newjerseynewsroom.com

For first time, poll finds, more voters disapprove of president than approve

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New Jerseyans are in a rotten mood when it comes to their outlook on the state of the federal government and the national economy and politics and they are taking it out on President Obama.

Seventy-one 71 percent of New Jersey voters believe the nation is “off on the wrong track,“ according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released Thursday. Fewer than one in five voters — 18 percent — believe the country is headed in the right direction.

“That is a steep dive from the 34 percent who said the country was going in the right direction in May,” Prof. Peter Woolley, the poll’s director, said. “You have to go back to the last days of the Bush administration to find such pessimism.”

In October 2008 just 13 percent of New Jersey voters felt the country was headed in the right direction and 78 percent said it was on the wrong track.

As a result, Obama approval rating among New Jersey voters has dropped 11 points since May, leaving him with a 44 percent approval rating and a 47 percent disapproval.

Obama's rating is down dramatically from 55 percent to 36 percent approvals in May after Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden.

And it is the first time since he took office, through 18 PublicMind polls, that his disapprovals have exceeded his approvals in this state which leans distinctly Democratic.

“The killing of Osama Bin Laden gave the president a very temporary boost,” Woolley said. “But people put that behind them quickly, and are thinking about economic problems.”

More voters are concerned that government debt is dragging down the economy than are concerned that the government is not doing enough spending to stimulate growth. One-third (32 percent) say the federal government needs to spend more money to get the economy going - not cut the budget. But a majority (54 percent) say the government needs to cut its debt to fix its finances — not spend more money.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) who must stand for reelection in the same cycle as the president, and is closely linked to Obama, continues to have a low profile: 30 percent have a favorable view of the Democratic senator and 23 percent an unfavorable view, while 47 percent don’t know him at all or have no opinion of him, including 49 percent of Democrats.

“The senator’s weak numbers don’t necessarily mean he is easily beatable,” Woolley said. “The Republicans will have to find a strong challenger.”