Forward Janesville - TheReport - Second Quarter 2020

6 • W W W . F O R W A R D J A N E S V I L L E . C O M Dan Cunningham • Vice President of Government Affairs and Education • danc@forwardjanesville.com What a long, strange trip it was. Forward Janesville’s seventh annual pilgrimage to Washington, DC was certainly the most memorable experience we’ve had, for some good and some not-so-good reasons. Watching the global pandemic unfold in real time in the epicenter of the political universe was an amazing and surreal experience. The trip began innocently enough on March 10 with a customary pre-dawn ride to the airport. A handful of people canceled their reservations, as companies had just begun to consider implementing travel restrictions. The rest of us hit the road with a mandate to be careful and no real idea of what was to come (though my wife did send me with my own personalized bottle of hand sanitizer). Once we arrived, Washington seemed to be mostly business as usual. After a great opening night dinner with private citizen and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, we made our annual trek up Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with members of Congress and other national leaders. The focus of our early meetings (when things were still “normal”) was the 2020 Presidential election and how it will affect Congress’s agenda for the year. We heard from US Chamber of Commerce VP Jack Howard, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Green Bay-area Congressman Mike Gallagher, and Senator Ron Johnson’s Chief of Staff Tony Blando about several issues, including the possibility of a large federal transportation bill, international trade, national security…and the rapidly developing the coronavirus situation. Not surprisingly, the virus quickly became the issue of the day. Organizing this trip is an exercise in hopeful logistics. I often work with speakers for months with the hope that things will work out when we reach Washington but DC is a minute by minute town—things can and do change on a dime. Therefore, it was no surprise when one of our speakers, Washington Post reporter Amy Goldstein (the author of Janesville: An American Story), was a few minutes late. As five minutes grew into fifteen, my phone buzzed with a message from her sending regrets—the Washington Post had dedicated all available resources to the Coronavirus situation, and as a health beat writer, she would not be joining us after all. That’s the point when the reality of the situation hit home: the pandemic was here, and the crisis was just beginning. Fortunately, we were treated to some comic relief and dead-on political commentary from Fox News Correspondent Guy Benson. Here are some of the best nuggets (comedic and otherwise) he shared with us: • Between Donald Trump’s grandiosity and Joe Biden’s occasional oratory struggles, Trump vs. Biden will be an all-out war on the English language. • Mr. Benson sometimes goes on Fox and Friends to send messages to the President. • The conventional wisdom is that Senator Biden will choose a woman to be his running mate. Some have speculated that he will choose a woman of color, but he needn’t do so to burnish his credentials with minority voters with whom he is already tremendously popular. • Guy hopes that Biden will choose Minnesota Senator and former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar as his running mate. He told an amazing tale of how Senator Klobuchar once ate a salad with a comb due to a lack of available utensils. Apparently, she is also famously tough on her staff, and has an unfortunate habit of throwing binders at them. • The US Senate is in play. In a wave election, the Democrats could take control; they need to net five seats to take over. Republican-held seats in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina are in play, while the Republicans are likely to flip a democratic-held seat in ruby-red Alabama. • He believes that Donald Trump is already dreaming up nicknames for Joe Biden, and it’s anyone’s guess where he will land. Guy suggested “Senile McHairplugs.” Mr. Benson brought the house down—he was smart, funny, and wonderfully insightful. He provided some moments of levity on a darkening day. A note about the day’s mood: our guest speakers started the day appropriately concerned about the coronavirus situation, and you could feel their concern rising throughout the day. By the time our final speaker, Congressman Mark Pocan, joined us, the unease was palpable. One of Congressman Pocan’s final quotes stuck with me; I don’t think I’ll ever forget it: “you guys really shouldn’t be here.” We left Capitol Hill and prepared for our final meeting, a dinner with Congressman Bryan Steil at the Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington’s oldest tavern. Despite the lively atmosphere in the restaurant, Congressman Steil gave some sobering remarks about the deepening coronavirus crisis. After dinner some of us went out for a few refreshments, and the bar chatter was…mildly concerning. It was truly surreal. Among the unusual phrases heard that evening: “Someone on the Utah Jazz tested positive, and they had to pull off the players off the floor before a game!” “I hear the ACC and Big Ten tournaments are going to be cancelled!” “I bet they will cancel the entire NCAA Tournament!” “Dow futures are down a million points!” “Oh my God, Tom Hanks A Long, Strange Trip Forward Janesville DC trip participants saw the COVID-19 crisis unfold in real time Photos courtesy of: Dennis MacDougall