80% of us say country is on 'the wrong track'

70% of Wisconsinites give President an unfavorable rating

There's good news for Barack Obama in poll results released today by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science/ WisPolitics.com. If the presidential election were held today, it would not be the squeaker it was in 2000 and 2004. 50% say they would vote for Obama; 37% would vote for John McCain; 10% say they are undecided.

George Bush can take solace only from the fact he isn't running again. Seven out of ten Wisconsinites have an unfavorable impression of the President.

Five hundred and six "likely voters" were questioned between June 8-10. Here are some of the results that caught my eye (keep in mind that 38% of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats; 24% as Republicans and 29% as Independents):

Wrong track: 80% responded that the country is not going in the right direction, but is on the wrong track. 51% think the state is on the wrong track.

Barack Obama: 64% give him a favorable rating, with 33% "strongly" favorable. 74% feel he "shares my values;" 43% feel he is "experienced."

John McCain: 53% favorable, with 16% "strongly" favorable. 46% feel he "shares my values;" 84% feel he is "experienced."

George Bush: 30% favorable, with 9% "strongly" favorable; 70% unfavorable, with 50% "strongly" unfavorable.

Jim Doyle: 57% favorable, with 14% "strongly" favorable.

Wisconsinites split right down the middle on the question of jobs vs. the environment. Asked: "Some people say that it is important to protect the environment, even if it costs some jobs or otherwise reduces our standard of living. Other people say that protecting the environment is not as important as maintaining jobs and our standard of living. Which viewpoint comes closest to your own?" the respondents split 45% in favor of protecting the environment, and 44% for maintaining jobs.

No such agreement on whether the war with Iraq was worth fighting: 66% said no; 31% said yes. Only 19% felt strongly it was worth fighting, while 52% felt strongly it was not.

I was interested in how people get their news. 30% said they watch network TV news every day; 25% said they watch cable news every day; 32% watch local news every day; 34% read a local newspaper every day; 23% get news from the internet every day.

There's lots more. If you want to see how your neighbors feel about abortion, how often they go to church, what they think about African-Americans' work ethic, what their priorities are for both state and national government, read the full results of the poll HERE.