Garden State Voters Worry

see also:
Tabular Results
Survey Details
Republican Response
Democratic Response

Two-thirds of New Jersey's likely voters (68%) say they expect the effects of Hurricane Katrina will hurt their household financially and half of those report they may be hurt “a lot.” According to the most recent results from the Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll, 70% say they have followed the news of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath “very closely” and another 26% have followed the news “somewhat closely.” Only 3% say they've followed the disaster “just a little” or “not at all.”   Coincidentally, the percent who report they have made emergency plans has nearly doubled to 39%, up from just 22% a year ago.  Still, 61% of households report they've made no such plans.

Despite the bad hurricane news, majorities say they are confident that the federal and state governments could respond quickly and effectively to a large scale disaster in New Jersey: 55% say they're “somewhat” or “very confident” the federal government would respond effectively and 56% say they're confident the state government would.  However, that confidence comes with a partisan twist. Three quarters of Republicans (77%) say they're “somewhat” or “very confident” the federal government would respond effectively but a majority of Democrats (58%) say they're “not very confident” or “not at all confident” that the federal government would.

Three of five voters (60%) are “very worried” that the price of gasoline and heating fuel will continue to be high, and another 27% are “somewhat worried.” Only 7% say they are just a little worried and only 6% say they are not at all worried. “Nothing gets the attention of the American voter like a spike in gas prices,” said Peter Woolley, a professor of political science and the poll director. “Just ask Jimmy Carter.”

Two-thirds (66%) of likely voters say the country is on the wrong track and two out of five (42%) Republicans agree. Those saying the country is headed in the right direction has sunk to a new low for the Bush presidency of just 26%; those rating the president's performance as “good” or “excellent” is at a new low of 33%; and those rating the president's performance as “poor” is at a new high of 42%.

A majority of 57% say they think the war in Iraq is going “not too well” or “not at all well” while 62% maintain that the intervention was a mistake. “The public is worried on the foreign front and worried on the domestic front.  A public nervous about foreign policy and nervous about matters at home is a recipe for a President to come out on the short end of a poll,” said Woolley.

The PublicMind poll of 635 registered, likely voters statewide was conducted by telephone from September 21 through September 26 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

 

 


Poll Analysis

Contacts:

Peter Woolley 973.670.3239
or
Krista Jenkins 973.443.8390

Radio actuality line: (201) 692-2846.

For more information, please call (201) 692-7032.

Copyright © 2005, Fairleigh Dickinson University. All rights reserved. FDU PublicMind Poll [Latest update 050929]