Poll: Schwarzenegger's Support Still High (good news for Dems)

[Democat]

Overall support for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains high among voters, but he is losing his appeal among Democrats and independents, according to a poll released Thursday.

The survey from the Public Policy Institute found 60 percent of Californians favor the way the Republican governor is doing his job, but 49 percent of Democrats disapprove.

Thirty-five percent of voters said they would rather have the Legislature's Democratic majority making the tough funding choices with 29 percent saying Schwarzenegger should make the budget choices. A year ago, voters said they preferred Schwarzenegger to set the budget priorities over Democrats by 33 percent to 27 percent.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=11&u=/ap/20050127/ap_on_re_us/schwarzenegger_poll

Arnold is losing popularity and support from Independents and Dems. The California Democratic Party needs to be aware of this and put together a strong public relations campaign to keep his slide going. We cannot let Arnold gerrymander California's voting districts.

If Democrats look closely at the data in this poll, they should be able to craft an effective message to defeat Arnold's corrupt plans.

Let's hope Democrats are taking what's going on in California very seriously. It's not just a state issue, it's a national issue. If we let the Republicans have California, we might as well give up on congress and the presidency for the next twenty years.

[David__77]

1. A note abour "gerrymandering."

There won't be a GOP gerrymander here. As it is, the existing plan is a good one for their side, especially on the federal level. I personally could have crafted a plan that elected more Democrats. But they compromised. They had best be careful what they ask for. In this state, a competitive district usually goes to the Democrat because the GOP is anti-gay anti-choice and anti-working people. Not a recipe for success here except in a few areas.

[4_Legs_Good]

2. Our districts are already incredibly gerrymandered. It's disgusting

Because of it I will never have a Democratic House representative.

I'm no fan of Arnold, let me be clear, but something has to be done to break the incumbent power in this state. I want some choices here!

david

[mitchtv]

4. Bull, we should pull a Texas on them

have Issa's district rolled into Downtown LA and the like. We should regain the seats lost in texas, here.

[Democat]

6. Exactly, we will always lose trying to be "fair" to crooks

If they steal seats in one place, and we give them seats in another, we end up with a huge net loss.

The only way to get them to understand what's going on is to do it back to them twice as hard and twice as often.

[4_Legs_Good]

7. Hee hee!

That would be fun!

But seriously, I'd prefer something completley mathematical that mixes things up as much as possible. Divided in some funky way by population and geography such that every seat is up for grabs every time.

Well, some seats would still be kinda safe, of course, but you know what I mean. My district is concocted in such a way that it spans three counties (I think) and includes two military bases.

Gah!

david

[aden_nak]

3. Well, you'd HAVE to be high to vote for Schwarzenegger.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

12. There is NO SUCH THING AS "VOTING" ANYMORE WITH BBV.

Diebold just settled for $2.6 million for ELECTION FRAUD in Alemada County which has Oakland and Berkeley in it.

Dem Sec of State Kevin Shelley is being prosecuted for campaign finance abuse to get rid of BBV's biggest threat in the neo-con-desired State of California.

Hell, we were a target before Iran.

Anything put on a 'ballot' will simply be stolen.

[NNguyenMD]

5. California needs a champion in 2006 to bring this meathead down...

problem is who do we got to take on numnuts?

Matt Damon? j/k Though I do find him to be a very intelligent kind of guy.

[4_Legs_Good]

8. Al Gore!!!

Why do I want him in California so badly!?!?!

Get the hell outta Tennessee Al, we got a nice home for you right here in sunny California.

david

[NNguyenMD]

9. just to follow up on that, I would like to trust Gavin Newsom to take on

the Governator, but until he proves to me that he's more than just a sharp politico, I just have an uneasy feeling about him. SF Duer's? What do you guys think about him?

Good thing I'll be voting in the NYS election instead, there I at least I know who the real champ is going to be ;).

[Sivafae]

14. Actually Newsom's pretty high in my book

I know he may seem pretty slick, but the truth is that he really cares about San Francisco. You can find him down in HP playing basketball, or joining with those on strike against the hotels. He's a kind of boy I went to high school with. Seemingly palatable to conservative people, but when you talk to them, you find out that they are a little more progressive, then your punk rock ass. I didn't think I would like him, but I think his heart is really in this. And that is the problem, does he want to further his political career or does he just want to stay mayor of SF. I just don't know.

[rocktivity]

10. PUFF PIECE ALERT!

And I'm sure the timing of the A&E TV movie about him is merely a coincidence.

:puffpiece:
rocknation

[Downtown Hound]

11. Arnold's support will continue to fall

It has lasted this long because the media always presents whatever he does with a gushing, glowing account. "Today the Governor went shopping. It's amazing when you consider that he came from a poor communist country to earn his way in America to eventually becoming governor of the state, and now has the ability to spend his capital like a true American."

Yeah, I'm exaggerating, but not by much. The media loves Arnold, and give him an even greater pass than they do *. But that is starting to change, and with that, so will Arnold's popularity. The thing about Arnold is he will modify his stances as he becomes less popular. Unlike *, Arnold will not take overly risky positions on things. This may actually make it harder to get him out of there, because it will slow his eventual decline.

[BlueManDude]

13. Arnold is untouchable and unbeatable

The man assaulted and fondled a dozen women and was still elected. In the real world he might be behind bars or on a sex offenders registry.

[SoCalDem]

15. Gee whiz... The democratic party needs to WAKE UP in CA

or he will be re-selected in '06.. He can continue as Gov for a LONG time if we choose the "wrong" person to run against him.

I may be a minority, but against Diane Feinstein, I think he wins..

He is not really running the show anyway..Pete Wilson is pulling the strings. Ahhhnold is the glad-handing,movie star, front man.

Do not discount the vaporvoting machines we are using more and more..We may have Ahhhnold for a long time:(

[AP]

16. If I were the Democratic Party in CA, I'd run on two issues:

(1) Education, and (2) the way property tax is calculated in CA.

Arnold has made funding choices with education that are hurting the ability of working class and middle class kids to go to college (specifically, the JC transfer program).

Also, I think democrats can make a lot of hay out of the way the original purpose of prop 13 was hijacked by business interests and have left CA with a property tax code which takes a lot of money from the working and middle class and leaves the wealthy and corporations with a very light tax burden (specifically, it's the problem that assessments are only based on sale prices, so if you have transferred title in the last 10 or 15 or 20 years -- which is what mansion owners and businesses are able to do -- then you're probably paying lower taxes on property that has a 10 million dollar market value then a family of 5 in their late 20s is paying on their 3 bedroom shanty that they just bought for 500,000 bucks two years ago.

I'd tie up both of those issues in an argument about (a) the Democrats caring much more about people who get most of their money from working, regardlss of how much they make, and (b) the idea that if you want a stronger economy that produces wealth for everyone, you need a wealthy middle class.

I don't know how Arnold could counter those arguments. He has revealed his priorities, and his priorities are not these priorities.