Posted Thursday, July 14, 2011 --- 12:50 p.m.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A new poll of Wisconsin residents shows President Barack Obama's approval rating is at 50 percent, about the same as last year.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Badger Poll released Thursday shows 44 percent disapprove of the job the president has done.
Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes are important for Obama as he heads toward his re-election campaign in 2012. The state is also one of the most polarized in the nation, with Republican Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining proposal generating massive protests and prompting historic recall efforts against nine state senators.
Democrats hope to capitalize on that unrest and help Obama.
The random telephone poll of 556 people was conducted between June 17 and July 10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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To read the University of Wisconsin Survey Center's Badger Poll, click on the link BELOW in the RELATED LINKS section.
Other points from the survey:
The latest UW Badger Poll finds that large majorities of Wisconsinites are not happy with national economics and politics. In particular, Badger state residents gave high disapproval ratings to Congress and a majority expressed a desire for Washington D.C. to focus on job creation.
64% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. today, with 35% either very much or extremely dissatisfied.
Approximately 9 in 10 Wisconsinites said the U.S. is in bad times economically and 44% expect it will be in about the same economic condition in the next 12 months, while 25% said things will get worse.
50% approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President.
69% disapprove of the way the U.S. Congress is handling its job. Nearly half either very much or extremely disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job.
Compared to the U.S. Congress, Wisconsin‟s two U.S. Senators receive much better approval ratings:
- 58% approved of the way Herb Kohl is handling his job as U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
- 44% approved of the way Ron Johnson is handling his job as U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
59% said they thought it was more important for the federal government to focus its attention on creating jobs and reducing unemployment, rather than reduce the federal deficit.
