PPP (pdf) (3/20-21, Wisconsin registered voters, 11/20-22 in parentheses):
Russ Feingold (D-inc): 47 (50)
Tommy Thompson (R): 44 (41)
Undecided: 9 (9)Russ Feingold (D-inc): 48 (48)
Terrence Wall (R): 34 (34)
Undecided: 18 (19)Russ Feingold (D-inc): 48 (47)
Dave Westlake (R): 31 (32)
Undecided: 21 (21)
(MoE: ±3.7%)
PPP’s second look at the Wisconsin Senate race offers some pushback against the WPRI and Rasmussen polls, which have tended to show ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson with a narrow lead over Sen. Russ Feingold (and may be done with an eye toward recruiting Thompson, who’s maintained interest but also seemed very reluctant, into the race). Still, the November lead that PPP showed was large enough that it suggested “why bother” to Thompson, while this one is a decidedly closer race.
Feingold has a narrowly divided approval rating, at 45/41. Still, that’s an improvement over Thompson, with favorables in negative territory at 40/44. (The other minor GOPers in the race, Terrence Wall and Dave Westlake, are virtual unknowns at 4/17 and 2/8.) With Thompson widely-known and not so widely liked, even if he does get in, his path to victory would have to be hoping the GOP base shows up and the Dem base doesn’t. (UPDATE: Here’s a nice little tidbit I missed. “Washington lobbyists” have a favorable of 1/77. (Looks like a pollster finally found someone or something with a lower favorable than Paris Hilton.) Guess what the Feingold campaign’s line of attack against Thompson is going to be?)
UPDATE (James): There’s been some confusion in the comments over whether PPP is using a registered or likely voter screen. Their wording (“700 Wisconsin voters”) doesn’t suggest an LV model is used, but we asked PPP’s Tom Jensen to clarify the situation. The answer is that the model really isn’t either, though it falls a bit closer on the “likely voter” end of the spectrum:
We call people who voted in at least one of the last three general elections. We don’t explicitly ask them at this point in the game if they plan to vote in the fall. I imagine 97% of the people who answer the polls will vote this fall but since we’re not explicitly screening yet we don’t call them likely voters.
RaceTracker Wiki: WI-Sen
This seems to be a poll of registered voters. Since at this point, I think the turnout is going to be skewed towared Republicans, this probably lines up with the Rasmussen poll pretty well.
I can’t think a Thompson campaign will be any more energetic or successful than that of Dan Coats.
and always finish at the top for participation by the youngest eligibles, registered voter, likely voter, and past voter screens will miss out. You’ve got to poll 17 1/2 year olds to get a true picture of the Wisconsin November electorate.