Polls Show Widening Obama Lead in Wisconsin

Two independent polls show President Barack Obama with a widening lead over Mitt Romney in Wisconsin. The results come as the President and Romney’s wife, Ann, are about to campaign at separate events in Wisconsin.

A poll done by a Connecticut university shows President Obama with a six-point lead over Mitt Romney in Wisconsin. Marquette University in Milwaukee has a new poll showing the president 14 points ahead in the state, up from three points last month. Marquette pollster Charles Franklin says independents seem to be heading the president’s way.”Independents have shifted from plus 2 to plus 15 Obama,” he says.

The Romney campaign has criticized the president’s handling of the economy, as well as the slow growth in jobs and higher poverty levels. but Professor Franklin says the new poll shows most Wisconsin voters blame it on Bush, as in former President George W. Bush. “It is still the case that a substantial percentage blames Bush,” he says.

Franklin says a key question over the next month and a half is whether the blame Bush perception will last. The Marquette poll was conducted during last week’s unrest in Libya, but before the video surfaced of Mitt Romney criticizing 47 percent of the American public. Ann Romney will speak in Milwaukee on Thursday. President Obama comes in on Saturday.