fun with the toppled totems. It's like their new public transport system. Some kind of. Some kind of Syrian version of a Club Med banana boat. By the way, I. I don't speak Arabic, but I'm pretty sure that what they were chanting there is mustache rides 5 cents. Oh, I know that fella there is feeling the sweet taint of freedom. But while Statu Assad is being teabagged in the streets, actual Assad has left the building.

[Ben Wickler]

Assad fleeing with his family to Russia, where he had been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, didn't I get that hug? Oh, that's so sweet. Yes, Putin has given Assad humanitarian asylum and then immediately sent him to go fight in Ukraine. They're very. They're very shorthanded. But obviously, it's a great decision by Assad. I think no leader can go wrong in their exile choice by posing one simple question to themselves. What would Steven Seagal do? But if Assad is in Russia, you know what that means? Nobody's home at the palace. It's open house, people. The estate sale begins. Crowds are pillaging the palace. They are sitting in his chairs. They are taking pictures in his chair. They are stealing more chairs. Was there some kind of terrible seating problem in this country? The people are rushing the palace and they're just taking the chairs. People are coming out, like, don't bother going in. The good chairs are gone. All that's left is money, jewelry and antiquities. In fact, I want to show you real quick my favorite moment from the looting of Assad's palace. A gentleman in the palatial room frustrated that this chair is not reclining. Are there no depths to Assad's depravity? Where are the cupholders? And obviously this. Which is surprising because in that part of the world, you'd think there'd be an abundance of at least Ottomans. There's an empire of. What was startling to me is how quickly the whole thing unfolded. I mean, how long did it take to overthrow the Assad regime? The regime overthrown by rebel fighters in just 11 days. 11. How did they manage to end a decade long civil war and defeat the entire Syrian military in just 11 days? And wait, zoom in on there. Is that. Zoom. Are you kidding me? No, there's no way that guy. What? How did. Is that where he rode that city bike? Is that actually couldn't have been that guy today? They did appear to catch that guy today at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It's true. Look, I'm sorry, guys. Apparently a bystander at the McDonald's ratted him out. And normally I would say snitches get stitches, but obviously without pre approval, there's really. Seriously though, I want to meet the rebel mastermind who overthrew this entrenched regime.

[Ben Wickler]

The leader of the Islamist rebel group.

[Jon Stewart]

Abu Mohammed Al Jawani, arriving triumphantly in.

[Ben Wickler]

Damascus, addressing a crowd at a mosque.

[Jon Stewart]

My God. All hail Syrian John Turturro. Tell me more about this modern day George Washington.

[Ben Wickler]

Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed Al Jelani, who's been on the US terror watch lists since 2013.

[Jon Stewart]

Significant portions of Al Jilani's group maintain strong links to ISIS.

[Ben Wickler]

A former Al Qaeda member, he's got.

[Jon Stewart]

A $10 million bounty on his head. Ooh, $10 million? Hope he never ends up in a McDonald's in Altoona. Okay, so we've got a former Al Qaeda guy in charge now. What does he have planned for the new Syria? I'm assuming it's some Taliban esque brutal fundamentalist dystopia.

[Ben Wickler]

There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect. I ask God Almighty that this be.

[Jon Stewart]

A conquest free of revenge, but a.

[Ben Wickler]

Conquest entirely of mercy and love.

[Jon Stewart]

Conquest of mercy and love? I think that's how Taylor ended the eras tour. Wait, the. The new leader of Syria is a swiftie? How many. How many terror groups is that guy in?

[Ben Wickler]

This is a joke. This is joke.

[Jon Stewart]

I'm a switchy. Seriously, though, how did an Al Qaeda associate suddenly turn into Deepak Chopra? You've gone through quite the transformation.

[Ben Wickler]

Once an Al Qaeda leader and now you are projecting this image of a moderate leader and a moderate group. I believe that everyone in life goes through phases and experiences, and these experiences naturally increase a person's awareness. A person in their 20s will have a different personality than someone in their 30s or 40s.

[Jon Stewart]

I get it. Who amongst us hasn't gone through an emo phase or goth phase or a 911 phase? You know? You know how kids are. I don't like jihad anymore, dad. I'm into horses. Jelani's purported transformation to a more benevolent governance gives me hope as our country goes through its hopefully peaceful transfer of power to hopefully a more humbled and mature leader as well.

