WPR’s Joe Schulz: “The economy is the top issue for Wisconsin voters, but most have a negative opinion. »:
Stephen Brown, who is moving to Oshkosh from Rockford, Ill., said he doesn’t think the economy is as bad as Republicans claim, but it’s also not as good as the Democrats claimed.
While Wisconsin’s economy is, according to most conventional macroeconomic indicators, it is doing wellit is true that there is a partisan divide over the health of Wisconsin’s economy.
Source: Marquette Law School Survey, April 2024.
Interestingly, the WisconSays/LaFollette Poll (Summer-Fall 2023) indicates that there is no partisan divide as far as the economy is an issue.
Source: WisconsinSays/La Follette.
The difference in indications could be due to timing or formulation (or both). My view is that the latter is more likely the source of the difference. The Marquette poll question likely sparks perceptions about the direction of the economy. In contrast, the WisconSays survey question likely reflects each respondent’s perceptions of their financial situation.
A similar contrast occurs in national polls, as highlighted Krugman. Since the perceived state of the economy differs from the conditions faced by an individual survey respondent, the former can be strongly influenced by media coverage (see Harris and Sojourner, 2024).
