Stricklands rating is DOWN

Below is an article that appears on the Dayton Daily News website 10/30. www.daytondailynews.com

Gov. Strickland’s Ohio approval rating drops to 48 percent; Obama at 52 percent
By William Hershey | Friday, October 30, 2009, 09:03 AM

Gov. Ted Strickland’s approval rating among Ohio adults has dropped to 48 percent in an Ohio Poll released on Friday, Oct. 30, the first time it had been below 50 percent in five Ohio Polls dating back to May 2007.

Gov. Ted StricklandIn the same poll, the approval rating for Strickland’s fellow Democrat, President Barack Obama, dropped to 52 percent, down from 63 percent in an April 2009 Ohio Poll, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati.

The poll also showed a glimmer of optimism about better times to come. Thirty three percent said economic conditions in Ohio were getting better, up from 20 percent in April and more than double the 12 percent in May who said things were getting better.

University of Cincinnati poll showing approval ratings for Gov. Strickland since May 2007.The drops in approval ratings has more immediate significance for Strickland, who’s up for re-election next year, than for Obama, just finishing the first year of a four-year term.

Eric Rademacher, Ohio Poll co-director, noted in an e-mail that more Ohioans - 48 percent - approve of Strickland’s job performance than disapprove - 37 percent.

“However, his approval has dropped 20 points since May of 07, which is almost identical to his increase in disapproval since,” Rademacher said. “So, that is a trend Strickland will want to reverse as we go into 2010.”

Other key poll findings:

*More Ohioans - 49 percent - disapprove of Strickland’s handling of the Ohio economy than approve - 41 percent.

*A majority of Democrats - 52 percent - approve of Strickland’s handling of the economy while a majority of Republicans - 58 percent - and independents - 59 percent - disapprove of how the governor’s handled the economy.

*Fifty percent of Ohioans approve of Obama’s handling of foreign affairs overall, down from 62 percent in April.

*Forty five percent of Ohioans now approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, down from 56 percent in April.

*Most Ohioans rate U.S. economic conditions as either fair - 45 percent - or poor- 47 percent, about the same as April.

*Also, most Ohioans also rate Ohio economic conditions as either fair - 39 percent - or poor - 52 percent -, again about the same as April.

The poll was taken from Oct. 14-Oct. 20 with 808 adults across the state and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.