[Ben Wickler]

In his first network TV interview since the election, President elect Donald Trump says.

[Jon Stewart]

He would like to see members of the January 6 committee sent to jail. Honestly, they should go to jail or not. That is, of course, the incoming United States president and I'm assuming future statue have her. Donald Trump, who this weekend was in Europe, continuing the long American tradition of not waiting for the inauguration to become president and head overseas and meet with allies and remind everybody how weird he is about shaking hands. Top down, up down, bottom side to side, grab it. Hit me on the flibbity. And how seamlessly Trump resumed his official duties of looking boring. This is so dumb. Now, normally, the first lady, Melania, would have been there to say to Donald, sit up. But another stroke of weirdness, Trump was apparently traveling with his predecessor's wife, attending the opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral with Jill Biden. It was a rare moment of conciliation, one that would have given this country hope had it not immediately been undermined by the returning president releasing an actual cologne ad belittling and sexualizing said moment. The caption there saying, a fragrance your enemies can't resist. The men's cologne and women's perfume are both selling for $199. You won. You won. You don't have to push merch anymore. I find it hard to believe I'm saying this, but it's beneath you. I mean, for God's sakes, you don't see Jelani out there pushing product. I conquered Syria, and now you can.

[Ben Wickler]

Conquer dry hair follicles with my new.

[Jon Stewart]

Line of beard oil. When we return, Ben Winkler will be joining us. Don't go away.

[Geico Advertiser]

How do you feel when you switch to Geico and Save on your car insurance. It's like going to work on one Thursday morning and thinking to yourself, just one more day until Friday. But then somebody in the elevator says, happy Friday. Then you check your phone quickly and discover today is actually Friday. So yes, Happy Friday. Random stranger in the elevator. Happy Friday indeed. Yep. Switching and saving with Geico feels just like that. Get more with Geico.

[Jon Stewart]

Hey, everybody, Jon Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with Jon Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the bailing show. My guest tonight, he is currently the head of the Wisconsin Democratic Party running to be chair of the Democratic National Committee. Please welcome to the program Ben Wickler. Sir, I'm good, thank you. Thank you for coming in from Wisconsin. The Democrats, and I'm getting it. You know, we take a little questions and things from the audience early on and the biggest question that we get is no follow up. And then the tears. Yeah, sometimes vomiting. It appears the Democratic Party is slightly broken. You run the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which was broken before you took it over. There was a super majority in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin was diabolically making changes to withstand power. Scott Walker was the governor. How did you turn that situation around?

[Ben Wickler]

So Republicans took over Wisconsin in 2010 and immediately smashed unions, suppressed voting rights, gerrymandered the living daylights out of legislative maps to make sure they'd never lose power, even if voters tried to throw them out. And for years it looked as though Wisconsin was gonna fall off the cliff, be a state where Republicans controlled everything, whether voters liked it or not.

[Jon Stewart]

Undemocratically so, because through all those methods like what New York, the Democrats in New York had tried to do is gerrymander it, you know, even if it was closer than it should be, those were the methods they undertook.

[Ben Wickler]

So 2012, 2018, Democrats won a majority of the votes for the legislature. Republicans got almost 2/3 of the seats.

[Jon Stewart]

Wow.

[Ben Wickler]

And 2018, I moved home and volunteered. Governor Evers, now Governor Evers, ran, and in a landslide year for Democrats nationally, he won by 1.1 percentage point. Super, super close. It was like we'd grabbed a branch as we fell off the side of a cliff and we were pulling ourselves up by our fingernails. Republicans then took away a bunch of the powers he'd been elected to wield. Republicans re gerrymandered the state through the state Supreme Court after that. And I was elected chair in 2019 with the goal of supercharging, our kind of grassroots organizing and how we communicate across the state. And year over year, we flipped two. We won two critical state Supreme Court races. We were able to reelect Governor Evers, stop a Republican supermajority. Finally, a new kind of pro democracy majority on the state Supreme Court struck down the gerrymander. We stopped Republicans from preemptively impeaching a Supreme Court justice. And this year, finally, for the first time in 15 years, we had fair maps. And it meant that even in a year where we were basically 50, 50 statewide in terms of the votes, we flipped 14 state legislative seats. It is now Democrats are on track to win a majority in both legislative chambers in 2026.

