Over the weekend the Wisconsin State Journal’s Matthew DeFour asked for my thoughts on how Wisconsin’s declining unemployment numbers might impact upcoming elections.
Republican strategist Brian Fraley said for many voters trying to gauge how the broader economy is doing, the unemployment rate provides an easily understood statistic similar to the Dow Jones industrial average: “No one really knows what it is, but if the Dow Jones is high, that’s good, right?”
The latest Marquette Law School Poll gauged public awareness of the unemployment rate in Wisconsin and found 37 percent correctly said it is in the 2 to 4 percent range. Another 35 percent thought it was in the 4 to 6 percent range, 12 percent thought it was higher than 6 percent and 14 percent didn’t know.
Fraley said he expects Republican incumbents next year to play up the state reaching the lowest unemployment level in Wisconsin’s history should it reach that milestone.
“It’s definitely something they will champion,” Fraley said.
Check out the entire article here.