By Scott Bauer
Associated Press
PRAIRIE DU SAC - Gov. Scott Walker pulled out to his largest lead against Democrat Mary Burke in a poll released Wednesday just six days before the election, a shift attributable to Republican voters being more excited about sending him on to a second term than Democrats are about ousting him.
Walker and Burke were dead even in a Marquette University Law School poll released two weeks ago, results that had been fairly consistent for five months. But the latest poll showed Walker with a 7-point advantage among likely voters- 50 percent to 43 percent - a lead beyond the 3 percentage point margin of error and his largest of the campaign.
The shift was largely due to more Repub-licans indicating they planned to vote - 92 percent compared to 82 percent two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the portion of Democrats planning to vote was stagnant, going from 80 percent to just 82 percent despite a recent appearance by former President Bill Clinton and other get out the vote efforts.
Those numbers are similar to what the poll showed before Walker's 2012 recall election, which he won by 7 points. Walker also leads among independents who are likely to vote - 52 percent to 37 percent.
And among a flood of attack ads, more voters have an unfavorable view of Burke - 49 percent - than have a positive one - 39 percent. Two weeks ago 44 percent of respondents had a favorable view of her, the same number that viewed her unfavorably.
Walker's favorability numbers have consistently hovered just above 50 percent.
On the campaign trail, Walker and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan reiterated their charges during a stop at Mid-State Equipment in Prairie du Sac that Burke is running a negative campaign.
"All that Mary Burke is trying to do is get people to hate another person and win an election by default," Ryan said hours before the poll's release, pointing to interest groups that are backing Burke and running ads supporting her and attacking Walker.
Burke's spokesman Joe Zepecki said she was committed to "ending this kind of divisiveness."
"This is not who we are - we're proud Wisconsinites first and foremost, not Democrats or Republicans," Zepecki said.
Both Walker and Burke, as well as groups supporting them, have flooded the airwaves with ads in the final days of the race. Walker's most recent ads have been positive, while Burke's latest spot asks voters to remember "the division" of the past four years under Walker. It refers to his jobs promise broken, to the conviction of six former Walker aides and associates while he was Milwaukee County executive, and to a $700,000 donation his allies received from a company looking to open an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks spending, said that so far, about 55 percent of money spent on the race by interest groups has been on Walker's behalf, compared with 45 percent for Burke. Walker's campaign has also outraised Burke's, about $25 million to $15 million.
Both Ryan and Walker said Burke was the preferred candidate of Washington-based "big government" special interests and recent visits by President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren showed that.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was slated to campaign with Walker on Friday.
Walker and Ryan are close political allies and friends but also potential rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. While they downplayed that potential rivalry, saying they were focused on Tuesday's election, both Walker and Ryan were united in attacking Burke.
The Marquette poll of 1,164 likely voters was done between Oct. 23 and Sunday.
Associated Press
PRAIRIE DU SAC - Gov. Scott Walker pulled out to his largest lead against Democrat Mary Burke in a poll released Wednesday just six days before the election, a shift attributable to Republican voters being more excited about sending him on to a second term than Democrats are about ousting him.
Walker and Burke were dead even in a Marquette University Law School poll released two weeks ago, results that had been fairly consistent for five months. But the latest poll showed Walker with a 7-point advantage among likely voters- 50 percent to 43 percent - a lead beyond the 3 percentage point margin of error and his largest of the campaign.
The shift was largely due to more Repub-licans indicating they planned to vote - 92 percent compared to 82 percent two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the portion of Democrats planning to vote was stagnant, going from 80 percent to just 82 percent despite a recent appearance by former President Bill Clinton and other get out the vote efforts.
Those numbers are similar to what the poll showed before Walker's 2012 recall election, which he won by 7 points. Walker also leads among independents who are likely to vote - 52 percent to 37 percent.
And among a flood of attack ads, more voters have an unfavorable view of Burke - 49 percent - than have a positive one - 39 percent. Two weeks ago 44 percent of respondents had a favorable view of her, the same number that viewed her unfavorably.
Walker's favorability numbers have consistently hovered just above 50 percent.
On the campaign trail, Walker and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan reiterated their charges during a stop at Mid-State Equipment in Prairie du Sac that Burke is running a negative campaign.
"All that Mary Burke is trying to do is get people to hate another person and win an election by default," Ryan said hours before the poll's release, pointing to interest groups that are backing Burke and running ads supporting her and attacking Walker.
Burke's spokesman Joe Zepecki said she was committed to "ending this kind of divisiveness."
"This is not who we are - we're proud Wisconsinites first and foremost, not Democrats or Republicans," Zepecki said.
Both Walker and Burke, as well as groups supporting them, have flooded the airwaves with ads in the final days of the race. Walker's most recent ads have been positive, while Burke's latest spot asks voters to remember "the division" of the past four years under Walker. It refers to his jobs promise broken, to the conviction of six former Walker aides and associates while he was Milwaukee County executive, and to a $700,000 donation his allies received from a company looking to open an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks spending, said that so far, about 55 percent of money spent on the race by interest groups has been on Walker's behalf, compared with 45 percent for Burke. Walker's campaign has also outraised Burke's, about $25 million to $15 million.
Both Ryan and Walker said Burke was the preferred candidate of Washington-based "big government" special interests and recent visits by President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren showed that.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was slated to campaign with Walker on Friday.
Walker and Ryan are close political allies and friends but also potential rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. While they downplayed that potential rivalry, saying they were focused on Tuesday's election, both Walker and Ryan were united in attacking Burke.
The Marquette poll of 1,164 likely voters was done between Oct. 23 and Sunday.