Arnie's popularity slipping

2005-06-21 21:29

Sacramento, California - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's new advertising campaign and other measures to promote his agenda have failed to arrest his slide in popularity, according to a new statewide poll.

According to the Field Poll released on Tuesday, 37% of registered California voters approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance, a drop of 18 percentage points since February.

Continuing a trend that began in January, 53% of registered California voters said they do not approve of Schwarzenegger's performance. That's a jump of 18 percentage points since February.

Analysts said voters were responding negatively to the Republican governor's decision to call a special election. Among the measures he is asking voters to approve November 8 are limits on state spending, redrawn legislative and congressional districts, and changes in tenure for public school teachers.

"In many ways, this poll was a reaction to the call for the special election," said poll director Mark DiCamillo, who noted that the seven-day survey began on June 13, the same night Schwarzenegger announced his decision to call the vote.

"I was surprised," he said. "Usually, you would think there would be some positive spin coming out of an event like that, but not here."

The biggest decline came among Democrats and non-partisan voters, but the poll also found Schwarzenegger's support among Republican voters has fallen.

The governor's chief political consultant was quick to dismiss the poll results, arguing that Schwarzenegger has yet to fully unleash his campaign for the ballot measures.

Speaking in an interview before the poll was released, Schwarzenegger told ABC's Good Morning America his situation was like a movie script.

"It's now in the middle of the big struggle," he said. "First Act, I have to stop the bleeding and turn the economy around. Second Act is reform. Third Act, then, is the rebuilding of California."

The survey, conducted over seven days ending June 19, was drawn from interviews with 954 California adults that included 711 registered voters. It has a sampling error of 3 percentage points.

- SAPA