© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Undecided Milwaukee Area Voters Unhappy with their Presidential Options

Ann-Elise Henzl

You'd think with all the campaign visits and ads this week, most Wisconsin people would know who they'll vote for in next week's presidential primaries. Yet there are quite a few undecided voters. WUWM found a number of them having lunch on Thursday at El Greco, a family-owed restaurant next to Milwaukee's Timmerman Airport.

Brian Nuetzel of Pewaukee says he follows politics regularly, and "probably paid more attention than I ever did, this year." Even so, Nuetzel says he hasn't made up his mind.

"You know they had all the debates this year. They probably had a lot more debates this year than I've ever seen in previous years. (I've) been paying attention to them, trying to find a candidate to vote for, and I'm still unsure," Nuetzel says.

Nuetzel says no candidate has persuaded him that he -- or she -- would make the best president.

"It's surprising that with as many people as we have in this country, that this is the best we have to offer. That's just my opinion right now," Nuetzel says.

Fellow diner, Wayne Matthiesen, chimes in. The Delafield resident says the candidates are "taking so much time to argue over things that don't matter. Someone's got to keep them on task and talk about the important topics, not personal things, and get to the core problems."

Matthiesen says he'll continue listening to what the candidates say, hoping someone wins him over by Tuesday.

"Better get ready, because it's coming pretty quick," Matthiesen says.

Helen Szekeres of Milwaukee is sitting at a booth nearby.

"There's one candidate that possibly I'll vote for -- I mean one that I'll choose, because I have to -- but I'm not really thrilled about any of them," Szekeres says.

Szekeres says she's been trying to educate herself about the issues, but doesn't trust the ads she sees.

"I think that they're lying, you know, they're twisting the truth, and a lot of people don’t know what's going on. And maybe I don't know everything either, but I know that a lot of the stuff that I hear is not true," Szekeres says.

David Cross of Milwaukee also has been learning what he can about the candidates. He says months ago, he was considering voting for a Republican or Democrat. But the picture he's formed of all five, is not convincing. When it comes to the Republicans, Cross says Donald Trump "seems to be sinking himself every day in a negative manner." Cross believes Ted Cruz has an "unproven" background, and Cross says that during the Obama years, Cruz was "really, really extremely negative." As for Kasich, Cross says "he keeps saying, 'what I did, what I did.' What are you going to do? 'As governor of Ohio, I did this.' Well, this is not Ohio, this is the United States of America."

When it comes to the Democrats, Cross says, "Initially I would have probably given Mrs. Clinton some considerations. But there's still that trust factor with her, you know, 'I say and do anything to get votes but once I get what I want, behind closed doors, it's a different story.' And then with Bernie Sanders, he's giving away the house. He makes promises and commitments that I don't feel he can live up to. There just seems to be a lot of disarray, versus previous elections."

Cross is having lunch with his daughter, Nicole. She says the two of them have talked a bit about the presidential race. And the few times she and her friends have discussed it, they’ve been unimpressed with the choices.

"A lot of us joke, like, 'I'm leaving, I'm going to move to Canada, and I'm going to Mexico.' But I don't think anyone's moving. We're just kind of hoping that this is not a representation of what we really are going to have to deal with. I'm just hoping it gets better," Nicole Cross says.

Ann-Elise is WUWM's news director.
Related Content