GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – With just over six months until the 2024 Presidential Election, an Emerson College poll was released in partnership with Local 5 News.
It details Wisconsinites’ views on President Joe Biden’s approval rating and former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, among other items.
“The election isn’t here yet. I think as the time draws nearer, we’re going to get a clearer picture of what the people really want,” Green Bay resident of 52 years Jody Vanden Branden said. “For years I’ve voted Republican but the last couple of elections I haven’t.”
Trump leads the poll with 46.9% of the vote, with Biden trailing just under two points at 45%.
“Trump is on the up, and Biden’s not doing a very good job, so I think the polls are showing that,” Tim McGuire of Townsend said. “I think the economy’s got a lot to do with it. I think border security has a lot to do with it.”
52.1% of voters disapprove of Biden’s job in office, while 39% disapprove. Count McGuire’s wife, Lynn McGuire, is among them.
“Biden doesn’t really have anything to show for his last four years in office.”
However, Vanden Branden, an independent, believes that Biden is doing a good job overall in attempting to unite the American people and politicians.
“I approve more than I disapprove. Now do I approve of everything, no, but I don’t know that there’s a president that I approve of everything they do,” she said. “I think he’s doing a better job than the previous president.”
“Not everything has been handled to everyone’s satisfaction, and I don’t know of a president yet that’s been able to do it,” Bill Mack, another independent who has lived in Green Bay for over five decades, said. “It’s going to be a long, unhappy road to the election. People are very set in their ways on this.”
Another issue that caused major rifts in opinion was Trump’s criminal trial in New York. 41% of respondents said a conviction would not change their vote, 31% said they would be more likely to support him, and 28% said they would be less likely to support him. Republican voter Tim McGuire says it would only cement his support for Trump.
“Absolutely not, I think it improves my ability to support former President Trump,” he said. “I think [the trials] are a witch hunt, I think they are all politically motivated, and when they are called the ‘Biden indictments,’ I truly believe that’s what it is.”
“I’m hoping it will impact people’s thoughts, that they’ll realize and stop and think that, ‘do we really want this? Is this candidate what’s best for the American people?’” Vanden Branden said.
The January 6, 2021, capitol riots will not leave Mack’s mind.
“I haven’t forgotten January 6,” he said. “And I know who started it.”
Strong feelings on the election are already in the air, with 73% saying they are extremely motivated to vote, 13% saying they are very motivated, 8% somewhat motivated, 4% not very motivated, and 2% not at all motivated to vote.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirms new case of Chronic Waste Disease
“I just hope that as many people as possible vote,” Vanden Branden said.
“People of all ages, please get out and vote,” Mack said.
