A new poll of Wisconsin from Public Policy Polling (D) shows President Obama up in the state at the moment, but the more pertinent information might be about the relative strength of the various Republican candidates against Obama. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whose main argument through the GOP primary has been about electability, is bested by fourteen points against the President, 53 – 39. But former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is only down six, 49 – 43. From PPP:
All the Republican presidential challengers are suffering from negative favorability ratings of 50% of more. Santorum’s rating among Wisconsin voters comes in at 37% favorable and 50% unfavorable, and it only gets worse from there: Romney is at 25/61, Ron Paul is at 23/59, and Newt Gingrich is at 19/68.
“Wisconsin was a swing state in 2000 and 2004,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But in 2008 it shifted to being safely Democratic and it looks like that trend is going to continue in 2012.”
Romney seems to be suffering from issues within his own party and among independents. In a matchup with Obama, Santorum does better with independents than Romney, and he attracts more GOP party faithful than does the former governor.
The current TPM Poll Average shows Obama over Romney by double digits in Wisconsin at the moment.
