Voters weigh in as new poll shows political enthusiasm is up

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Marquette University Law School released its latest poll Wednesday, Sept. 11.

It showed enthusiasm is up as the race for the White House tightens. The poll director said that was the number one takeaway from the new report.

That enthusiasm is playing out in the Milwaukee TV market, both on the ground and in the data. The area scored the fifth-highest viewership in the country.

Alyssa Rinelli, a member of the Milwaukee Young Republicans, told us, "I'm seeing a lot of young people that are excited for the future."

Angela Sitzes, a Harris supporter from Brown Deer, said, I'm excited that Kamala is running. She will be a good leader."

Partisan voters in the Milwaukee area were among the more than 67 million people who watched Tuesday's debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump.

It represents a 30% increase in viewership from the Biden-Trump debate.

The increased interest was especially evident in the Milwaukee market: the debate scored a 37.8 rating, the fifth highest in the entire country. That means nearly 40% of all TVs in the area was tuned into the debate.

Charles Franklin, the poll director at the Marquette Law School, said Wednesday, "The number one thing is enthusiasm and activation."

The stats also show increased interest.

Marquette's poll showed a big jump in enthusiasm, especially for Democrats.

A few months ago, Democrats were significantly less enthusiastic about their candidate than Republicans, until President Biden dropped out.

Franklin said, "They nearly matched Republicans last month. This month they're significantly more enthusiastic than Republicans."

And many more Democrats were not enthusiastic about their candidate in June, but those results flipped after VP Harris entered the race.

Sitzes told us, "I'm so happy Kamala Harris is running for president."

She watched an hour of the debate. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump was a lightning rod.

Sitzes said, "I was exhausted by the rhetoric of Mr. Donald Trump. He is a shame to this country."

But Republican organizers maintain the policies are more important than the person.

Rinelli said, "It's really convincing people that, of course there's going to be no perfect candidate, but the policies that the Republicans, and Trump specifically, are pushing through, are policies that are good for you."

Partisans say they're getting good responses on the ground.

But the poll also showed independent voters are still unenthusiastic about any candidate, as we saw at an event moments after the debate.

One person said, "As a young voter, I've personally become highly discouraged from the performance I saw in there."

Marquette's poll was conducted over the past several weeks and does not include any post-debate reaction. The next poll goes into the field next week and will gauge the impact of the debate.