Established in 2012, the Marquette Law School Poll has set a new standard in Wisconsin polling and become a valued source of public opinion insights in battleground America and beyond.
Dr. Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, has directed the poll since its inception, and during election years like this one, Franklin finds himself being interviewed on national news outlets like PBS and NPR for results from the most recent polls. His passion for political polling is as strong as his desire to increase public understanding of the polling process.
“I very much enjoy talking to people about politics and what we learn about the public through polling,” Franklin says. “I see it as helping us understand ourselves as a collective public, especially understanding those we don’t agree with.”
Chatting with Marquette Today, Franklin opened up about his work within and beyond the political world.
It’s been over 10 years since the creation of the Marquette Law School Poll. Can you tell me more about how the poll got started?
The Law School had a well-established public policy initiative, led by Mike Gousha, that hosted debates and discussions with a wide variety of political and civic leaders. I thought the poll could bring the broader public into the conversation by helping understand what they think and prefer. Parties, candidates and interest groups constantly do polling, but they keep the results private to advance their interests. The Marquette Law School poll is “public” information, freely and completely shared with everyone. In fact, we are the only pollster, out of over 500, that received a perfect score of “10” for transparency from FiveThirtyEight.com, because we post our entire questionnaire, all results, cross tabs and methodology, and always have. Being a source of “public” information, and a site for civil and serious discussion, is the mission of the poll and the Law School’s Lubar Center.
Have you ever seen an election quite like the one we are currently in, with a candidate dropping out mid-race and a vice president taking their place? We are just days away from Election Day. Looking back, how do you think this affected the race as a whole?
No presidential candidate has ever dropped out like this before, so no. The campaign began as a rerun of 2020 with the same characters and plotlines, then suddenly it changed dramatically. Since July 21, when President Biden dropped out, we’ve seen a substantially different race, but I think the current campaign is now settling into a more normal contest between the parties, after that dramatic change in July.
What led you into political polling?
I was interested in politics and psychology early in life. I did my first poll for a science fair project in 10th grade, interviewing second, fourth and sixth graders about their preferences for cartoon shows, looking to measure changes with age.
What passions or hobbies do you have aside from politics?
I read about archaeology and ancient civilizations. I try to imagine different cultures populated by humans not very different from us. How did they live? What did they want? How were they governed? I also am interested in the origins of the physical text of the Bible. How did those earliest manuscripts survive and pass down over more than a thousand years and come to us?
If you could have dinner with any political figure, alive or passed, who would it be and why?
Abraham Lincoln because he is so important and so fascinating, yet such a practical politician. Alas, by all accounts, he was also extremely guarded in his conversations even with close associates, seldom revealing his plans or core beliefs. So, while I’d love to have dinner with him, I’m afraid I too would not learn as much from him as I would wish. I would certainly hear a number of entertaining stories, but not the self-revelation I’d wish for.