[Jon Stewart]

Wow.

[Ben Wickler]

We reelected Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. senate. We actually added votes for Harris relative to Biden. We were the battleground state, the whole state in the country that came closest to defeating Trump, where Trump still won. There was a lot of Republican turnout. There's still work to do. But we're a democracy again. And that is the goal. That is the fight that we're fighting.

[Jon Stewart]

Here's the idea. I'm just gonna throw it out there. I'm just spitballing. We gerrymander the shit out of that place and appoint a bunch of Democrats to the state Supreme Court and cut all the power out from. No, no, no.

[Ben Wickler]

Okay.

[Jon Stewart]

No, your plan's probably good too.

[Ben Wickler]

We what. What we want. What we want is a government that is structurally required to pay attention to what people want and is held accountable for what happens, whether or not they. They actually deliver it.

[Jon Stewart]

Was it only a structural issue? They're. They're gonna applaud. Uh, did you make any changes to, to the messaging to connect? Because again, I don't want to give the impression that. I think that this election, the Democrats lost because structurally things were against them. I think they have a messaging issue. I think they have a what do they stand for Issue.

[Ben Wickler]

I think there's both.

[Jon Stewart]

Okay.

[Ben Wickler]

And I will say in this election just now, if Republicans hadn't taken over the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2022 and then gerrymandered that state, then right now Democrats would have a majority in the US House of Representatives. We're where we are because Republicans have paid attention to these down ballot races that the rest of the country doesn't even notice that have enormous consequences later. Right now, Wisconsin has a state Supreme Court race in April. Susan Crawford versus Brad Schimmel. Sure. But my point is the thriller in Manila. But there are Susan Crawford's and Brad Schimmels all over the country. Don't say that. Here's my point. The national party, there is an infrastructure piece which is to have a strategy in every state to prevent that state from being rigged and thrown out of. And that's part of what we need to do at the Democratic National Committee. That's why I'm running for DNC chair now.

[Jon Stewart]

And you're running to be the National DNC chair?

[Ben Wickler]

Yes, I am.

[Jon Stewart]

You are outside of though, the establishment. Look, one of the things that's been difficult for the Democrats over these past years is they have been a real status quo establishment party. They suppressed, I think Bernie's role in the 2016 election. You know, they've put their thumb on the scales pretty clearly. You're an outsider. Are they going to put their thumbs on the scale against you?

[Ben Wickler]

I think Democrats across the country, members of the Democratic National Committee, we're, there's a real sense of unity that we need to change and adapt and win elections. And the question is how we do that. And to me it is these two things. One of them is organizing, building the kind of infrastructure and apparatus, supporting state parties across the country to have the kind of strength that has made such a difference in Wisconsin. And the second piece is that we need to show people, working folks across the country, and this is across race and ethnicity. This is rural areas, small towns, cities, suburbs, that we are fighting for them and that we mean it, that we know this is not a game. And that to me is the central thing that we know Trump next year is going to try to pass a multi trillion dollar tax cut for the richest people in the world. And he'll do that by trying to cut healthcare. They're talking about cutting the Veterans Administration and veterans benefits. That's stuff that the vast majority of Americans do not want. And Democrats need to get caught trying to fight back against that and to create a country that works for working people.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Ben Wickler]

If.

[Jon Stewart]

But see that I think that the difficulty is, and it's the kind of rhetoric that I very much appreciate. I don't know that I felt like they've governed with that urgency that you're, that you're speaking with, you know, and that's the part how connected are the Democrats even here in the audience? You know, A lot of people talk about, well, geez, do you think there were structural issues? Is that why we lost? It was pretty clear. This was a whooping on narrative that I.

[Ben Wickler]

Let me. Let me personally disagree.

[Jon Stewart]

Yes, Please.

[Ben Wickler]

So this election. This is the first election of my lifetime where we lost the majority of the voters who were making less than $50,000 a year.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Ben Wickler]

And those voters have a lot going on in their lives. A lot of them are the people least likely to be watching political news, hearing really either side's message, and they're folks who often got a lot of financial support during the pandemic, when we passed expanded unemployment insurance and child tax credit. All this stuff that really made a difference. And then it went away at the same time as prices went up. And if you're experiencing you have less money in the bank and you have to spend more to fill a prescription or buy your groceries or ensure you don't lose the home where you're putting your kids to bed, then you're gonna vote for change. You're gonna vote for something else.

