State Political News: Polls tighten after Ryan tabbed for VP nomination

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Another poll shows that Wisconsin’s presidential race is too close to call. President Obama had a 49-47 percent lead over Republican Mitt Romney in a poll released this morning by Quinnipiac University, CBS News, and the New York Times.

It’s technically a dead heat, since the result is within the poll’s two-point-eight percent margin of error. The same was true for other new polls released by the Marquette University Law School, Public Policy Polling, and Rasmussen. Yesterday’s Marquette poll gave Obama a three-point lead. The other two polls had Romney leading by one point in the Badger State. All the polls show that the presidential contest is tightening up – especially after Romney named Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.

In the Quinnipiac poll, 44-percent of Wisconsin voters said Ryan is qualified, while 29-percent disagreed. But they rejected Ryan’s call for a voucher-type Medicare system that spends less. 59-percent of Wisconsin voters were against that, and only 32-percent favored it. 42-percent said the Medicare issue would be “extremely important” in deciding who they’ll vote for – and 57-percent of seniors agreed. 49-percent said Romney would do a better job than Obama on the economy. And Wisconsin independents back Romney 48-43 percent. The Quinnipiac poll looks at trends in three swing states in the White House contest – Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. The poll said Ryan’s presence on the ticket gave a small boost to Romney in Wisconsin and Florida, but not in Ohio.

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Tammy Baldwin’s campaign remains upbeat, after two new polls showed her trailing Republican Tommy Thompson by up to nine points for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. Thompson, the former governor and Bush health secretary, led 50-41 percent in the latest Marquette University Law School poll. And the Public Policy Polling firm had Baldwin, the U.S. House Democrat from Madison, trailing Thompson 49-44. Both leads are beyond the polls’ margins of error. Baldwin was tied with Thompson in the firm’s last head-to-head poll in July, while Marquette had the former governor up by five points back then. The Marquette poll also showed that Thompson is doing well with independents, and that Baldwin still has a problem with name recognition. The poll said almost one-in-three voters still don’t have an opinion about her. Dean Debnam, the head of Public Policy Polling, said Thompson has unified Republicans and quote, “Tammy Baldwin has her work cut out for her.” But John Kraus of the Baldwin camp says the polls have had quote, “more ups-and-downs than a roller coaster.” And he promised that Baldwin would earn people’s support as she fights to quote, “do what’s right for Wisconsin’s middle class.” Thompson spokesman Darrin Schmitz said the new polls show the trust that voters have in the former governor to quote, “get government spending under control, keep taxes low, and create the kind of jobs that will make Wisconsin families stronger.”

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Almost six-of-every-10 Wisconsin voters would be happy to pay 14-cents more for a Papa John’s pizza, so the company could provide health insurance to its employees. That’s how 13-hundred likely voters responded in a recent survey by the Public Policy Polling firm. Only 22-percent said they would not be willing to pay more to provide health coverage to the pizza-makers. Almost one-of-every-five did not have an opinion. Thirty-nine percent of Republicans in the poll said they would not pay the extra 14-cents – but 37-percent of GOP voters said they would pay. Employer health coverage will become more of an issue if Republicans don’t make good on their campaign pledges to repeal the national health reform law passed by President Obama and his fellow Democrats. The law requires employers to offer coverage to their workers, and pay a penalty if they don’t. Critics have said that many employers wound find it cheaper to pay the penalty, and let employees go on government health plans if they can.

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A new poll says two-thirds of Wisconsin voters support the concept of making people show photo ID’s to vote. The Quinnipiac-CBS-New York Times poll said only 32-percent of about 12-hundred Wisconsin voters oppose the idea. Republicans in Wisconsin and a number of other states passed photo ID laws over the last two years. The Quinnipiac poll said voters see it as a way to keep ineligible people from casting ballots, rather than the Democrats’ contention that it suppresses voter turnout. The poll did not specifically address the Wisconsin law, which was struck down by two Dane County circuit judges earlier this year. Judge David Flanagan said it would be difficult for about 300-thousand residents who don’t have the proper ID’s to get them. Both cases are currently being reviewed in two appellate courts. This week, the state’s Republican attorney general said he would ask the Supreme Court to take control of those cases, and consider returning the photo ID mandate in time for the November elections. The ID requirement was only used in the February local primaries. The courts struck it down for the April presidential primary, two recall voting days, and the August 14th fall primaries.

Tags: news, wisconsin, politics