January 20, 2011 - Brown, Obama Deserve Reelection, Ohio Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Boehner Cries Tears Of Strength, More Voters Say Word format Ohio voters say 45 - 30 percent that Sen. Sherrod Brown deserves to be re-elected in 2012, while they say the same thing about President Barack Obama by a narrow 48 - 44 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Ohioans have a 27 - 18 percent favorable opinion of John Boehner, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a member of the state's congressional delegation, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Boehner's tendency to cry in public is a sign of strength rather than weakness, voters say 36 - 27 percent, with 37 percent undecided. In a big gender split, women see strength in Boehner's tears 44 - 20 percent, while men see weakness 34 - 27 percent. "Sen. Sherrod Brown starts off his 2012 re-election campaign in decent but not overwhelming shape," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "He'd like to be above the magic 50 percent threshold, but he is within hailing distance. President Barack Obama is in a slightly weaker position than Sen. Brown when it comes to carrying Ohio, perhaps the nation's premier swing state, in the 2012 election." Ohio voters give President Obama a 49 - 46 percent job approval rating, reversing a negative 45 - 49 percent approval rating the last time Quinnipiac University surveyed Ohio registered voters June 30. By 44 - 39 percent they said they would vote for him rather than an unnamed Republican in 2012. Democrats say Obama deserves re-election 84 - 10 percent. He does not deserve a term, Republicans say 83 - 7 percent and independent voters say 51 - 40 percent. Sen. Brown has a 45 - 25 approval rating, similar to the 46 - 29 percent he received in June. In a matchup against an unnamed Republican he would win 45 - 33 percent. Democrats back Brown 84 - 4 percent while Republicans back an unnamed GOP candidate 75 - 6 percent. Independent voters split with 35 percent for Brown and 32 percent for a Republican. "Given the shellacking Democrats took in the November election both here in Ohio and around the country, both Sen. Brown and President Obama begin their 2012 campaigns in reasonably good shape," said Brown. Asked to rate both men ideologically, 37 percent of voters say Obama is too liberal and 7 percent say he is too conservative, while 46 percent say he is "about right." Among these same Ohio voters, 26 percent say Brown is too liberal, while 6 percent say he is too conservative and 44 percent say he is "about right." Ohio voters say 53 - 16 percent that Obama and Brown generally share the same views. There is little difference in perception on that question among Republicans, Democrats or independent voters. As speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Boehner is one of the most powerful people in the nation and third in line to succeed the president, but more than half of Ohio voters, 52 percent, say they don't know enough about him to have an opinion. "That's not hugely surprising since even in their own states members of Congress are not very well known outside their own districts," said Brown. On other matters, Ohio voters are increasingly turning against the war in Afghanistan with 54 percent now saying America should not be involved there compared to 38 percent who see it as the right thing to do. When Quinnipiac University asked that question in June, voters split with 46 percent supporting the war and 48 percent opposed. Voters also split on the health care reform bill, with 46 percent who want it repealed and 44 percent who want to keep the measure. Newly-elected U.S. Sen. Rob Portman gets a 34 - 16 percent approval in his first month. From January 12 - 17, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,299 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rob Portman is handling his job as United States Senator? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 34% 49% 24% 33% 34% 33% 44% Disapprove 16 6 26 12 19 13 7 DK/NA 51 45 50 56 47 54 49 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 30 30 42 36 49 27 29 Disapprove 21 17 9 22 14 7 18 DK/NA 49 54 48 42 37 66 54 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sherrod Brown is handling his job as Senator? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 45% 29% 56% 46% 45% 45% 37% Disapprove 25 37 15 25 28 22 28 DK/NA 30 34 28 29 27 33 35 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 48 48 45 39 38 40 47 Disapprove 23 27 25 13 25 25 24 DK/NA 29 25 30 48 37 34 29 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sherrod Brown is handling his job as United States Senator? APPROVE....... DIS.... High Low High Jan 20 Jun 30 Apr 29 Mar 31 May 06 Jul 07 Sep 15 2011 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 Approve 45 46 45 45 52 41 48 Disapprove 25 29 31 30 24 29 33 DK/NA 30 25 24 25 24 30 20 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 49% 14% 81% 41% 47% 52% 30% Disapprove 46 81 15 53 49 43 67 DK/NA 5 5 4 6 4 5 4 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 51 51 53 41 44 48 54 Disapprove 42 44 43 51 54 47 41 DK/NA 7 5 4 7 1 4 5 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? APPROVE....... High Low Jan 20 Jun 30 Apr 29 Mar 31 Feb 23 Feb 06 Feb 23 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 Approve 49 45 45 47 44 67 44 Disapprove 46 49 50 48 52 16 52 DK/NA 5 6 5 5 5 17 5 7. Looking ahead to the 2012 election for President... If the 2012 election for President were being held today, do you think you would vote for Barack Obama the Democratic candidate, or the Republican candidate? