>> FOR "HERE AND NOW," I'M NATHAN DENZIN IN WHITEWATER.
>> AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME IN WISCONSIN, IT'S A DEAD HEAT
BETWEEN JOE BIDEN AND DONALD TRUMP IN THE LATEST MARQUETTE
UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL POLL, AND THAT'S NOT ALL THE SURVEY SHOWS.
WE TURN TO POLL DIRECTOR, CHARLES FRANKLIN, FOR MORE.
CHARLES, THANK YOU FOR BEING >> SO I WAS GOING TO TALK ABOUT
THIS A LITTLE BIT LATER IN OUR DISCUSSION, BUT THE SPECIAL
COUNCIL CHOOSING NOT TO CHARGE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN OVER HIS
HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ALSO CALLED HIM AN ELDERLY MAN
WITH POOR MEMORY. NOW, YOUR POLL FOUND THAT 61% OF
RESPONDENTS BELIEVE BIDEN TOO OLD TO BE PRESIDENT COMPARED TO
29% FOR DONALD TRUMP. HOW DO YOU THINK THOSE NUMBERS
WOULD LOOK IF YOU WERE IN THE FIELD AFTER THIS REPORT?
>> WELL, I THINK IT WILL ONLY MOVE FURTHER IN THE -- TOO OLD
TO BE PRESIDENT DESCRIBES BIDEN VERY WELL.
THAT 61% THIS TIME IS ALREADY UP FROM 55% IN NOVEMBER, AND SO I
DO THINK THAT THERE'S NOT ANY EVIDENCE IN THOSE TWO MONTHS
WORTH OF POLLING THAT BIDEN IS ADDRESSING THE AGE ISSUE.
NOW, TH THE AGE ISSUE HAS BEEN H HIM FOR A LONG TIME.
DONALD TRUMP IS ONLY FOUR YEARS YOUNGER AND YET FAR FEWER PEOPLE
SEE HIM AS TOO OLD. HOW DOES THE CAMPAIGN DEAL WITH
THIS, GIVEN THIS REPORT AND THESE EXPLICIT EXAMPLES AND NOW,
OF COURSE, EVERYBODY WATCHING FOR EVERY TIME BIDEN MISSPEAKS.
>> MEANWHILE, WHEN YOU WERE IN THE FIELD, YOUR POLL SHOWED A
DEAD HEAT WITH JOE BIDEN AT 49% AND DONALD TRUMP AT 49% AMONG
REGISTERED VOTERS, BUT THIRD-PARTY VOTERS POLLED WAY
HIGHER WAY HIGHER THAN NORMAL WITH RFK, JR. SEEING 16%.
WHOSE VOTES IS HE SIPHONING OFF? >> WELL, IT'S INTERESTING.
SO WHEN WE JUST MAKE IT HEAD TO HEAD, IT'S A DEAD TIE.
WHEN WE GIVE FIVE CANDIDATES AS THE CHOICE, KENNEDY AT 16 IS
TAKING A LITTLE MORE ACTUALLY FROM REPUBLICAN VOTERS THAN FROM
DEMOCRATIC VOTERS. BUT JILL STEIN, THE GREEN PARTY
CANDIDATE, TAKES 8% FROM DEMOCRATS AND ONLY 1% FROM
REPUBLICANS. POINT OR TWO FROM EITHER PARTY.
SO YOU'VE GOT TO PUT THAT INTO PERSPECTIVE THAT IN 2016, WE HAD
A RECENT HIGH WATERMARK FOR 30-PARTY VOTES HERE IN
WISCONSIN, AND THAT WAS ONLY 5-1/2%.
SO THE IDEA THAT WE WOULD SEE A THIRD-PARTY VOTE TOTALLING 20%
OR SO SEEMS UNLIKELY COME THE FALL.
BUT IT DOES REFLECT THE DISSATISFACTION WITH BOTH OF THE
TOP PARTY CANDIDATES. WE FOUND 18% SAID THEY HAD AN
UNFAVORABLE VIEW OF BOTH BIDEN AND OF TRUMP.
HOW DO THOSE 18% SHAKE OUT OVER THE YEAR?
>> THERE IS ANOTHER MATCH-UP THAT'S SUPER INTERESTING AND
KIND OF SPEAKS TO THIS AND THAT IS THE BIDEN HALEY MATCH-UP.
