Wisconsin
The Decline of a President: Tracing Bush’s Approval Ratings in the Upper Midwest
Despite rising national unemployment rates, high gas prices, and overall economic uncertainty, George W. Bush remains basically no less popular among Upper Midwesterners in 2008 than he was in 2007. A Smart Politics study of nearly 180 public opinion polls…
Read MoreWhat Is the Democratic Ceiling Across Upper Midwestern State Legislatures?
The 2006 election saw Democratic takeovers of 3 of the 6 Upper Midwestern legislative chambers previously controlled by the Republicans. Democrats now control 5 chambers (the Iowa House and Senate, the Minnesota House and Senate, and the Wisconsin Senate) with…
Read MoreWill Obama Perform Stronger in Wisconsin Than in Minnesota? Don’t Count On It
A new poll by Quinnipiac University of more than 1,000 likely voters in both Minnesota and Wisconsin was released Thursday with a surprising headline: Barack Obama led John McCain by just 2 points in the Gopher State (46 to 44…
Read MoreWisconsin Assembly Poised to Flip to Democratic Control
The filing deadline for candidacy papers closed last week in Madison and Democrats, who took control of the state Senate in 2006, appear poised to do the same in the Assembly in 2008. Republicans will face an uphill battle holding…
Read MoreRasmussen Poll: Obama Up Big in MN, IA, Competitive in the Dakotas
Barack Obama is looking to become the first Democratic candidate to sweep the Upper Midwest since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. New polling by Rasmussen indicates Obama is currently competitive enough in the Dakotas to have a chance at doing…
Read MoreObama Maintains Double-Digit Lead in Wisconsin
A new Rasmussen survey of 500 likely voters in Wisconsin finds Barack Obama maintaining a substantial lead over John McCain. The Rasmussen poll measures Obama’s advantage over McCain at 11 points – 50 to 39 percent. These results are in…
Read MoreThe Upper Midwestern Voting Bloc in Presidential Elections
Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have been (correctly) labeled as key battleground states in recent presidential elections. With the exception of George W. Bush’s narrow victory in the Hawkeye State in 2004, the three states have voted as a bloc dating…
Read MorePresidential Politics in Wisconsin: A Historical Overview
Since Wisconsinites cast their first presidential ballots in 1848, approximately 900,000 more votes have been cast for Republican presidential nominees than Democrats, out of more than 43.2 million votes cast across 40 presidential elections. Wisconsin has been on the winning…
Read MoreQuinnipiac: Obama Breaks Out to Double Digit Leads in MN, WI
Polls released this morning by Quinnipiac University of more than 1,500 likely voters in both Minnesota and Wisconsin show Barack Obama staked to his largest lead to date over John McCain in each battleground state. In Minnesota, the poll (which,…
Read MoreWhy Is Obama Talking About Religion?
Barack Obama’s recent comments on religion’s problematic role when mixed with government—along with his citation of certain Biblical passages as evidence of this point—have now once again raised the specter of his own religious beliefs. Obama’s comments not only renewed…
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