[Jon Stewart]

Correct.

[Ben Wickler]

Now, Trump is gonna make things worse for working people and Democrats.

[Jon Stewart]

But that was the argument that the Democrats were making, that he's gonna make it worse. I guess.

[Ben Wickler]

But this is the.

[Jon Stewart]

I think we're saying the same thing.

[Ben Wickler]

I think we're saying the same thing.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah.

[Ben Wickler]

And I think a lot of people did not hear our message, and some people who heard it didn't believe it. But let me ask you. And that is. Those are the two things.

[Jon Stewart]

Let me ask you.

[Ben Wickler]

Go to where voters are and show it. Because, like, we mean it.

[Jon Stewart]

You were saying people making less than $50,000 don't really connect with the news, so they don't hear our message, but what they do feel is your governance. Yes, that's my point, is that.

[Ben Wickler]

Yeah. And I agree with that.

[Jon Stewart]

I think part of it is Democrats are defending a status quo that people feel is not delivering on the discomfort they have in their real lives.

[Ben Wickler]

I think that during Trump's first administration, sometimes we'd say, this is not normal. It wasn't normal. But it's also the case that what's normal is not necessarily okay, boom. It is not okay, boom that people can't get an inhibitor for their kid.

[Jon Stewart]

Amen.

[Ben Wickler]

And we have to show that this pisses us off.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, my God. I'm getting excited. Yes.

[Ben Wickler]

You actually have to make the change.

[Jon Stewart]

Thank you.

[Ben Wickler]

You actually have to fight and make change in people's lives. That is the point of this work.

[Jon Stewart]

All right.

[Ben Wickler]

The only measure of work in politics. It's not actually winning elections. It's whether you deliver change in people's lives. That is what winning looks like. That is the point of this work.

[Jon Stewart]

Actually, I was thinking, do you think we just didn't spend enough time with the Cheneys? Is that the issue?

[Ben Wickler]

I was in Wisconsin. We had our visits from Liz Cheney. We did a little bit better in the suburbs around Milwaukee than we did in previous elections. And also, this is a country that is majority working class. Most people in the United States do not have a college degree. They work for a living. They don't live off returns on their investments. And if we're not winning working class voters again across race and ethnicity, if we're not winning with those voters, we're gonna lose. And we are the party that actually believes everyone should be able to join a union and fight for better working conditions and wages. We're the party that thinks that no one should have to go to bed hungry because their parents didn't have enough money to put in a down payment for them. People shouldn't have to choose between rent and groceries. This is stuff that Democrats believe to their core. And we need to communicate it through our actions and our words and where it is that we show up so that we're listening.

[Jon Stewart]

Yes.

[Ben Wickler]

And then, and then we're speaking in language that actually resonates for people. That is the work of the Democratic Party.

[Jon Stewart]

It's like, it's like wrestling a bear. You're. You're a giant man with a golden tongue. What do you think? Ultimately. Because I completely agree, One of the fundamental problems that the Democrats have had is they co signed to this sort of what they call the neoliberalism economic supply side deregulation, nafta, all these other things, and they never clawed it back. And what we keep hearing is, well, we just need to raise taxes on billionaires. But if you haven't convinced your voter that the money that is raised will be spent wisely and with value, none of it's. It's going to matter, isn't it? Look, the Democrats have a harder road to hoe.

[Ben Wickler]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

Because they're the party that believes government needs to be there and play a vital role in balancing out corporate interest and helping people's lives. It's not nihilistic like the other, which is like, blow the whole thing up.

[Ben Wickler]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

And reduce it to the size you could drown in a bathtub. So is that a message of competence that people can wrap their heads around.

[Ben Wickler]

In the Democratic Party, you have to prove it out.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Ben Wickler]

To be able to earn competition.

[Jon Stewart]

Have they done that in Wisconsin?

[Ben Wickler]

They've done that in Wisconsin. Governor Evers ran on Fix the damn Roads, and then he fixed the damn roads. So in Wisconsin.

