New Jersey governor beats Obama in head-to-head approval polls

I found this interesting, even though we’re talking quite a different demographic when comparing New Jersey to all of the United States.
In the Garden State, Gov. Chris Christie’s (R-N.J.) job approval rating is 51 percent, with 36 percent – including probably 99.9 percent of teachers – disapproving. How does that compare to President Obama?

From NJ.com.

The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,190 registered voters found 51 percent approve of Christie’s job performance, while 36 percent disapprove. Voters are also more likely to identify Christie as a “leader” (51 percent) than as a “bully” (39 percent) when asked to choose.

It’s a significant improvement from June, when voters were split down the middle on both Christie’s approval rating and whether he’s more of a bully or a leader.

Keep in mind that Christie seems to be getting hammered by the unions in New Jersey, and I mean really hammered.

AP at Hot Air compares Christie’s “significant improvement” to Obama’s, well…. how shall we describe it? Again from NJ.com.

Garden State voters are split on how they feel about President Obama, with 47 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving — his lowest rating in any New Jersey Quinnipiac poll.

Talk about a polarizing figure in politics!

Keep in mind that back on July 21, Quinnipiac had Obama at 44 percent, so he may have gained a few points … probably since there has been little legislative action from Washington since the summer break started.

A year after President Barack Obama’s political honeymoon ended, his job approval rating has dropped to a negative 44 – 48 percent, his worst net score ever, and American voters say by a narrow 39 – 36 percent margin that they would vote for an unnamed Republican rather than President Obama in 2012, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 48 – 43 percent approval for Obama in a May 26 national poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a 57 – 33 percent approval last July, just before the political firestorm created by opposition to his health care plan galvanized political opponents and turned independent voters against him.

In this latest survey of more than 2,000 voters, independent voters disapprove of Obama 52 – 38 percent and say 37 – 27 percent they would vote for a Republican contender in 2012.

American voters also say 48 – 40 percent Obama does not deserve reelection in 2012.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

20 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on August 19, 2010 at 6:04 pm

    Christie promised to govern like a one term governor, while Øbama's failed promises may make him a one term president.



    • phil on August 20, 2010 at 4:21 am

      One can only hope that he'll be a half-term president.



    • Dimsdale on August 20, 2010 at 6:12 am

      No doubt his being "half fast" will contribute to that possibility!  😉



  2. winnie888 on August 20, 2010 at 12:39 am

    Did some poking and stumbled on Gallup poll numbers for presidents' fifth quarters (going back to Eisenhower in '54)…

    Jimmy Carter (1978)       48% approval rating

    Barack Obama (2010)     48.8% approval rating

    And for fun, compare that to the ever-evil…

    George W. Bush (2002)   79.5% approval rating

     



    • scottm on August 20, 2010 at 4:34 am

      Bush's high approval rating was based on the patriotic fervor that came about because of 9/11,  any president would have had high ratings at that time.  A more realistic number were his approval ratings when he left office, 22%.  According to some of the posts, some people have forgotten what a miserable failure he was.  Ronald Reagans approval ratings at the start of 1983 were 35%. 



    • winnie888 on August 20, 2010 at 6:04 am

      We're talking 5th quarter….and if Bush was so terrible at the end, wouldn't you think Obama's numbers would be going strong because of the fact that he merely replaced him as president?  Can you provide a link that confirms that Bush's approval ratings at 5th quarter were based on patriotic fervor or is that just your opinion?



    • Dimsdale on August 20, 2010 at 6:11 am

      I wonder if, even without the "patriotic fervor", Bush's numbers would have been as low as Øbama's is now?  Were Øbama's initially high numbers based only on his plethora of promises that he used in lieu of a resume of accomplishments, and we are coming back to reality?  Time will tell.

       

      And scott's "more realistic number" has no bearing until we can compare to Øbama's ratings when he leaves office, assuming it will be after an analogous two terms in office.



    • scottm on August 21, 2010 at 4:51 am

      No I can't provide a link that proves his approval ratings were a direct result of patriotic fervor but at that point what had he done?  He lost the popular vote to tin man Al Gore, he had daddy pick uncle Dicky as his V.P. and not much else.  When his approval rating started to drop he invaded Iraq but that did not help, by the next election he barely beat John Kerry who may have been a bigger joke than Bush.



