If you dig into the crosstabs of the Marquette Law School poll, you’ll see how things are very different in the 920 vs how they shake out statewide. I’ll use the wider “registered voters” screen in that poll, as it’ll increase the sample sizes and the basic point remains the same.
Green Bay-Appleton vs Wisconsin
President 2-way
Wisconsin- Clinton 45-40
GB/Appleton- Trump 51-34
President 4-way
Wisconsin- Clinton 41, Trump 35, Johnson 11
GB/Appleton- Trump 48, Clinton 30, Johnson 10
Senate 2-way
Wisconsin- Feingold 47-44
GB/Appleton- Johnson 51-42
Senate 3-way
Wisconsin- Feingold 44, Johnson 42, Anderson 6
GB/Appleton- Johnson 50, Feingold 40, Anderson 4
I’d be very uncomfortable if ____ was president.”
Clinton
Wisconsin- 44%
GB/Appleton- 59%
Trump
Wisconsin- 54%
GB/Appleton- 44%
These numbers help explain why Donald Trump is showing up in Green Bay again on Monday (although Ron Johnson and most other elected WisGOPs are apparently “too busy” to appear with Drumpf), and it’s a bit of an ominous sign statewide for Dems. The GB/Appleton metro area voted in the neighborhood of 52-48 GOP in the presidential race of 2012, but gave over 60% of its votes to Scott Walker in 2014 and Rebecca Bradley in April 2016, which is what put those GOPs over the top in their elections.
And after years of groundwater contamination in Kewaunee County, defunded public schools in the largest NE Wisconsin cities, and the generally disgusting nature of Trump and Trump’s candidacy, WHY THE FUCK IS THAT AREA LEANING GOP MORE THAN EVER? Is it because too many of these guys never get out of “Packer Sunday yah-knooow-dere” mode to take a look at what’s actually going on in their communities?
I remember when pictures like that made me laugh and say “Ahhh, that’s my culture right there.” Now, they just make me seethe and shake my head, because I can’t help but think “These are the fuckheads that elected Walker and (mo)Ron Johnson and put this state into the dumper.”
You’ve been killing us, 920. I’m going to be watching the election results in your area very closely on November 8. If those Marquette Poll figures hold up, and you prove to be filled with dimwitted Trumpkins, it’ll be time for you to be cut off and sent home.
The Fox River Valley area you note has two qualities explaining these data: White and racist. Spent my first 19 years of life in Fondy-Oshkosh-Appleton-Green Bay, and I can tell you politically what resonates. There is no down side to pushing racist cultural buttons.
ReplyDeleteAfter the election check for possible correlations between the levels of tRUMP support and drunk driving arrest rates, and tRUMP support and the liver cirrhosis death rate.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as someone who doesn't mind getting his drink on every now and again, that's not the measure I'd use.
DeleteI'd look more at per-capita consumption of Miller Lite and other mass-produced swill. And maybe throw in Fireball for the "young dumbass" crowd
Although the DUI measure is likely valid, given that it fits the non-thinkinh Drumpf supporter very well
Deletewith the exception of GB and teh Fox Valley, the whole area is quite backwards. But the primary cause is the lack of news coverage. It is Packer season and all the local TV stations care about is Eddy lacy's groin. No political reporting of worth. This is exactly why Scott Walker keeps getting elected. The voters have no idea what is going on in this state.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem telling that GB and Appleton's newspapers have long been part of the Gannett empire. That means cost-cutting and a lack of in-depth discussion of local and state issues.
DeleteBut there's one exception to that in Gannett-world. They have constantly run articles about public employee salaries and the "burdens" they cause. And notice that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is now doing the same after Gannett bought them. It plays right into the hands of the "divide and conquer" WisGOPs
You are dead on! News in WI is nothing more than disguised propaganda since Gannette monopolized the whole area.
DeleteMomma don't let your babies grow up to work for Gannett.
DeleteOne of these "news" papers will, from tome to time solicit me to subscribe. I laugh as I recycle their naked plea for my money. Gannett is yet another pro-corporate, anti-worker business to boycott.
I think this correlates to what I refer to as the paper mill union attitude. The local economy was boosted way up by these union jobs, the workers made good money but they saw lazy bad workers get away with stuff. many are now retired and vote against anything union even though they themselves were put into an economic class beyond reach with a high school diploma. This would explain about 75% of the neighborhood I grew up in.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observation. I'm betting almost all those peopke are men, as well. It seems like a lot of the eastern half if Wisconsin is very male-centric, where guys are supposed to work hard with their hands, and be the one who provides for their families, while women are kind of off to the side. Especially in public.
DeleteNE Wisconsin is overwhelmingly represented by the GOP in the Legislature (the only exceptions are GB Sen Dave Hansen, GB Rep Eric Genrich and Appleton Rep Amanda Stuck). But I don't think ANY of those GOP reps and Senators in the 920 are women. ZERO. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. That speaks VOLUMES
I'm half right- between Sheboygan and the UP, and bounded by Waupaca on the west, there are 22 Assembly seats and 9 Senate seats that are part of this swath.
