2/1/2007, 6:00 a.m. ET
The Associated Press / Plain Dealer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voters give Gov. Ted Strickland high marks on his first days in office and agree with his decision to delay the death sentences of three men, according to a poll released Thursday.
While 45 percent of Ohio voters like what Strickland is doing, 43 percent are still reserving judgment on the Democratic governor, the independent Quinnipiac University poll found.
The survey of 1,305 Ohio voters was conducted by telephone Jan. 23 to Jan. 28. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
"Strickland is getting good grades from voters so far, although he has not yet tackled the tough questions facing Ohio," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Conn. "Many voters have not yet formed an opinion of him, but among those who have, he benefits by comparison with former Gov. Robert Taft and is doing very well."
It won't be hard for Strickland, a former congressman from Appalachia, to outperform Taft's popularity ratings. Taft, a Republican and the great-grandson of a president, was one of the nation's least liked governors.
What will be difficult, Brown said, is for Strickland to appease Ohioans' mixed opinions on school funding.
The poll found that 70 percent of voters favor giving more money to public schools in struggling communities, yet they are evenly split on raising taxes to pay the bill. Meanwhile, 65 percent of voters said they could support a proposed constitutional amendment to change the way Ohio pays for public schools.
A few more Democrats, 53 percent to 39 percent, support raising taxes for schools, while Republicans are split 55 percent to 40 percent, the results showed.
Overall, voters favor cutting state services over raising taxes 51 percent to 34 percent, according to the poll.
Voters supported Strickland, 60 percent to 31 percent, in his decision to delay the first three scheduled executions of his administration, postponing lethal injections for Kenneth Biros, James Filiaggi and Christopher Newton. Strickland said he needed more time to review the cases thoroughly to determine if clemency is appropriate.
Has to review Filiaggi's case?The guy stalked and hunted down his ex-wife. He chased to a neighbors house and shot her at point blank range. Filiaggi has admitted to this, what is there to think about?
Pull the Damn switch!
King
This article, whether sampling is accurate or not, reflects an alarming attitude by Ohioans and points to a greater shift to the left. I have been arguing with republicans through the SOB Alliance and the Miami Valley Conservative Alliance (MVCA) that our problems are deeper than we realize. Many of have said that Strickland and Brown were isolated cases, and if one looks to the republican majority in the General Assembly the indication is the ORP is still strong and Ohioans are still basically republicans. I strongly disagree; I believe Ohioans are moving leftward at an alarming pace, and those stalwart republicans have moved away to other states. My conclusion, we (right thinking) are in deep do do.
ReplyDeleteBrian,
ReplyDeleteYour are correct. This poll does show an alarming shift to the left in Ohio.
In Cuyahoga County, the historic demographics are changing with more democrats spreading to the inner and outer suburbs. Thus changing the political outlook of these communities.
I do believe that Strickland and Brown were isolated incidents. Mostly because of resentment against republicans.
I agree that Ohio is shifting left and that is more of the republicans fault than anything.
The stalwart republicans may have moved to other states, but I feel there are still a lot of "conservative" thinking people here.
Problem is that they have become disenfranchised in our party.
If we do not change the typical thinking, we are in deep do-do.
We need to do two (2) things -
1.) Regain the faith of the conservative and right leaning independants.
2.) Reeducate the voters in the inner cities of what true conservative values are.
This is a block of voters I feel we to often dismiss. This is why for a large part the "get out the vote" campaigning we do for republicans has also hurt us in the state.
While we were concentrating on trying to get what republicans we had left in Ohio, we failed to court "new" voters to replace the ones that are leaving.
The republicans you are arguing with are cheating the party by not wanting to accept the facts!
King