UW experts weigh in on which issues could win Wisconsin in November

MADISON, Wis. — From political ads to national convention speeches, voters will hear a lot of messages between now and November. The question is: Will those voices impact voters?

If there is just a single issue that matters to most voters, it’s the economy. However, experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison at Tuesday’s WisPolitics event said don’t count out what each party is pushing either.

By now, it comes as no surprise that Democrats are focused on abortion rights. At the same time, Republicans have narrowed in on immigration and the border, and voters don’t need to look for examples further than how the two presumptive presidential nominees have already evolved their positions on those issues.

“Trump [is] saying on abortion, ‘it’s up to the states,’ so it’s really kind of softening up that position from where he’s been in the past,” Susan Webb Yackee, who serves as director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, explained. “Whereas, on immigration, I mean just last week President Biden issued this major executive order.”

However, with so many voters having made up their minds, a change in policy position is probably most influential among independent voters.

“They skew especially young, so it’s young people who are least likely to have attachments to either of the parties, who are not fond of either of the candidates and who have not bought into the traditional ways of doing politics and that I think is a worrisome sign for Biden,” UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said.

While young people have been especially vocal about President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, experts said another less-talked about issue could have more of an impact come November.

Director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs Susan Webb Yackee explains why housing could be a significant voter issue in November. (Spectrum News 1/Mandy Hague)

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“To me, it ties all back to the sleeper issue of housing,” Webb Yackee added. “Young folks not feeling like they can afford to buy a house. ‘I can’t afford the American Dream,’ and you’re trying to sell that to young folks in America, and sell your vision of tomorrow, and you can’t afford the American Dream.”

Though that issue, which stems from the economy, may be frustrating, for many people, so are the names on the ballot.

“Biden is doing better in polls that are of the most likely voters, but if you expand the universe a little bit to include people who are sometimes voters or are just registered voters but maybe haven’t voted in a while, Trump begins to do better,” Burden said. “So, keeping the electorate a little smaller, in terms of who participates, might help the Democrats.”

Burden added that it is probably best to pay attention to polls after Labor Day when Election Day is within 90 days.