June 3, 2008

A Pox On All of You

Is there anyone running state government the voters like?

On this election day, a sobering analysis from the Field Poll: voters are less than enamored with either Governor Schwarzenegger or his colleagues in the Legislature.

The guv's job approval numbers have gone up and down more than a roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm.

Today, only 41% surveyed like how Schwarzenegger is doing; 48% do not. That's down 19 points from his approval ratings just six months ago, but still a few points above his all-time low in the Field Poll back in 2005. Most notable, I think, in the breakdown of subgroups of voters: independent voters (who "decline to state" a party affiliation) are almost split down the middle with 44% approving and 46% disapproving. That group of Californians are the historical base of Schwarzenegger's political support over the last five years.

Of course, the governor is all the rage compared to the Legislature as a whole; Field puts the institution's approval at just 30% of those surveyed.

But the big number may be what politicos call the "right track/wrong track" -- the numbers of voters who say things are either headed in the right or wrong direction. Field's new poll says only 23% say things are on the right track, versus 68% who feel things are lousy.

That's the most glum Californians have been in Field's surveys since the summer of 2003... when a certain celebrity launched his political career by placing the blame on the state's sitting chief executive.