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Obama 44% 2% 83% 34% 41% 46% 22% Republican 39 87 5 41 40 39 62 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 11 9 8 15 12 11 11 DK/NA 6 3 4 9 7 4 5 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Obama 46 47 44 41 37 39 50 Republican 40 34 35 47 48 45 32 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 11 12 16 4 8 12 14 DK/NA 3 7 4 7 7 5 4 8. Looking ahead to the 2012 election for President, do you feel that Barack Obama deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Yes/Deserves reelection 48% 7% 84% 40% 47% 50% 25% No/Does not 44 83 10 51 46 42 66 DK/NA 8 10 6 9 7 8 9 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Yes/Deserves reelection 50 53 50 47 35 43 53 No/Does not 41 39 41 50 58 48 38 DK/NA 9 7 9 3 7 9 8 9. Looking ahead to the 2012 election for United States Senator... If the 2012 election for United States Senator were being held today, do you think you would vote for Sherrod Brown the Democratic candidate, or the Republican candidate? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Brown 45% 6% 84% 35% 44% 47% 26% Republican 33 75 4 32 36 30 50 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 8 7 3 12 7 8 10 DK/NA 14 11 9 20 13 15 14 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Brown 44 53 38 40 38 37 52 Republican 29 31 27 37 43 36 25 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 7 6 18 3 7 9 10 DK/NA 20 10 17 19 12 17 12 9. Looking ahead to the 2012 election for U.S. Senate do you feel that Sherrod Brown deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Yes/Deserves reelection 45% 16% 71% 42% 47% 44% 32% No/Does not 30 54 11 30 34 26 32 DK/NA 25 30 18 28 19 30 36 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Yes/Deserves reelection 45 51 46 41 35 38 51 No/Does not 26 30 25 33 33 32 22 DK/NA 29 19 29 26 32 30 26 10. Do you think Barack Obama is too liberal, too conservative, or about right? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Liberal 37% 73% 8% 44% 40% 36% 60% Conservative 7 6 8 6 10 4 3 About right 46 10 78 42 42 51 28 DK/NA 9 11 6 8 8 10 9 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Liberal 34 35 31 34 46 48 38 Conservative 7 8 5 5 11 2 8 About right 52 49 53 48 34 38 50 DK/NA 8 8 11 13 9 12 5 TREND: Do you think Barack Obama is too liberal, too conservative, or about right? Jan 20 May 01 2011 2008 Too liberal 37 35 Too conservative 7 5 About right 46 48 DK/NA 9 12 11. Do you think Sherrod Brown is too liberal, too conservative, or about right? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Liberal 26% 42% 10% 28% 30% 21% 33% Conservative 6 4 9 4 8 5 3 About right 44 21 62 44 41 46 35 DK/NA 24 33 18 23 20 28 29 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Liberal 25 25 20 25 27 31 21 Conservative 7 6 5 7 12 1 6 About right 46 46 53 44 36 37 52 DK/NA 22 23 21 25 25 31 21 12. Do you think Sherrod Brown generally shares the views of Barack Obama on major issues or not? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Yes 53% 55% 53% 52% 58% 48% 54% No 16 12 18 17 18 15 10 DK/NA 31 33 30 31 24 37 37 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Yes 55 53 45 56 50 58 54 No 19 19 20 7 13 7 16 DK/NA 26 28 35 36 37 35 30 13. Is your opinion of John Boehner favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard enough about him? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Favorable 27% 54% 6% 30% 30% 24% 39% Unfavorable 18 2 33 17 21 16 8 Hvn't hrd enough 52 43 59 50 47 58 49 REFUSED 2 1 2 4 2 2 4 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Favorable 29 18 15 27 41 48 28 Unfavorable 18 16 23 6 26 22 26 Hvn't hrd enough 51 63 60 67 33 27 46 REFUSED 2 3 3 - - 4 1 14. As you may know, John Boehner, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, often cries in public. Do you think that is a sign of strength or weakness? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Strength 36% 45% 27% 41% 27% 44% 45% Weakness 27 17 39 21 34 20 20 DK/NA 37 38 34 39 40 35 36 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Strength 33 34 30 44 34 51 33 Weakness 29 28 29 23 31 15 26 DK/NA 38 38 41 33 35 34 40 27. Do you think the U.S. is doing the right thing by fighting the war in Afghanistan now, or should the U.S. not be involved in Afghanistan now? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Right thing 38% 62% 25% 34% 42% 35% 48% Shld'nt be involved 54 30 68 59 50 57 43 DK/NA 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Right thing 33 35 30 41 49 49 39 Shld'nt be involved 58 57 62 56 44 44 51 DK/NA 9 9 8 3 7 7 10 TREND: Do you think the U.S. is doing the right thing by fighting the war in Afghanistan now, or should the U.S. not be involved in Afghanistan now? Jan 20 Jun 30 Apr 29 Mar 31 Feb 23 Nov 12 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 Right thing 38 46 48 50 55 48 Shouldn't be inv 54 48 45 43 39 43 DK/NA 8 6 7 7 6 9 28. Do you think Congress should try to repeal the new health care law, or should they let it stand? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Repeal 46% 76% 18% 52% 48% 43% 61% Let it stand 44 15 72 36 44 44 28 DK/NA 11 9 10 12 8 13 11 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Repeal 40 44 46 48 47 55 46 Let it stand 48 46 42 35 45 34 45 DK/NA 12 10 12 18 8 11 9
