I like the Marquette Poll — it allows for op-ed writers like myself to base our projections of who’s going to win the presidential election or senate race and view Wisconsinites’ attitudes toward these candidates.
But this time, something must be wrong with its latest findings.
It found that Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., has his highest approval rating since the eve of his 2014 reelection with 44 percent of respondents approving of the job he’d done and 51 percent expressing disapproval. In Nov. 2014, Walker’s approval rating was 49 percent.
U.S. Supreme Court rejection of John Doe appeal is embarrassing, unjustifiable
Since Walker traversed around the U.S. while running for president, his approval ratings sunk and hovered about 40 percent. It is possible that Wisconsinites are finally forgiving him for completely compromising the state in order to fulfill his dream of running for president, or they have come to abhor the two negative presidential candidates and feel better about Walker as a result. But this shouldn’t be the case.
We are just one month removed from the revelation of the damning John Doe II documents, which aimed to prove a link between Walker and the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Given the content of those documents, I would have predicted a precipitous decline in Walker’s approval rating.
I’m not going to delve into the specifics of these documents (I’ve already gone pretty thoroughly into it here), but what was done between Walker and WiCFG, if not illegal, just feels like something that shouldn’t be done. These documents push forward the narrative that politicians are not trustworthy people and don’t always act for the public benefit.
This leads me to wonder why Walker’s approval rating has actually gone up from last month to this month. In the previous Marquette Poll, conducted right after the John Doe documents were leaked, Walker had a 43 percent approval rating with 52 percent expressing disapproval.
While I realize a one percent change of each the approval and disapproval ratings are not huge in themselves, the John Doe documents were huge, which leads me to believe the average Wisconsinite did not see or care about these documents, which is a sad thing.
To those of you who didn’t read the John Doe documents — read them. If you are intimidated by a bunch of names you don’t recognize, like R.J. Johnson, Keith Gilkes or Kate Doner, don’t be. They’re all one Google search away.
If you disapprove of Walker, read the documents. You will be amazed how talented his staff is and how much work actually goes on behind the scenes.
If you approve of Walker, read the documents. They might change your opinion or at least help you understand your governor better.
No matter who you are, these documents are vastly important to Democratic rule by the people. We all have the moral responsibility to keep our elected officials in check. Not reading these documents means you’re not doing your job as an informed public.
Aaron Reilly ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in social work and economics.
