Here & Now

Where Do Wisconsinites Stand on the Border Wall?

Frederica Freyberg:
All this talk about the partial government shutdown, the border wall with Mexico, the ACA lawsuit, and expanding Medicaid. But what do the people of Wisconsin think about it all? In tonight’s inside look, we find out with results of the latest Marquette Law School poll and its director, Charles Franklin. Thanks very much for being here.

Charles Franklin:
Good to be here.

Frederica Freyberg:
Let’s go right to the shutdown and how respondents of your poll reacted to that. On the government shutdown, 66% opposed, 29% of those you surveyed support it. But who do those that you surveyed blame for this?

Charles Franklin:
Well, they say that President Trump is primarily responsible. About 40, a little over 40% say that. Another 7% or so say Republicans. And 34% say the Democrats. And 14% just volunteered to us they’re all responsible. But it’s clear the balance lies with President Trump and the Republicans and that’s very similar to what we have seen in almost all the national polling as well.

Frederica Freyberg:
As to the border wall, 51% of those oppose it and 44% support it. The Trump Administration and Republicans are driving this pretty hard, considering those kinds of numbers.

Charles Franklin:
They are. And especially when you look at that 44 support the wall, but only 29% support the shutdown over the issue of the wall. That’s where the real political slippage is. Trump has actually raised support for the wall from about 37 a year and a half ago, to 44, so it’s gone up a bit. And that’s largely among Republicans who were skeptical initially. But the shutdown, as a part of the wall issue, is really not helping the president’s cause. It’s much worse than support for the wall itself.

Frederica Freyberg:
As for the ACA lawsuit and Wisconsin’s part in that, 81% of Democrats and Democratic leaners support Wisconsin withdrawing from that suit. 75% of Republicans want Wisconsin to stay in it. So, given the Republican majority in the legislature and how they need now to approve withdrawing from that lawsuit, it seems like a foregone conclusion.

Charles Franklin:
Well, this is our polarized politics that we’ve been used to for so long on the withdrawal from the suit, the split is pretty even. It’s 48 withdraw, 42, I believe stay in. But the partisan split is just as deep as everything else has been over ACA.

Frederica Freyberg:
As for expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin, 88% of Democrats favor that, 43% of Republicans, now that 43% of Republicans seems high to me.

Charles Franklin:
It is. And this is sort of different from the ACA issue. Here Republicans are about evenly split. It’s 43 to 41 among Republicans, a tiny plurality that would favor taking the expansion and that’s very different from the Republican legislator’s view that this is a nonstarter.

Frederica Freyberg:
Does this represent some kind of support for Evers’ agenda?

Charles Franklin:
It is a bit. Now, we’ve asked about Medicaid expansion in the past and it’s been getting in the high 50s to 60 before. So that hasn’t really shifted very much. But this is an issue where the Republicans are not unified about it, compared to what we just saw with ACA where they are unified.

Frederica Freyberg:
As to the lame duck legislation in Wisconsin, your numbers show 55% disapprove, 31% approve. So, at least in terms of public opinion that parting shot on Governor Walker’s part by signing it into law was not popular.

Charles Franklin:
No, that’s right. And the views of Walker signing it are almost identical with the views of the legislation itself. So you see that it was not popular, but you also see it carry over into questions we asked about is Evers trying to cooperate with the Republicans, and Evers is seen as cooperating by over 40 to about 25. Republicans are seen as cooperating by only 22 to 40 something, so you see an opposite gap there of who’s perceived as cooperating or willing to.

Frederica Freyberg:
Let’s take a look at redistricting. 72% favor a nonpartisan commission, 18% favor the legislature and governor.

Charles Franklin:
So boy, that’s lopsided. This is really striking because 62% of Republicans favor a nonpartisan commission and it’s higher of course among independents and Democrats. This is unlikely to move the legislature to give its powers away over redistricting. But as an electoral issue in the future, it’s a serious one because we’ve seen it pass in referenda in other states, including Michigan.

Frederica Freyberg:
Let’s take a look at your polling on Scott Walker, and whether or not people think he ought to run for governor. 53% say no. 37% say yes. Given that he just lost the election, the number seems pretty representative but what does a potential candidate at this point do with that?

Charles Franklin:
Oh, I think it’s simply — I think the main point is, his support is well below the votes that he got a few months ago in the election. He himself brought up the possibility that he might run for governor, might run for Senate. So we asked this question, to get a sense now where it stands. In four years, if he’s an active candidate, we’ll start asking questions again. But in the meantime, this doesn’t show a groundswell for him now that he’s out of office.

Frederica Freyberg:
Super quick. Evers’ favorability, 41% favorable, 24% unfavorable but then a big number of people who just don’t know.

Charles Franklin:
It’s over 30% that don’t know, and this is typical of new governors. That it takes the public a while to get used to them and to figure out what they feel about them. Evers starts with a net positive, which is a good start for him, but a lot of voters are withholding judgment or just haven’t heard enough.

Frederica Freyberg:
Charles Franklin, thanks very much.

Charles Franklin:
Thank you.