By Sophia Scolman
POLITICO Politics Bureau Chief and Senior Political Columnist Jonathan Martin came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Tuesday for a discussion titled “Under Pressure: Covering Election 2024” moderated by Marquette University Law School Senior Advisor in Law and Public Policy Mike Gousha.
Martin, co-author of “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Fight for America’s Future” discussed the 2024 Presidential Election, Wisconsin politics, ethical challenges of election reporting and more. Held at Memorial Union, the event was sponsored by UW–Madison’s Center for Journalism Ethics, Elections Research Center and Office of Strategic Communication.
Martin said Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is data-driven, looking to draw in marginal numbers of anti-Trump voters during the last two weeks before the Nov. 5 election. In contrast, the Donald Trump campaign is casting a wide net by arguing that Harris will be another President Joe Biden, whose approval rating hit an all-time low before his withdrawal from the race in July.
“Trump’s running a very different kind of campaign. It’s much more of a shotgun blast than a rifle,” Martin said. “His strategy is much more macro.”
Biden’s low approval ratings and higher levels of inflation during his administration, combined with Trump’s “uniquely alienating” effect on the American public and unpopular decisions by the Supreme Court make it difficult to predict the outcome of the election, Martin said.
Martin predicts Trump is unlikely to accept the results of the election if he loses, which will be an important test for the Republican party, depending on the margin of loss.
“What do they do? How much do they play along?” Martin said. “It’ll be a fascinating reveal of who’s who, because we know that a lot of them are faking it. A lot of them don’t like Donald Trump, a lot of them are doing a sort of crossed finger for the day that he’s finally off the scene. It’ll be a tell as to who wants him to leave.”
The divisive nature of Trump’s political career has and continues to pose issues for journalists covering him, Martin said. Covering Trump for who he is — a politician with no regard for facts, American history or the Constitution — alienates Republican readers, while “grading him on a curve” is dishonest, Martin said.
“We’re almost 10 years into the era of Trump and we have not figured out how to cover Trump,” Martin said. “He defies the traditional standards of post-World War II American journalism. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”
Martin said the best approach is to use straightforward, honest descriptions of Trump, even if it feels uncomfortable to use strong language.
“I’ve been a columnist now for a couple of years,” Martin said. “It’s still hard to say that, and to describe [him] in the way I did because ‘oh my that’s so loaded’ — but it’s not loaded, because it’s a fact. That’s who he is and I’m sorry, it’s not biased to say that.”
In Wisconsin, Martin emphasized the importance of the youth vote, noting the efforts to register college students to vote along Madison’s State Street.
“I asked these kids, ‘are you registered,’ all the hands shoot up,” Martin said. “It makes sense when you walk down State Street because there are all these booths set up, registering kids and it’s really fascinating to see the machinery here in Madison underway.”
The Harris campaign is counting on strong turnouts in Milwaukee and Dane County, but might struggle to reach Biden’s numbers in other Wisconsin college towns like Oshkosh, La Crosse and Eau Claire, where Democrats have failed to reach blue collar voters, Martin said.
Though Martin admits he sometimes feels nostalgic for the early days of his career, he feels like he has the best job in the news industry.
“What I am able to do is tell the story of this country through the prism of government politics,” Martin said. “At its best, I think political journalism is explaining to readers who we are as a country, where we came from, where we are going … because that’s the real burden on us … to inform the public of why things are the way they are and the choices in front of them.”
Martin’s visit was part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Sharon Dunwoody Journalist-in-Residence program, which offers the world’s top journalists an opportunity to share their expertise, engage with the campus community and collaborate with university scholars.
A full recording of the event can be watched on YouTube. Information about the Center for Journalism Ethics can be found on the Center’s website.