[Jon Stewart]

Can I tell you something, Wisconsin people, if I may? I mean no disrespect. They sure like the spicy talk. Yeah.

[Ben Wickler]

You know, sometimes there's pepper jack in the sea sprays.

[Jon Stewart]

No, I know what you're talking about. Fix the damn roads. Ooh.

[Ben Wickler]

But what happened? So that was 2018. Right. 2022 in Wisconsin. It's so evenly divided. Five of the last seven presidential races has come down to less than 1 percentage point. And that means that there's usually this slosh back and forth. If there's a Democrat in the White House, Democrats will lose the governor's race. That's been true ever since 1962. That was the last time we won by 1 percentage point in 1962 with the Democratic president. And Governor Evers won in 2022 by 3.4 points. He tripled his landslide, 1.1 point margin in 2022. And that was in no small part because people could see that he was actually delivering on what he talked about and it touched their lives directly. He had ads in every county about what he'd done in that county to make people's lives better. And I think politics can make people so cynical. It can be so frustrating. Sometimes it feels like the only thing people want to do is attack each other. You have to actually show your work and show how what you have done will make someone's life better, to have any possibility of building trust. And I think you're right. The Republican project is to create so much corrosive cynicism that people give up and walk away. That is kind of their mission. And when they do that.

[Jon Stewart]

Or vote to overthrow any status quo.

[Ben Wickler]

Yeah, vote to overthrow the status quo. But then what they do is they use that cynicism to tear up the place and hand out the pieces to the richest people in the world.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Ben Wickler]

And for Democrats, we have to show that we're fighting for people, that it works, that we can deliver. And in this moment, as an opposition party, we have to fight against these attacks and also make a proposition that we think we should be a country where everyone has basic freedom and dignity, where working people can actually support their family or aspire to have a family if they want to, that people should be able to live their lives and know that if they work hard, that they're gonna have a decent life, that it's not rigged against them.

[Jon Stewart]

When you do this, I'm assuming that the Democratic National Committee has meetings.

[Ben Wickler]

Yes.

[Jon Stewart]

And you're at those meetings.

[Ben Wickler]

Yes.

[Jon Stewart]

And you say. You say this with that great passion. You don't use words like damned because we're a delicate party. What is their response to it? Do they. Do they throw analytics at you? Do they throw data? Because I have watched the people that were running these presidential campaigns on a variety of platforms, and I've been stunned at the lack of accountability or even reflection. And I'm curious if that's been your experience in the meetings.

[Ben Wickler]

I will say, you know, when the Democratic National Committee meets, I was just at a meeting with the state chairs. People do this work because they believe in actually fighting and making a difference. And it is often totally thankless, and it is often really tough. And often the choices that people are making are between two bad options when they're in these roles. And so people are mad at them because they chose a bad option that was actually worse than the other one. It is really, really hard to do to win these elections, especially when you're facing a wall of attacks and people who think that all politics is corrupt. And you're like, I'm actually just trying to make sure that kids can get lunched when they go to school.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Ben Wickler]

So I don't think that there is this kind of cynicism. I think that there's a. Cynicism.

[Jon Stewart]

No, no, I don't mean cynicism. I mean defensiveness.

[Ben Wickler]

Defensiveness.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ben Wickler]

I think that there's a. We're kind of in a system that is generally broken. Money has this giant role in politics on both sides. The, you know, people's attention is in a million different places. So you can scream something from the rooftops and almost no one will hear it often. If you work in politics, you're being told all the time, hey, you should do this thing. And you're thinking to yourself, I do that every single day. And no one notices it. So it is hard work. You talk about messaging. You have to build an infrastructure. If you want to get the message out, you actually have to have. You talk about door to door organizing. We build neighborhood teams so neighbors are knocking on their neighbor's door so that it's someone that you actually know so.

[Jon Stewart]

Much comes to where you are.

[Ben Wickler]

That's how we do it in Wisconsin.

[Jon Stewart]

It blew my mind that they were like, we had strangers knocking on people's doors three times. And you're like, you're lucky no one got killed.

[Ben Wickler]

But you have to do that for years to get to the point right where it actually can.

