GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Despite a new national poll showing most Republican and Republican-leaning voters believing that Donald Trump is causing a lasting fracture within the GOP, Republican Party of Brown County Chairwoman Marian Krumberger says she’s seeing a more united group.
“Internals of the Marquette poll has Trump up by 19 points,” Krumberger says. “There’s a reason why he came here twice and he’ll be here again in the next week, he’s doing really well here.”
The NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll found 57 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning voters believe we’re going to see a lasting fracture within the party.
“There are some that don’t like him, but the party is very united,” says Krumberger in response to those poll numbers. “We’ve had a lot of new members in the last year, probably we’ve increased our rolls by a-third.”
Part of that increased interest in the county GOP has to do with newer candidates, or outsiders, like Trump.
“Some of them are brought in by the new candidates such as (Mike) Gallagher and (Eric) Wimberger,” Krumberger says. “Everybody has their favorite candidates or least-favorite candidates, but are we going to fall apart on this? Absolutely not. Are we stronger? Absolutely, 100 percent stronger.”
Krumberger believes that many backers are supportive of the basic tenets of the GOP like the Constitution, First and Second Amendment rights, as well as being pro-life.
LOCAL VS. NATIONAL OPINION
Many party insiders, analysts, strategists, Republican Party officials, governors and others who have expressed a negativity, at times, with Trump’s candidacy and its lasting impact on the GOP.
“I think that there’s frustration, again, when you look at party leaders, how many people in the House of Representatives, Senate, etc. and look at the Washington establishment,” explains Krumberger. “Look at the state of Wisconsin, there’s been a lot of changes the last couple of years which have been positive. But you look at Washington, people are seeing it at the grassroots level that they’re out of tune with what grassroots people in Green Bay want.”
Krumberger is confident that Trump, much like 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, will win Brown County. She says beyond just the numbers, it’s talking to people coming into the office picking up their campaign yard signs.
“People who have joined the party are grassroots people who are saying, look, enough is enough with Washington, I want a change,” Krumberger says. “And maybe for some of the people in Washington who are elected officials, Donald Trump may be too much of a change.”
ROLE IN WINNING
Earlier this year, HotAir.com Senior Editor Ed Morrissey wrote a book entitled, “Going Red: The Two Million Voters Who Will Elect the Next President–and How Conservatives Can Win Them“. In it, he highlights the seven counties in the U.S. which could determine the outcome of the presidential election on November 8.
One of those is Brown County, but Krumberger cautions that comes with certain assumptions. The so-called “WOW” counties in southeastern Wisconsin (Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington), Krumberger says, must carry the water for Trump in order for Brown County to be the pivotal player in Wisconsin.
“If not, I don’t think Brown County makes the difference everyone believes it can,” Krumberger says. “The 7th Congressional District is looking strong for Trump, which is a good sign, but the WOW counties, I don’t know, I’m hearing a lot of things.”
Ultimately, Krumberger feels that voters should focus on the big picture when it comes to the direction of the country.
“You’re breaking it down to too many minute things and I think, is the country going to go for change or not,” says Krumberger. “That’s the basic question I hear from people walking in our doors and I’ve heard it for a while. Are people going to get sucked into the details of this or are we going to look at the bigger picture? I don’t know, that’s the question.”
As of Tuesday, a composite of polls at RealClearPolitics.com show Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading Trump by 5.4 points.
