Elections

New Poll Shows Obama, Thompson Lead Among State Voters

Results from a new Marquette University Law School poll put the president and former Governor tops with likely voters from around the state.

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If the 2012 Presidential and US Senate elections were held today, President Barack Obama and former Gov. Tommy Thompson would win in Wisconsin.

The results were released today as part of the Marquette University Law School poll project during "On the Issues" with Mike Gousha and Professor Charles Franklin.

According to the numbers, Obama leads presumed Republican challenger Mitt Romney 49 to 43 percent, down from 51 to 43 percent on May 30.

In a match-up against both his Republican senate rivals and Democrat Tammy Baldwin, Thompson takes both races. Against former US Rep. Mark Neumann, newcomer Eric Hovde, and Republican speaker of the State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald, Thompson comes in with 34 percent of support from likely voters compared to 16, 14, and 10 percent, respectively. Against Baldwin, he leads 49 to 41 percent.

When matched up against Hovde and Fitzgerald, Baldwin comes out ahead; 45 to 36 percent and 45 to 39 percent, respectively. Baldwin and Neumann tie at 44 percent each.

Unlike the recent historic recalls where undecided voters were less than five percent, when it comes to the US senate race here, a full 25 percent of likely voters haven't made up their minds, but it is early going.

About those recalls ...

Speaking of the recall elections, the poll also asked some 707 registered voters - 594 likely voters - how they felt about the elections now that they're over.

When it comes to how Wisconsin should do recall elections, voters have flipped from responses recorded in January. Then, 43 percent said recalls should only happen in the case of criminal activity while an official is in office and 50 percent said our way of doing recall is just fine. Now, though, it's the other way around; 50 percent want recalls only in the case of criminal mischief and 44 percent want to leave the law as it is.

Not surprisingly, Gov. Scott Walker garnered 70 percent of the vote for those who want to limit recalls while Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barret grabbed 61 percent of those who think the way we do recalls is just fine. Among those who disapprove of the job he's doing, Walker also managed to snag 4 percent of voters who don't want changes to recall and 8 percent of voters who do want changes.

Where the poll gets interesting is among those who didn't cast a ballot at all but disapprove of Walker and want recall limits, about 26 percent. That number gets halved - 13 percent - among those who didn't vote while continuing to disapprove of Walker and supporting the current recall laws.

Can't we all just get along?

Representatives in Madison and in Washington, D.C. may want to pay attention to how voters feel about all the partisanship games being played on the state and federal levels.

According to Marquette's latest poll, a full 84 percent of voters want officials on both sides of the aisle reaching across it more often. Only 11 percent said it was perfectly okay for the parties to stand for different things and have limited cooperation.

Just over half - 55 percent - of those surveyed were optimistic about the possibility of cooperation while 41 percent said it's too out of reach. Among those who feel like bipartisanship can be a reality, a full 61 percent of them identified as Republicans while 58 percent of Independents and 48 percent of Democrats could agree.

Healthcare reform

The United States Supreme Court is going to issue its opinion soon about whether or not Pres. Obama's healthcare law is constitutional so Marquette asked voters what they think.

Around a third of voters - 33 percent - think the high court should leave the law alone, but 38 percent want the entire thing turned over. Only 19 percent said the part of the law mandating individuals have insurance should be overturned.

Overall, the majority of voters approve of the job SCOTUS is doing over those who disapprove; 46 to 35 percent.

The Marquette poll was conducted via landline and cell phone from June 13-16, 2012 with a 3.8 percent margin of error.

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Alfred

2:48 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Democrats win polls, not elections.

lolo peeg

7:53 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

Lately they don't win either!!

Merri Ann Gonzalez

11:53 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

Machines are Republican controlled, so unless it is a landslide Dem's. never win elections just polls.

James R Hoffa

3:00 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Obama's favorability is starting to fall in the state, but not fast enough!

