Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos (9/18-19, likely voters, in parentheses):
Russ Feingold (D-inc): 41 (45)
Ron Johnson (R): 52 (43)
Undecided: 7 (12)Tom Barrett (D): 41 (38)
Scott Walker (R): 50 (45)
Undecided: 8 (17)
(MoE: ±3.8%)
This poll has already been so thoroughly teased that there’s not much shock value left to it. Also, it shouldn’t be a surprise that PPP finds Ron Johnson with a lead over Russ Feingold, considering that the last five Rasmussen polls have done so (with no one else to give an alternative read in the last couple months). But a double-digit lead is definitely an attention-getter. The question seems to be whether the race has really moved in Johnson’s direction lately (which Rasmussen also would suggest) or if PPP caught a bad bounce on this one… either way, it’s clear Feingold is in a bad position and that complicates the Senate picture (although Wisconsin always seemed to me to be the weakest of the three so-called “firewalls” — and now it’s seeming weaker than Colorado, Illinois, or Nevada, considered by the CW to be on the wrong side of the firewall).
There’s a whole lotta enthusiasm gap going on with PPP’s likely voter screen here, maybe more so than any poll we’ve seen this cycle, with Barack Obama’s approval down to 41/54 (compared with 2008 results, where he won 56-42). Feingold’s approval is down to 40/53, which contrasts with Johnson’s 46/34 faves. Based on that difference, it seems like even if Feingold weren’t running into a stiff headwind from the national climate this would still be a very close race, as Feingold has tended to run close races in the past and has been seemingly searching in vain for an ad strategy that really defines the hard-to-pin-down, generic-wealthy-businessman Johnson.
While we think this particular poll overstates Feingold’s likely doom, there’s no doubt that this race is properly considered a Tossup (which we’re moving from Lean Democratic).
UPDATE: Talking Points Memo today makes reference to Democratic internal polling just prior to last week’s primary (sorry, no link to an actual polling memo, which would certainly be helpful) that had Feingold leading 48-41 among “all voters” and 47-43 among “those definite to vote.”
It’s easy to say there is an enthusiasm gap when you have both more Republicans and independents in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1986, or voted for a Republican for president since 1984.
But maybe this will serve as a motivator for Feingold and his supporters in Wisconsin and around the country.
In this poll, PPP only included 7% 18-29 year old voters. Now I know Obama isn’t on the ballot this year and it won’t be as easy to get young folks excited about a midterm, but I’m having a hard time seeing only 7% of the voters being under 30.
Now I don’t deny Feingold is in a tough race here. However, I am starting to wonder if PPP overstated Johnson’s lead…
While I’m sure that this race will tighten, because the enthusiasm gap in this poll will be significantly narrowed on election day, I’m now pretty confident that Johnson will win. I move it from Tossup/Tilt R to Lean R.
That’s very problematic, but the good news is, this is a place where he has the opportunity to turn things around.
Their Michigan poll has a sample that equates to if 80% of Mccain voters turnout that 56% of Obama voters will… which works out to be the equivalent of only Obama voters who voted for Gore will turn out.
Wisconsin midterm turnout in 2002 and 2006 was about 70% of the previous Presidential election. So PPP is saying if 70% of Mccain voters turnout, that Obama voters will turn out at a rate of 50%.
Compared to a 100% unit of McCain voters, 5% of Obama voters won’t vote in CA… while 33% of Obama voters won’t vote in Michican, and 28% won’t vote in Wisconsin.
This means the lowest turnout in the upper Midwest since before women got the right to vote, while ho-hum not much change in California.
Those kneejerk defending such nonsense might want to consider why white, middle-class voters in Wisconsin who have voted regularly for their entire lives, changing from one party to the other, are now suddenly going to not vote for anyone in numbers never seen since suffrage.
It ain’t going to happen. Wisconsin voters will turnout roughly similiarly to how they have turned out for 90 years and, gasp, some will change their vote from one party to the other.
If he can run a competent GOTV campaign on the UW campus in Madison and in inner-city Milwaukee, Johnson is going to have to dominate the rest of the state to win–he must certainly win the three districts held by Republicans and Kagan’s and Obey’s, and run close in Kind’s as well.