UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio to help weave a discussion about the La Crosse pool poll, the Democratic convention governor straw poll and the Packers fighting with one Wisconsin US House member.

We did start the show, though, talking quick about not being a sports fan but being excited about something like the World Cup — plus the Loggers having Catbirds throwback night.

The poll conversation stems partly from the results from a survey of La Crosse residents about building a new indoor aquatics center, where about 52 percent were in favor — with 14% of those asked responding. Another aspect came from a straw poll last weekend at the Wisconsin Democratic Party convention that had Mandela Barnes sixth out of seven governor candidates.

We break down how these polls could be written and conducted — perhaps to gain favorability for a specific outcome — and how much stock we should take in the results. We also discuss how some polls — like the pool survey — might be sent out partly to inform people a thing is happening that they didn’t know about — and therefore the wording of those questions comes back into play. We also look at how Wisconsin Republicans put Constitutional Amendments on the ballot that are often seen as confusing and steering the voting population into getting the results the GOP wants.

Lastly, we talked about the Packers pushing back against how US House Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Clyman) is looking into the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, and this idea that TV deals have isolated Packers fans who need to subscribe to networks to watch certain games.

Or — throwing this conspiracy at Chergosky — is this a deep political ploy to prop up fellow GOP US House Reps. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) and Bryan Steil (R-Janesville), who have sided with the Packers saying what Fitzgerald is doing would hurt the team.