FDU PublicMind - October 11, 2001 Release

Bush gets High Marks: Whitman, Torricelli, Corzine get Mixed Grades

Just one year ago, only 37% of New Jersey voters cast their ballots for George Bush for President. Now, according to Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Poll, 84% approve of the job he is doing as President, with just 6% disapproving and 10% unsure. Bush receives very high marks from all demographic and political subgroups, even those who have traditionally been much more critical. His approval rating among Democrats is 78%, among liberals 77%, and for African Americans 66%. Furthermore, there appears to be no gender gap at work in Bush's approval ratings, with 84% of men and 85% women approving of Bush's job performance.

Bush's sky-high job approval ratings are likely the result of two factors: the public's approval of how he is handling the terrorist attack on the United States and the tendency for the public to rally around the President in times of national crises. By a margin of 91% to 5%, New Jersey voters approve of Bush's handling of the terrorist attack. The public's high opinion of Bush extends even to policy areas where a more critical assessment of his performance might be expected. For example, even though the economy has been extremely weak with many expecting a recession, voters approve of his handing of the economy by a margin of 73% to 14%.

The extremely positive marks that Bush receives are not matched by other prominent political figures in New Jersey. Former Governor (and now head of the EPA) Christie Whitman gets a mixed evaluation. Among the 98% that still recognize her, favorable opinions of Whitman exceed unfavorable opinions by just 52% to 39%. Although significant pluralities (if not majorities) of voters in most political and demographic groups have a favorable view of Whitman, unfavorable opinions predominate among Democrats (52% unfavorable) and African Americans (62% unfavorable).

New Jersey's two U.S. Senators, who are less well known than Whitman, also receive mixed grades from New Jersey voters. Although majorities of voters recognize Senators Robert Torricelli and Jon Corzine, many voters have not heard of them or have no opinion about them. For example, 16% have not heard of Torricelli, and 29% have no opinion of him. For Corzine, 13% of New Jersey voters do not recognize him and 28% have no opinion of him.

Favorable and unfavorable opinions of Torricelli, who has been the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, are nearly equal - 29% to 28%. "These numbers suggest that Torricelli could face a difficult re-election campaign next year," noted survey analyst Bruce Larson.

35% of New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of Senator Corzine, with 24% rating him unfavorably. "Although Corzine has somewhat high unfavorable ratings," added Larson, "he is just in his first year of a six-year term and much time remains for him to burnish his image before he has to face the voters again."

Survey Analysis

Fairleigh Dickinson Professor, Dr. Bruce Larson can be reached at (973) 443-8727