[Jon Stewart]

But so your energy, though, I have to tell you, and I have talked to DNC chairs and people that have been interested. You have a different energy than they do. I'm telling you, they have a more corporatist vibe. That's been the vibe of their. I can remember Tim Kaine, God bless. Good dude. But came on the show when he was DNC chair and he was like, we have door knockers. And I was like, oh my God, we're in the shitter. Like, the passion that you're bringing, boy, that feels like what it needs in this moment. I really do feel that way. You are approaching it from a much more populist, bottom up standpoint than I've heard in the past, other than Howard Dean's sort of 50 state strategy.

[Ben Wickler]

And I believe in this.

[Jon Stewart]

I really appreciate it.

[Ben Wickler]

I appreciate him. I appreciate the nice compliment. I will also say that there are so many people, there are thousands of people who work in politics and sometimes you're buried in the numbers and you're trying to. Like, when you use this phrase, then people are like, what the hell are you talking about? So you gotta use this phrase. And a lot of times in politics, people, when they're on your show, they're trying to remember all those things about, like, what might be a landmine if you step on it and it's gonna blow up in your face. And you're trained to do that in politics. You're trained to try to, like, navigate through these incredibly tricky waters. And that is sometimes important work to hold a coalition together. But it's easy to get lost in that and not actually go to the whole point of the thing, which is to fight in a way that makes a difference in people's lives so that they remember who was on their side when something went wrong and they understand who's trying to rip them off. Like, that is the reason why politics actually matters.

[Jon Stewart]

Is someone writing this down? Stop with the analytics. Just, oh, I'm sorry, I apologize. I went back to the Mets. Dead on. Dead on. The caution is killing effective governance. It's that fear. If you come from a place of fear and not from a place of passion and belief, you lose.

[Ben Wickler]

And people can see, people can smell authenticity. They can feel it. And this, I think Trump is a disaster for the country. I also think it's very clear.

[Jon Stewart]

Hallelujah.

[Ben Wickler]

It's very clear. He does not think before he talks. He just says it. And there's Something that draws people towards him about that. It is. Even when he's lying out of his teeth, he's lying in an authentic way.

[Jon Stewart]

I don't even think. I don't even think those are his real teeth.

[Ben Wickler]

Quite frankly, we have no idea about the teeth, his medical records. Deep, deep secrets.

[Jon Stewart]

Deep secrets. Yeah. I really appreciate you coming by and bringing this. I'm telling you, you had a dispirited group of people wandering in the desert of feeling that they didn't know, thirsty for leadership. You have provided it for them. Today we are announcing right now, Ben Wickler is a nominee for president of the.

[Ben Wickler]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Jon Stewart]

No one here. A second, a second, a second. I'm running it for chair Democratic. It's done. This is official.

[Ben Wickler]

Listen, it matters who leads the Democratic National Committee, and it matters who leads state parties, and it matters who does this work? Because this doesn't happen alone. You have to have millions of people involved to be able to make elections like this work. I'm running to get people involved. I want people to join and fight and win. What are we doing? Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Jon Stewart]

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wickler. We're going to take a quick break and be right back. That's what I'm talking about.

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[Jon Stewart]

Hey, everybody. Jon Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with Jon Stewart. Wherever you get your podcast, that is our show. But before we go, we're going to check in with your host for the rest of the week. Michael Costa, everybody. Michael, thank you. That's. That's. That's a really nice chairman. Yeah, well, thank you. John picked it up this weekend. I guess you could. I guess you could say it was a Real steal. You looted that from Assad's palace. Don't be jealous, John. Okay? I. I picked you up a little something, too.

[Ben Wickler]

All right. Merry Christmas.

[Jon Stewart]

Is this Assad's underwear? This is Assad's underwear. I don't want Assad's underwear. Oh, why? Because you don't celebrate Christmas. Michael Costa, everybody, here it is, your moment. Is it? Jeff Bezos called me. We're having dinner. As you know, Mark Zuckerberg came in. We had a really nice dinner. He asked to have dinner. I had dinner with him. I'm having dinner with everybody. People like me now, you know, it's something going on that people I said, would you have come to dinner with me if I lost? I think the answer is no. Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus.

[Ben Wickler]

Paramount Podcasts.

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[Jon Stewart]

Hey, everybody, Jon Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with Jon Stewart. Wherever you get your podcast.