Milwaukee City Wire

After more than a half a century working on presidential campaigns, Robert Dohnal has a good feel for the process.

Dohnal told Milwaukee City Wire he believes Wisconsin may decide the election and that Republicans must emphasize their support for law enforcement to help persuade undecided voters.

“That’s for sure,” he said. “It’s one of the key states.”

Dohnal, a Wauwatosa resident, said President Trump must continue to show his support for police officers to help win this close race. Democratic Party activists calling for defunding police departments or have budget reductions with funds allocated elsewhere handed the GOP a potent issue, he said.

“The women do not like that idea, and neither do senior citizens,” Dohnal said. “It’s the dumbest idea they ever had, and they have been running away from it.”

He said recent unrest – including protests that turned violent in Wauwatosa on Oct. 7 – as well as earlier demonstrations in Wisconsin this year, have proven that law enforcement agencies need all the money they receive, if not more.

Dohnal organized a rally to support law enforcement earlier this fall. It drew a couple hundred people and featured speeches from police officers, he said.

While protestors have smashed windows and seized headlines, Dohnal doesn’t think they pose a serious threat to the security of the voting process or to stability in the country.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “If Trump wins, I guess there will be some unrest at some point.”

But he said cold weather will drive most of them away. He also has doubts about their real passion for protesting. He said they don’t help the causes they supposedly back. Instead, they dissuade voters from supporting them.

“I think people are absolutely appalled by this violence,” Dohnal said. 

He said law enforcement can be supplemented by agencies and groups that reach out to and help troubled young people. Dohnal said he saw the need for that decades ago when he spent a summer during college working as a juvenile facility counselor.

“But that’s not going to replace those cops,” he said.

Dohnal said he also strongly opposes legalizing drugs, including marijuana. He said a rise in overdose deaths shows the folly of that idea. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of fatal overdoses in the country rose 400% from 1999-2018.

Dohnal, 80, is a retired clinical pharmacist with a wealth of stories and experience on politics. In 1988, he founded the Wisconsin Conservative Digest to provide a source for news and views from the right.

He got his start in politics on the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign and by 1968 was a key player in Richard Nixon's Wisconsin campaign.

He served as the coordinator for the south side of Milwaukee in both 1968 and ‘72. Nixon carried Wisconsin both times.

Nixon, he said, was “a giant intellect” and skilled politician and president but was brought down by the crimes of the people around him. 

Nixon resigned in August 1974 after his administration attempted to cover up its involvement in the 1972 Democratic National Committee headquarters break-in at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Dohnal also met Ronald Reagan several times, starting in 1967. He said Reagan was relaxed and friendly around people and immediately showed the charm and down-to-earth attributes that made him so attractive to voters.

After all these campaigns, he still is enthusiastic about helping Republicans win elections. He thinks the polls that show Trump well behind former Vice President Joe Biden are skewed and the race is much closer than people realize.

That’s why he wants to ensure Trump’s support for police is heard loud and clear. These last few days will be a battle, but Dohnal is ready for the fun to begin.

“That’s what keeps me going,” he said.