There's no way to sugarcoat it--the Marquette University Law School Poll released Wednesday was an abject disaster for Democrats. Sure, the results of that poll were obscured by a media that ran headlines on it such as "Marquette poll shows Wisconsinites split on impeachment push against Donald Trump," but the reality is far grimmer.
After weeks of nonstop coverage of Trump's supposedly impeachable offenses, a slim majority of registered (not likely) voters still don't believe he should be removed from office. Worse yet, a full 12% of Democrats in Wisconsin don't even believe he should be impeached.
Even more shocking for Democrats? President Trump's job approval rating in Wisconsin is 46%...nearly identical to the 47% job approval voters give Governor Evers. One would think Evers would be able to outdo a guy nearly half of his state wants removed from office.
While Trump's 51% disapproval rating is substantially higher than Evers' 35%, the fact that both approval ratings could be well within the poll's 4.2% margin of error suggests that despite the near-constant impeachment coverage, Trump maintains strong support in a state Democrats absolutely have to win to defeat him next year.
Wednesday's Marquette Poll suggests they won't. Only Joe Biden holds a lead over Trump that is outside the poll's margin of error. Bernie Sanders leads 48%-46%. Elizabeth Warren leads 47%-46%. Trump actually leads Pete Buttigieg 45%-43%.
Think about these numbers logically. If nearly 50% of Wisconsin's voters really wanted Trump removed from office immediately, then why are none of his likeliest opponents opening up big leads on him? Because none of these candidates are particularly appealing. If they were, at least one of them would have a massive lead on Trump--especially in a state that just elected a Democratic governor and elected Trump by the thinnest of margins three years ago. They don't. That means Democrats haven't convinced Wisconsinites that Trump is so awful that anyone would be better than him. That's their central argument this election cycle, and in a key swing state, polling shows that they have failed to make it.
Dan discussed this extensively on Thursday's edition of "The Dan O'Donnell Show." Listen to it here and be sure to subscribe on iHeartRadio so you don't miss a minute!