You know it's got to be bad for Governor Walker and the Wisconsin Senate Republicans when even Rasmussen, the darling pollster of the right wing, finds Walker losing ground to unions.
Just out this morning:
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Wisconsin voters shows that just 39% favor weakening collective bargaining rights and 52% are opposed.
Looks to me like (dare I say it?) a "shellacking."
Rasmussen tried to get creative with the poll to look at how question wording affected responses. So he split the survey into two groups: one was asked about proposals to reduce the state budget deficit (presumably friendlier wording for Walker) and the other about weakening collective bargaining rights.
The results are striking, even for the line of questioning you'd think would put Walker in a better light:
Among those asked about the state budget deficit, 52% supported the Democrats and 44% supported the Governor. Most of those 50 and over support the Governor, 40-somethings are evenly divided, and those under 40 support the Democrats.
Among those asked about weakening collective bargaining rights, 56% supported the union and 41% supported the Governor. There is a similar age dynamic on this question, even though the overall level of support for the Governor is lower.
So, to recap:
Voters in Wisconsin oppose weakening collective bargaining rights 52/39
They support Democrats over the governor 52/44
And they support unions over the governor 56/41
It's interesting that unions poll so much better than Dems (who poll well themselves) - makes me think that not a negligible number of those who support unions in this fight are Republicans and conservative-leaning independents.
Solidarity!Updated by itskevin at Thu Mar 3, 2011, 12:15:49 PM
To underscore how Republican-leaning Rasmussen really is, check out their teaser in the right rail about this week's CBS/NYT national poll:
Plurality Says Labor Unions Have Too Much Influence According to CBS/NY Times Poll
It was an
absolutely, off-the-charts blistering poll against the Republican position, and yet Rasmussen's team can't help themselves from trying to spin it the other way.
Nate Silver was pretty clearly onto something when he cautioned about viewing their work "with extreme skepticism."