Polls show it takes a lot to change our opinions

How important is it for presidential candidates to visit the states they hope to carry? Not very. Much was made of Hillary Clinton’s failure to campaign in Wisconsin in 2016. Some say it cost her the election. During his recent Wisconsin visit, President Trump jabbed at Joe Biden for not campaigning in the state. Biden stopped in Kenosha days later. They pledged to heal, and to rebuild. But when a candidate comes to La Crosse or any other city in America, it seems the visit has very little impact. The latest survey from the Marquette University Law School finds voter opinion hasn’t changed in Wisconsin since the police shooting and subsequent protests in Kenosha. The same number of people still feel the same way about Donald Trump as they did before the came to Kenosha. The same is true with Joe Biden, who continues to maintain about a four percentage point lead in the state, same as four months ago. Their favorability and unfavorability ratings are also largely unchanged. So what they say or do, or where they do it, seems to have little impact on voters opinions. Perhaps those who urged Trump and Biden to stay away from Kenosha were on to something. Their visits really didn’t make a difference in how we feel or for whom we plan to cast a ballot.