Poll: Obama leads big in swing-state Wisconsin

By Jonathan Easley - 05/30/12 05:55 PM ET

President Obama holds a double-digit lead in Wisconsin, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday.

Obama leads Mitt Romney 52 percent to 40 among registered voters in the state. The poll is similar to a Reason-Rupe poll released last week in which Obama led 46 to 36, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson taking 6.

That’s good news in the short term for the Obama campaign, as some have speculated that the recall election facing Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker might mobilize and energize the GOP base there.  Walker leads Milwaukee Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett 50 percent to 44, according to poll.

Wisconsin voters are optimistic about the economy, perhaps unsurprisingly, as the Badger State has one of the best unemployment rates in the country at 6.7 percent, well below the national rate of 8.1 percent.

Forty-two percent said the economy had stayed the same over the past year, 29 said it had gotten better, and 27 said it was worse. A plurality, 46 percent, said they expected it to improve over the next year, 34 said it would stay the same, and only 13 said it would get worse.

Obama has a strong job approval rating in Wisconsin, with 52 saying they approve versus 43 who disapprove. The president also has a strong favorability rating at 55 positive and 41 negative.

Romney is underwater in favorability near to where he is nationally at 40 percent positive and 47 negative.

Wisconsin is one of 12 battleground states — the others are Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire — that will be critical in determining the outcome of the 2012 election.

In a conference call on Wednesday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus touted the party’s efforts in Wisconsin, saying that “if Wisconsin goes red, it’s lights out for Barack Obama.”