Rasmussen: Romney inches ahead in Wisconsin

A new Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Wisconsin voters shows Mitt Romney using momentum from Scott Walker's win to edge out Barack Obama, 47%-44%.

That's a 14% improvement for Romney since March, and a sign of just how strong he's been in the general election and, possibly, just how meaningful Walker's win was.

Key internals:

a. Obama's job approval is 47%/52% for -5%.

b. Romney's favorability rating is 49%/45%. That's not great, but it's likable enough.

c. Indies pick Romney over Obama, 43%/38%.

d. Voters view public employee unions unfavorably by -5%.

d. Voter enthusiasm is with Obama.

He leads 54%-45% among voters who are excited about the election, while Romney leads, 48%-33%, among those who view the election as the lesser of two evils.

That's a persistent phenomenon across the country. It's much more accurate to say Obama's supporters and Obama's opponents are jazzed about the election than to say the same (i.e. polarization over the president is more intense, as befits the dynamic swirling around an incumbent).

Still, if Romney can make Wisconsin competitive, it opens up his path to 270, considerably. In the past few weeks, he's either been tied or ahead in Iowa and now Wisconsin, and as I noted last month, winning both of those states would help defray a loss in Virginia.