Maybe now that the LIAR Eric Holder had to run and hide behind Big Daddy Obama's executive privilege, people will start waking up to the lies that Obama's promises of hope and change rhetoric really stood for!

It's also sad that Obama has to LIE about his record to try and dupe people into voting for him again. Lowest growth rate of federal spending my butt…

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/06/14/president-obama-the-biggest-government-spender-in-world-history/1/

mau

8:34 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE

The same Eric Holder who had his fingers in the slaughter at Waco and recused himself from the investigation of Ruby Ridge. It wasn't bad enough that he was under Clinton's watch but he gets brought back under Obama's watch.

Keith Schmitz

9:52 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Mau, let's stop it. David Koresh brought it onto himself and took a lot women and kids with him.

While were at it let's put an end to the Fast and Furious nonsense, fanned by a felonious Congressman who looks likes like a slow witted Don Draper.

You all are going to act horrified that this administration evoked executive privilege to curtail this stinking political move, something the previous administration did say, four times a month.

Please, someone explain to me that whatever is in those documents that the Congress so desperately wants could possibly be anything more than how this administration made the mistake of signing onto a policy idea promoted by the previous gang of idiots.

The benefit is that the car alarm crook Issa and geniuses like the gap toothed Blake Farenthold are finally going to prove to the President that this collection of crackers are unappeasable and bipartisanship is a fool's errand.

They want Eric Holder's head on a stick. They should be told, repeatedly, where that stick should be stored.

Let's face it. It's not Holder's policies that bother these people, but his pelt. And oh, that he is smarter and classier than they are, and they know it.

James R Hoffa

11:56 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

@Schmitzy -

Bush invoked executive privilege all of 6 times during the 8 years of his administration. Clinton, a whopping 14 times! And even then, it was in regards to matters that both admitted that the White House was involved in. Obama is on the record on multiple occasions, not only to us but to the Mexican government as well, that the White House had nothing to do with F&F during his administration. But he can't legally invoke executive privilege over the activities of the DOJ, only matters concerning the WH. So, the WH must be involved in order for him to have properly exerted it. Which would mean that unlike Bush and Clinton, who always admitted to WH involvement when executive privilege was asserted, that Obama LIED, not only to us, but to the Mexican government as well. It also would mean that Holder's been LYING his arse off to Congress while under oath for the last 16 months of this investigation.

Contrary to MS-NBC's assertions, what good would it do to have the Bush people testify, as they're no longer there. They can't provide any documents, as they are no longer charged with stewardship of the public files, only Obama's people have had that power since his administration took over. It's not like Bush's people just took all that stuff home with them and put in their respective basements when they left their government jobs! It's government property.

James R Hoffa

12:02 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

And what would Obama's people care if the docs they had embarrassed the Bush administration - I'm sure they'd be more than forth coming with the docs if they somehow showed that all of this was Bush's fault, right?

So, the only logical explanation that remains is that the WH knew and the WH acted in some way that authorized the walking that led to the guns being placed into the cartels' hands that killed hundreds of people and two American lives to date. Now they're trying to hide their involvement behind executive privilege, after having previously denied it. . Either that or Obama has illegally used executive privilege to protect someone else in either his or Holder's offices'.

And all of this after Obama promised us hope, change, and transparency. I'm still mad at him for breaking his promise about how I'd be able to watch the Obamacare negotiations on C-SPAN3 - remember that LIE?

Not to mention that it has been 16+ months now of a Congressional investigation into this matter, and Holder still can't tell us who authorized the gun runs?!?! Come on - do you honestly believe that? If that's the truth, then the administration in wholly incompetent and it makes us look a bunch of idiots to the rest of the world, doesn't it?

Finally, I knew that you wouldn't be able to resist playing the old race card on this one, so thanks for not letting the Patch down! At least you're consistent with your hateful vitriol

Bob McBride

6:54 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

Lay out a weak defense and then double down with the race card. Perfect.

Who moved the rock?