A poll released by WeAskAmerica on Thursday reveals that Scott Walker, the incumbent Republican Governor of Wisconsin, trails Democratic challenger Mary Burke by four points. Walker was already sweating when polls last month showed the race in a dead heat. However, in the aftermath of the release of some devastating emails showing Walker coordinated with Koch-funded SuperPACs to raise campaign funds, support for the supposed ‘rising star’ of the GOP has quickly started to erode.
Per the poll, Burke has 48% support compared to Walker’s 44%. The governor is struggling mightily with female voters at this point as the gender gap is at 15%, with 54% supporting Burke compared to only 39% for Walker. The gap is nearly fatal considering that Walker only enjoys a six-point advantage with men. With that knowledge, it makes sense that Republicans quickly pounced on comments from DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz when she said that the governor “has given women the back of his hand.” Walker’s supporters tried to use Schultz’s comments against Burke by claiming Schultz was making an inappropriate comparison to domestic violence.
However, try as he might, Walker isn’t going to make many inroads with women based solely on his policy positions and statements since he was first elected in 2010. His only hope is that he can at the very least shrink the gap just enough while simultaneously energizing conservatives to come out in droves this November. At the same time, he is also going to try to appeal to independent voters. Now, he and Burke are tied with independents at 44% a piece, with 9% undecided. Likely, Walker will try to win over more independents by tying Burke to President Obama. Currently, Obama only has a 35% approval rating with Wisconsin independents.
Beyond the emails indicating illegal campaign fund coordination, Walker also has to deal with his failed promise to create 250,000 new jobs in Wisconsin during his first term. With just two months until the election, he is well behind that goal as Wisconsin has only seen 103,000 new jobs added since Walker took office. Considering the governor’s efforts to destroy public unions and gut collective bargaining for workers, his failure to deliver on this promise is not going to sit well with average voters. If you are going to wage war on the middle-class, you better make sure you at least deliver on your other pledges.
Over the past year or so, Walker has seen his name bandied about as a potential Presidential candidate in 2016 and beyond. He probably needs to focus on what’s going on in the here and now. At this point, he is in real danger of getting kicked out of the Governor’s Mansion at the end of this year.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
“Governor Walker has given women the back of his hand.”
Everything he ever “accomplished” was a slap in the face of not only women but the men in WI as well. Stagnant job growth and low wages, loss of benefits is all a slap in the face. Own it, Rs.
Its quite amazing that Walker isnt down further with the emails showing he is corrupt. I guess thats a reasonable characteristic for a republican given the number of them that are under investigation
Plenty of people lost their health coverage too, when Walker refused to take the medicaid expansion. My son just fell through the gap where he is looking for his first “real” job after college but doesn’t make enough to qualify for the ACA. I wish Burke would say more about it. I heard she met privately with President Obama when he was in Milwaukee for Labor Day and he may come back before the election. Her political ads are very good and she’s been traveling nonstop around the state. Since Snotty’s schedule is private we never know where that weasel is. It’s just as well, but you know he has a big stack of ALEC legislation ready to rubberstamp even though it seems like most of his agenda is in place. It just came out in the Milwaukee JS that WI will probably be in the hole unless Snotty does something with the budget before 2015 despite all the budget cuts. In fact, the solution will probably be more cuts.
Sycophant for his dark monied owners; Wisconsin should do better since it has some of the most reasonable people in the USA.
I can’t wait for this soulless miscreant to be soundly voted out of office. Considering all the damage he’s done, he should be even farther down in the polls. I just hope that people will get out and vote, like their well-being depends on getting him out of office, because it does.
If need be, we will send Burke more financial support. This race shouldn’t be this close. I can understand the Grimes/McCain race being close. Southerners tend to vote against their own interest, but I thought Northerners were a bit smarter.
He was the one who started the ball rolling for the teaparty by going after the unions and causing the biggest sit ins for ages. If he hadn’t done that a lot of people would still be sleeping and getting walk over by the teaparty. He was in such a hurry to start taking people rights from them that he just couldn’t control himself so the rest of the republicans and teaparty had to follow his lead. All that led to republicans taking people right from them, women rights, changing the voter id laws, etc. Four years they had the key to cities to destroy the whole nation just because they hated the idea of having a black president. Now we are watching all of them fall one way or another and the president is still standing strong. We have to do our part and get people out to vote and vote blue, so we can get some of those laws repeal that the republicans passed, and get a congress that will work with the president. It is up to us to help the president.
Weasel. I love it.
To all of you ladies in Wisconsin: Don’t forget how Walker gutted the Wisconsin Well Woman Program which provides cancer screenings to lower income women. Now, that program might have only touched 20,000 women, but the fact that he doesn’t believe you deserve equal pay should have you all fuming. There’s no reason the gap for women voters should be in the teens. Make it 100%!
Why any thinking woman would vote for any R amazes me. Guess the answer is that they don’t think!
Is there anybody left in the GOP who was running for the Presidency who is not under investigation or imprisoned or heading to prison?
What a bunch of amoral awipes!!
Ronnie Raygun?
It’s hard to fathom how a person calls themselves an independent. That means that said person holds no position. That also means that said person thinks that President Obama and Governor Walker are equals in what each believes politically. The only thing different might be the way they put their pants on. I know the preceding is ridiculous but so are those who call themselves independents. How a person can change their vote just by the way the wind blows isn’t being independent it is being down right obtuse.
Don’t worry your pretty little heads. He just needs to get out there and do some serious man-splaining.