Almost half of all Wisconsinites believe the Democratic Party would do a better job resolving the conflict in Iraq, according a poll released Wednesday, while only 25 percent said Republicans should keep the helm.
The Badger Poll, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center between April 15 and 24, also revealed 63 percent of Wisconsin residents favor a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and 55 percent of residents want to decrease the number of troops in Iraq right now.
“Public opinion in Wisconsin doesn’t differ too greatly from public opinion on the national level,” Chad Kniss, project director for the UW Survey Center. “But it does show how opinions in the state of Wisconsin have changed over the past few years.”
The Badger Poll surveys residents throughout the state, polling a set number of respondents in each region to ensure accurate representation of the state.
The percent of Wisconsin residents who believe the Republican Party would do a better job handling the situation in Iraq dropped by 12 percent since 2006, while support for a timetable for troop withdrawal has risen by 10 percent.
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., wrote a letter to the president in late February outlining his concern regarding effects of the War on Terror both in the U.S. and abroad.
Feingold’s main concern was the allocation of resources; according to the letter, the expense and number of troops focused in Iraq has direct monetary costs for the American people and could make the U.S. more vulnerable to other international threats.
“They will not be there to protect the people in the event of an emergency,” Feingold said in a statement about National Guard troops from Wisconsin. “Like Americans all across the country, the people of Wisconsin don’t think this makes sense.”
However, many Wisconsinites staunchly defend U.S. policy in Iraq. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., spoke in favor of maintaining U.S. troops in Iraq without a timetable for withdrawal.
“We must continue to prepare Iraqi security forces to take the lead in operations, so that our troops can come home as soon as possible,” Ryan said in a statement. “By setting a timetable for withdrawal, without regard for the conditions on the ground or the ability of the Iraqis to defend themselves, we would forfeit the tremendous progress our troops have made.”
But with increasing dissent among Wisconsin residents, Feingold and Ryan may have to reconsider their positions on the conflict in Iraq in order to accurately represent their constituency.
According to Kniss, state legislators often express interest in the results of the UW Survey Center’s polls as an accurate measure of the opinion of citizens across Wisconsin.
Badger Poll health numbers show support for universal care
Another survey from the same time period shows nearly all Wisconsin residents think the state health system is wracked with problems, from the high cost of health care to the need for expanding government programs like Medicaid and BadgerCare.
Numbers released Tuesday showed 45 percent of Wisconsinites think the health care system has major problems, 44 percent think it has minor problems and 7 percent think it is in a state of crisis.
A majority of respondents said health care costs were extremely problematic, favored expansion of government programs to cover uninsured people and encouraged replacing the current health care system with a new state-run system that would cover all Wisconsin residents.
However, 55 percent also believed it is the responsibility of the federal government, and not the state, to ensure state residents’ access to high quality and affordable health care.