  3. sammy22 on August 20, 2010 at 6:24 am

    I suppose Pres. Bush is so sorely missed on this blog because of the 22% rating when he left office.



    • Steve McGough on August 20, 2010 at 8:50 am

      Is that all you've got? "This blog" has pointed out all sorts of issues with GW Bush's performance and policies for a long time. My first complaint – before I was writing – concerned the steel tariffs implemented by the Bush administration. I'm sick of the people calling this blog out as previous administration lovers when that assumption has proven to be false. Would we rather have Bush than Obama? Sure, but I'm not going to wear the T-shirt since he's not coming back. If I'm going to wish for something, I'm wishing for a conservative Reagan Republican with a conservative Congress who understands the Constitution and strips power from the feds and gives it back to the states.

      Personally, I think it does little good to compare approval ratings between presidents. Who cares? What good does it do? This post compared the approval ratings to a conservative governor in a blue state as compared to the sitting president.

      All presidents seem to have a higher approval rating when they come into office due to hope and expectation. How's that hope and change working out for the new guy now? Congress' approval is tanking. President's approval is tanking.

      What will you do to reverse the trend? Keep saying "well Bush did this" or "Bush's ratings were…" Good luck with that approach buddy … it's the economy stupid.



  4. Dimsdale on August 20, 2010 at 8:20 am

    I think it might be the jump from the 5% unemployment rate in Bush's last term to the current rate of 9.6% (a nearly 100% increase; http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost? (just click on Unemployment Rate – Civilian Labor Force – LNS14000000 and be sure to select "include graphs" when you retrieve the output) and http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemploymen… That polls pretty badly.



    • scottm on August 20, 2010 at 9:54 am

      What was the unemployment when he left office?  The economy was shedding jobs at the rate of 750,000 per month when Obama took office.  The stock market lost 40% of its value in at the end of Bush's term.  When the stock market would take a sharp downturn during Bush's term Rush Limbaugh would almost beg people to buy, if it happens now he's as happy as can be. 



    • Steve McGough on August 20, 2010 at 11:13 am

      And that's why you'll find conservatives were pissed off at all the spending coming out of Washington DC – driven by both the DEMOCRATS in Congress AND President Bush late in his term.

      It's amazing how much power and influence some think one branch of the government has. It's not about one man … it's all symptoms of the disease.



    • Dimsdale on August 20, 2010 at 1:46 pm

      Look at the stats on the BLS site I gave you above: unemployment was on a steady decline right up until Jan 2007.  Then it skyrocketed upward.  And remember that the Democrats controlled the Congressional purse strings since Jan, 2007.  Do they share any responsibility?  Why did we rush, rush, rush the so called stimulus money through Congress only to have it languish in government limbo?  If it truly is designed to stimulate, would not Øbama get more political capital out of using the money earlier, or at least now?



    • scottm on August 21, 2010 at 2:41 pm

      Steve, we were spending a lot of money all the way through Bush's time in office by bombing other countries and then rebuilding them so they could destroy them again.  We will be paying for this for a long long time.



    • Dimsdale on August 22, 2010 at 3:30 pm

      The current numbers indicate that we will be paying for Øbama's legislative indiscretions for much, much longer.



  5. sammy22 on August 20, 2010 at 10:20 am

    Steve, is that all you got?  "My first complaint – before I was writing – concerned the steel tariffs implemented by the Bush administration". The admiration for Pres. George W. Bush, not the other Pres. Bush is all that one reads on the posts. I personally do not care what the ratings were. And, I agree:" it's the economy, stupid'!



    • Steve McGough on August 20, 2010 at 11:11 am

      Goodness grief… The steel tariffs I'm talking about were implemented by GW Bush in early 2002. They were lifted sometime about 18 months later. Gotta go back and find that ignore button… Oh, here it is.



  6. sammy22 on August 20, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    Good grief: I wish I can win Powerball, which may be as likely to happen as having a conservative Reagan Republican etc. and ah, here is the ignore button.



    • Dimsdale on August 20, 2010 at 5:59 pm

      What does that mean?



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