DeleteAssembly GOPs 19
Assembly Dems 3
Senate GOPs 8
Senate Dems 1
GOP women- 1 out of 22- Mary Czaja. Barely, as her district reaches Antigo and other spots in Langlade County. Nice "diversity", WisGOP
I'm half right- between Sheboygan and the UP, and bounded by Waupaca on the west, there are 22 Assembly seats and 9 Senate seats that are part of this swath.
DeleteAssembly GOPs 19
Assembly Dems 3
Senate GOPs 8
Senate Dems 1
GOP women- 1 out of 22- Mary Czaja. Barely, as her district reaches Antigo and other spots in Langlade County. Nice "diversity", WisGOP
It is Packers, Packers, Packers, all the time in the Press Gazette. The Post Crescent used to carry a little more state news. Actually, the acquisition by Gannett of the Journal-Sentinel means that a few articles of statewide political interest make it into the other Gannett papers, which is a change. And Patrick Durkin, who follows the DNR closely, used to write for the Press Gazette and is still carried by that paper as a freelancer.
ReplyDeleteBut other than Wisconsin Public TV and WPR (and that is limited), there is little coverage of state politics, or even issues of regional interest like the Kewaunee issues. I've wondered for years how to break through the wall, as I grew up in GB and my mother still lives there. The GB Progressive helps as an online resource, but only if people read it.
Maybe when WTMJ switches out from the all-conservative all the time format in January, that change will trickle down to other Packer-network stations. (Off the subject, but I was amazed that Rush Limbaugh is still on the air in Madison. WTH?)
As someone who lives and works in the 920...
ReplyDelete1. News coverage is shit. The Press Gazette tries to run small-time click-bait about UWGB all the time. And...PACKERS.
2. Lots of bumper stickers for brains up here.
3. White hysteria abounds.
4. Anecdote: Fox news in on everywhere, even the hospitals. I literally watched an old couple, who have had tax-payer healthcare for over a decade, nod repeatedly at how taxes = communism and unfreedom, death camps, etc. It's insane.
Just drove into Door County--now called, "The Trump Signage Peninsula."
Thanks for the updates and perspective on the area, commentators. Keep it coming.
ReplyDeleteOh, and now the Packers SUCK THESE DAYS. So these folks can't even have a positive distraction with the Green and Gold. Funny how they'll honestly admit tonight that the Pack needs to improve and isn't getting the job done, and will be extra angry that see Jerry freaking Jones laugh the Pack off their own home field. But why don't they have a similar problem with the dipshits from WisGOP who are screwing up the state and their communities, and why aren't they resentful of the Jerry Jones types that are the puppetmasters of those scummy politicians and their failed policies?
I think it's easy to underestimate how well Trump's anti-immigrant and "bring the jobs back" rhetoric plays such an area.
ReplyDeleteThere is some truth in the accusation that Democrats abandoned the working class a long time ago, and they're paying the price for it.
There are people out there who are frustrated and feeling left behind. Trump is giving them somebody to blame, and that shit works. Democrats need to reach out and do a better job of showing a better plan. A plan which does not accept finger-pointing as an excuse for inaction. A plan which makes it clear that the United States is in need of an "all hands on deck" solution.
I'm not naïve enough to think she could ever be everybody's President, but she needs a bigger tent than she's chasing right now.
I think that's a good observation. The Clinton/Obama "coalition" is targeted toward educated professionals, young people, and minorities, and emphasizes a 21st Century mentality on social issues such as LGBT and reproductive rights, and finding ethnic diversity and immigration to be a positive.
DeleteI agree with all of that, but the problem is that it also involves kissing up to corporate America and big money, and de-emphasizing the real American problems of inequality and de-industrialization. De-industrialization is real to a lot of people in the 920 (what else do they have to grow their economy with?), but those social issues aren't things that they deal with, or want to deal with. A strong Dem message of "growing communities" through demanding good pay for good work, improved investments in public education and infrastructure, and limiting excessive corporate power is something I think would relate well to the 920 constituency, but the Clinton/Obama/DNC types from the Coasts don't seem willing to talk about it much.
I feel less alone now living in a red county where I had to search out if there was even a democratic party in my county. I did eventually find all three.
ReplyDeleteI live right in the middle of it and was astounded to learn, back in 2008, that people (and even relatives) I'd known for years were racists. Before the 2008 election people that knew my leanings would say things like "you're not voting for that n------, are you?" I see trailers and ramshackle houses in my township with Trump signs and wonder what they think he would do for them.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that works around here is the "Hillary is gonna take your guns" argument. It's depressing. A county exec like Nelson will probably lose to a guy who just moved back here from California.