Wisconsin Voters Overwhelmingly Prefer Russ Feingold To GOP Extremist Ron Johnson

I've been meaning to get around to this all week. It's another poll-- but not one about Trump or Hillary or Dr. Ben. Republicans have been trying to rile up their brain-dead base with horrible stories of terrorists coming to get them. How many times in their now boring debates have you heard talk about Christians being crucified and innocents being beheaded? But this is starting to wear thin, even to the poor deluded souls who admit that they're Republicans. The poll, by Marist for McClatchy, shows that "[w]hen it comes to danger, voters are far more afraid of gun violence than terrorism... Overall, 63 percent of registered votes say they’re more worried that they or someone they know will be a victim of gun violence, while 29 percent more fear that they or a friend will fall prey to a terrorist attack. Democrats and independents lean heavily toward gun violence as the bigger threat... Democrats fear guns over terrorism by 77-15 percent. Independents fear gun violence over terrorism by 64-28 percent. Republicans edge toward terrorism as the bigger threat, but only narrowly, by 50-45 percent over a fear of gun violence."

[T]he percentage of Republicans concerned about gun violence reflects rank-and-file Republicans more than the GOP’s tea party and conservative base, which the presidential candidates will need to win the nomination.

Tea party supporters skew more toward terrorism as the greater threat, by 57-37 percent. And given their activist voice in primaries, that helps explain the campaign.


Overall, the 2-to-1 concern over domestic gun violence dovetails with the U.S. looking inward rather than abroad in the years since the 2001 terrorist attacks spiked concerns.

Voters largely agree that the 2016 elections should be about domestic issues such as the economy, health care and repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

Social policy, once a front-burner issue in presidential campaigns, has cooled off considerably. Only 7 percent of voters said the election should be about issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion... Democrats rank their priorities: income inequality, jobs and economic growth... Republicans rank their priorities differently, with the federal deficit No. 1, followed by economic growth and jobs. Only 4 percent of Republican voters think income inequality is the main issue... Independents rank growth first, followed by income inequality and the federal budget deficit.

Now I want to move to another poll and another topic entirely. The Democracy Corps poll by GreenbergQuinlanRosner took a good solid look at the Senate race in Wisconsin. And the news is good-- starting at the end. Both candidates are well known in this rematch between right-wing, Ayn Rand devotee Ron Johnson, the multimillionaire incumbent, and former Senator Russ Feingold. If the election were held today Feingold would win 51-46%.

On a favorable/unfavorable scale Wisconsin voters rated Feingold a net positive-- +9-- and rated Johnson a net negative-- -7.

They also polled a Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump head-to-head match-up, which wasn't even close. Hillary 50%, Trump 38%-- a 12 point margin for Hillary.


Also working in Feingold's favor is that Wisconsin voters see the Republican Party as way to partisan-- far more so than how they see the Democratic Party. No doubt this isn't just because of the low esteem in which they hold Congress, but also because of the nature of the Scott Walker administration and his extreme right-wing state legislature.

The participants were then read 3 statements, one on the Democratic government reform agenda to get dark special interest money out of politics, one on the Democratic economic agenda for the middle class, and the third a positive message about Johnson, similar to his own messaging. They were then asked to show how much the messages moved then and in what direction. OK, so first the Democrat's economic message:

We need an economy that works for the middle class, not more trickle-down economics. Today, jobs don't pay enough to live on and families and small businesses are struggling, yet the top 1 percent and CEOs are using money and lobbyists to write the rules so government works for them, not you. Well, we need to made sure taxpayers get their money's worth. We should start by barring corporate and secret contributions and empower small donations. Then, we must get behind an agenda for the hardworking and families. Make college affordable by getting rid of student debt; help working families with child care, paid sick days and equal pay for women; protect Social Security against any cuts in benefits; and ensure more credit and help for small businesses and independent contractors. By increasing taxes for the richest 1 percent, we can give breaks to companies that create American jobs and invest in infrastructure to modernize our country. Let's level the playing field for the middle class again.

Then the Democrat's government reform message:

We need an economy that works for the middle class, not more trickle-down economics. Today, jobs don't pay enough to live on and families and small businesses are struggling, yet the top 1 percent and CEOs are using money and lobbyists to write the rules so government works for them, not you. Well, we need to made sure taxpayers get their money's worth. We should start by auditing the entire federal government to root out waste, simplifying the tax code for low income and middle class families and eliminate 1 trillion dollars of special interest breaks and subsidies. Then, we must get behind an agenda for the hardworking and families. Make college affordable by getting rid of student debt; help working families with child care, paid sick days and equal pay for women; protect Social Security against any cuts in benefits; and ensure more credit and help for small businesses and independent contractors. By increasing taxes for the richest 1 percent, we can give breaks to companies that create American jobs and invest in infrastructure to modernize our country. Let's level the playing field for the middle class again.

The darker colors showed more enthusiasm for the messaging and as you can see, Johnson's bio didn't do much while the Democratic messaging was much more successful:

If you'd like to help Russ Feingold bring this all the way, please consider contributing to his campaign here.