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Local NewsNew Poll has Democrats Crying FoulBy Elizabeth Braun, Jay OlstadGREENFIELD - When it comes to the game of politics, people watching basketball at Greenfield High School Friday night were torn. "Are you paying attention to politics right now," asked Jay Olstad, TODAY'S TMJ4-HD reporter. "Slightly," responded Diana Benavides. She's a Democrat and plans on voting that way in this election for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the governor's race and Senator Russ Feingold in the senate race. Bill Kiechefer however plans on voting Republican, at least in the governor's race for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. "I think he has some plans for better fiscal management," said Kiechefer. Both of these basketball fans are as split as the opinions on the new poll out from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute or WPRI. In the governor's race, Republican Scott Walker leads Democrat Tom Barrett 36-percent to 32-percent. In the U.S. Senate race, the poll shows Feingold with a lead over Madison businessman Terrence Wall. But when the poll adds former Governor Tommy Thompson's name to the mix, Thompson - who isn't even in the race - leads incumbent Feingold, 51 percent to 39 percent. Nine percent of likely voters were undecided. Democrats claim the poll has no credibility after the University of Wisconsin distanced itself recently from a polling partnership with WPRI because of a liberal backlash, bureaucratic errors, and questions about WPRI's bias toward conservative causes, according to published reports. "The polling project is garbage. There is a reason the project was dumped by the University of Wisconsin -- it has no credibility," wrote One Wisconsin Now in a news release. Other Democrats didn't go that far. "We understand there is an organization that has right leanings that supported this poll, but I also think it's important to point out one poll in March is not the end all, be all," said Phil Walzak with Tom Barrett's campaign. The guy who conducted the poll, who has two decades of experience, says the attacks aren't fair. "It's an extraordinarily toxic political environment which some people try to throw a lot of mud," said POLL DIRECTOR Ken Goldstein of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. So in other words, not only are people fighting about who's the best candidate these days, they're fighting about the polls that monitor them. "There's a lot of frustration out there," said Benavides. You can make up your own mind about the poll by clicking on the link below. You'll be able to read the exact questions that were asked. http://www.wpri.org/polls/March2010/March2010Poll.html You can also find links to the candidates running for governor and senate below in alphabetical order. |
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