HALEY GETTING 57% TO BRAZ BIDEN. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT BIDEN,
HALEY AND TRUMP? >> I THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT
INDICATION THAT BIDEN AND TRUMP BOTH HAVE SERIOUS DISADVANTAGES,
AND WHEN YOU PUT THEM HEAD TO HEAD, YOU COME UP WITH A TIE,
BUT WHEN IT'S BIDEN VERSUS HALEY, WHO STILL REALLY IS NOT
VERY WELL KNOWN IN THE STATE, BIDEN'S LIABILITIES STAND OUT.
HIS 41% AGAINST HALEY IS THE SAME AS HIS JOB APPROVAL NUMBER.
AND SO THAT'S JUST A GOOD EXAMPLE THAT A CANDIDATE WITHOUT
TRUMP'S BAGGAGE COULD AT LEAST HYPOTHETICAL DO MUCH BETTER TO
EXPLOIT BIDEN'S WEAKNESSES, BUT JUST AS BIDEN HAS THIS TOO OLD
TO BE PRESIDENT, 53% SAY TRUMP COMMITTED ILLEGAL ACTS AFTER THE
ELECTION IN 2020. SO THERE'S THE FLIP SIDE OF WHO
HAS GOT REAL PROBLEMS. >> SO AND THAT MIGHT SAY
SOMETHING, TOO, ABOUT VOTER ENTHUSIASM.
IN THAT REGARD, 49% OF YOUR RESPONDENTS SAY THEY ARE VERY
ENTHUSIASTIC TO VOTE COMPARED TO 70% IN 2020.
>> IT'S DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT AND THAT 2020 IS FROM JANUARY
2020 AS WELL. IT'S NOT LATE IN THE CAMPAIGN.
IT'S THE SAME MONTH. AND ALSO RIGHT BEFORE COVID HIT,
SO IT'S BEFORE THE COVID EFFECTS, IF ANY.
YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I SEE THAT BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP ARE SEEN MORE
UNFAVORABLABLY THAN FAVORABLY. EACH OF THEM HAS THESE
DIFFICULTIES. VERY ENTHUSIASTIC GOES HEAVILY
FOR DONALD TRUMP. IT'S THE LESS THAN VERY
ENTHUSIASTIC, SOMEWHAT, NOT AT ALL.
BIDEN WINS EACH OF THOSE GROUPS VERY SUBSTANTIALLY AS WELL.
AND YET DESPITE THAT, THEY'RE TIED WHEN YOU PUSH PEOPLE TO WHO
YOU'LL VOTE FOR. THE CHALLENGE FOR THE DEMOCRATS
IS HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THOSE LESS ENTHUSIASTIC PEOPLE THAT
LIKE -- THAT ARE DISAPPOINTED WITH BIDEN BUT LIKE TRUMP NOT
MUCH AT ALL? CAN YOU MOBILIZE THEM AND GET
THEM TO THE POLLS? OR ARE THOSE EXACTLY THE PEOPLE
THAT MAY SAY, MEH, NOT GOOD ENOUGH, I'LL VOTE THIRD-PARTY
THIS YEAR. NINE MONTHS TO GO TO SETTLE THAT
QUESTION. >> SO AS TO GOVERNOR TONY EVERS
IN WISCONSIN COMING BACK STATE-SIDE, HIS APPROVAL IS
RIGHT SIDE UP WITH 51% APPROVING OF HIS JOB PERFORMANCE AND 44%
DISAPPROVING. >> IT'S NOT BAD AT ALL.
IT'S DOWN JUST SLIGHTLY FROM NOVEMBER, BUT UP A BIT FROM THE
ELECTION IN THE FALL OF 2022. HE'S DOING PRETTY WELL.
HE'S GENERALLY BEEN ABOVE WATER ON THAT APPROVAL MEASURE HERE IN
THE STATE. >> WHICH SEEMS INTERESTING TO ME
GIVEN HOW MUCH KIND OF DISCORD THERE IS.
>> WELL, THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF DISCORD.
FROM NOVEMBER TO JANUARY, THE PERCENT OF PEOPLE SAYING THE
STATE'S HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION HAS BUMPED UP
SIGNIFICANTLY, AND THE PERCENT ECONOMY IS GETTING BETTER OR IS
NOT AS BAD AS THEY SAW IT IN NOVEMBER, THAT'S ALSO ABOUT 10
POINTS HIGHER THAN NOVEMBER. AND FINALLY, WISCONSIN'S ECONOMY
IS SEEN AS EVEN BETTER THAN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY.