A new Wisconsin Policy Research Institute poll released today revealed that by trying to break the public sector union in the state, Gov. Scott Walker is not only destroying his own popularity, but is making President Obama more popular, and could be handing Wisconsin to the Democrats in 2012.
The WPRI poll found that Wisconsin residents believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction by a 67%-24% margin. However the Republican leadership of Scott Walker has done nothing to convince them that the state is heading in the right direction, as 62% of those surveyed also felt that Wisconsin was on the wrong track. A deeper look into the numbers uncovers that Scott Walker’s attack on collective bargaining is hurting his approval more than anxiety over the economy.
Wisconsinites may share a negative perception about the direction of both their state and the country as a whole, but President Obama and Scott Walker’s approval ratings are heading in opposite directions. Wisconsin residents’ approval of the job Obama is doing as president by a 53%-42% margin. The numbers are reversed for Gov. Walker as 53% disapprove and only 43% approve of his job performance. Shockingly among those who disapprove, 45% strongly disapprove of Walker. In contrast only 26% strongly disapprove of Obama.
Scott Walker’s approval collapse can be traced back to one issue, collective bargaining. Wisconsin residents narrowly oppose (51%-47%) Walker’s entire budget plan, and they overwhelmingly support requiring public employees to contribute to their own pensions, (81%-18%), but they are opposed to stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights (58%-33%).They are also opposed to proposed cuts in the state’s public assistance and Medicaid programs (62%-32%).
Walker’s favoritism towards the police and firefighters unions that endorsed his campaign has also not gone over well, as 52% believe that police and firefighters should not be exempted from changes in collective bargaining. 60% of respondents were also opposed to the proposal to limit collective bargaining for the next two years, and 65% believe that Scott Walker should compromise on the collective bargaining issue.
This poll is the strongest evidence yet that Walker is not only damaging his own political future, but he might be setting up the Republican Party for an electoral disaster in 2012. Walker’s union busting jihad is in essence handing Wisconsin to President Obama on a silver platter. If Walker continues to alienate the state’s voters it won’t matter who the Republican presidential candidate is, Obama will again carry Wisconsin.
The political impact of Scott Walker’s anti-union jihad is being felt nationally as the collective bargaining cause has reunified and reenergized Democrats in a way that hasn’t been seen since 2008. Republicans could have never envisioned their strategy to destroy the heart of Democratic fund raising and grassroots efforts in a budget crisis disguise backfiring so dramatically.
Scott Walker has awakened the progressive movement, and in 2012 Republicans all across the country are going to pay for his mistake.
Image: Iron Mill News Service
Related posts:
- Buyer’s Remorse: Wisconsin Voters Wouldn’t Elect Scott Walker Today
- Scott Walker Being Sued For Violating Wisconsin Open Records Law
- Memo to Scott Walker: Your Allies Are Leaving You
- CREW Uncovers Scott Walker’s Illegal Use of Wisconsin Troopers
- Scott Walker Would Rather Be Hauled Into Court Than Talk to Unions
The reaction of the good Wisconsinites proves that cheese, butter, ice cream, and good whole milk aren’t, either, bad for your brains. With that, I am off for a grilled cheese sandwich washed down with a nice, big glass of milk and maybe a pint of Great Divide for dessert (in all fairness, I dug and potted a big laurel cherry for rootstock, moved three jardiniered fig trees to their summertime position, and mean to move the garden bench downhill before I indulge myself)
If you cut taxes for the rich and expect working people to work harder for less, this tends to happen. Obama still needs to put on those comfy sneakers though and stand on the picket line like he promised though.
No he does not. Wisconsinites are doing just fine on their own and it needs to remain a grassroots movement.
He did make a promise though:
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/02/24/flashback_quote_of_the_day.html
How that promise could be, and would be, fulfilled is a question one can debate.
Let’s be honest and realistic here, novenator. One would have to be completely out of touch with reality not to have realized what has happened the last 2+ years that Obama has been president. Whenever he has been asked his opinion about anything, it has provided cannon fodder for the right. No matter what he says or does, he’s criticized. For this reason, I don’t think the president should set foot in WI on behalf of the protesters since it would be a distraction and would give Limbaugh, Beck, and the Fox Snooze entertainers another opportunity to demonize him. Let the people of WI handle this issue. It seems as if they’ve done a beautiful job of bringing hurt on Scott Walker all by themselves.
But you just said it yourself. The RWNJ’s are going to lambaste the President no matter what he does. I do notice that not many elected Democrats have spoke up for the protesters. I know Tammy Baldwin has. I believe she represents the Madison area in Congress. I know that Keith Ellison has, though he represents the Minneapolis area in neighboring Minnesota. And Russ Feingold and David Obey have, though they no longer represent Cheeseheads in DC at all. In sum, while Wisconsin is the highest profile case, this is a national battle. Make no mistake about it. That is what has me worried.
But you know what they say, “Don’t interrupt your enemy while he’s making a mistake.” And the GOP is making a huge mistake right now.
They’re hearing testimony right now in Congress…. Talk softly but carry a big stick.
Nothing good came come out of bringing the Mulsin Kenyan in to stir up the Right. We don’t need them energized.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/06/109649/why-employee-pensions-arent-bankrupting.html#storylink=omni_popular
Scott Walker is the gift that is giving to progressives around the country. In a state that usually goes blue, Walker miscalculated badly. As a result, there will be enormous political fallout for the Wisconsin Republican Party. His intrangigence on collective bargaining is badly damaging by itself, but his proposed budget also includes defunding Planned Parenthood in his state. A governor who is serious about balancing his/her state’s budget would not give huge tax cuts to corporations, attempt to take away collective bargaining rights, or attempt to create an untenable situation that involves more unwanted pregnancies, more abortions, and the swelling of state welfare rolls in order to provide care for the increased number of children that would result. It’s obvious that he is about ideological warfare rather than the well-being of Wisconsin, and equally obvious that he does not care about the negative impact of his proposed policies. His ham-handed, autocratic style of management is laying the groundwork for his political demise.
[...] CommentsAcidQueen on Only Those with Blind Eyes and Dead Hearts Can Deny Same Sex Marriagejlt on In Wisconsin Obama’s Approval Soars as Scott Walker PlummetsTeresa on Only Those with Blind Eyes and Dead Hearts Can Deny Same Sex MarriageShane on Only Those [...]
[...] war on working people. It appears he’s jealous of the attention that other Republican Governors (Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Chris [...]
[...] war on working people. It appears he’s jealous of the attention that other Republican Governors (Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Chris [...]