March 24, 2011 - Ohio Voters Divided On Second Term For Obama, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; But Voters Like Him More Than Gov. Kasich Word format Ohio voters are split 45 - 46 percent on whether President Barack Obama deserves a second term, but they favor him over an unnamed Republican 2012 challenger 41 - 34 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. President Obama has a split 47 - 48 percent job approval rating, compared to 49 - 46 percent in a January 20 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who also faces re-election in 2012, is in better shape with Ohio registered voters, who prefer Brown over an unnamed GOP challenger 45 - 29 percent. Voters also say 45 - 30 percent that he deserves a second term in the U.S. Senate. "There is little change in President Barack Obama's approval rating in Ohio, which historically has been among the most important swing states in presidential elections, as he's hovering about where he was during most of 2010," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The small lead over an unnamed Republican and the split verdict on whether he deserves another term indicate that, as has been the case in most presidential elections over recent decades, Ohio will be closely contested. "It is also clear that despite misgivings about his policies, President Obama remains personally popular with Ohioans," said Brown. Given four choices to describe their feelings about Obama: 43 percent like him personally and like his policies; 30 percent like him personally but not his policies; 1 percent like his policies but not him; 21 percent don't like him or his policies. Taken together, 73 percent of voters like Obama, but only 44 percent like his policies. By comparison, when voters are given the same choices about Gov. John Kasich, only 43 percent like him personally, 30 percentage points less than say that about Obama, while 33 percent like his policies, 11 percentage points less than the president. The breakdown is: 26 percent like Kasich personally and like his policies; 17 percent like him personally but not his policies; 7 percent like his policies but not him; 34 percent don't like him or his policies. Democrats approve of Obama's job performance 82 - 15 percent, while disapproval is 86 - 11 percent among Republicans and 50 - 42 percent among independent voters. Women approve 51 - 43 percent while men disapprove 53 - 44 percent. Democrats would give Obama a second term 81 - 12 percent. Voting against him are Republicans 85 - 9 percent and independent voters 49 - 40 percent. Women say yes 51 - 41 percent, but men say no 50 - 39 percent. Sen. Brown gets a 43 - 27 percent job approval rating with 30 percent not sure. Approval is 59 - 17 percent among Democrats and 42 - 27 percent among independent voters. Republicans disapprove 39 - 30 percent with 31 percent undecided. "Sen. Brown is in decent shape heading into 2012. While he doesn't have large numbers of voters massed against him, his re-elect number, 45 percent, is short of the 50 percent threshold that generally signals an incumbent's likely re-election," Brown said. First-term Sen. Rob Portman has a 30 - 25 percent approval rating with 45 percent undecided. From March 15 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,384 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 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 30% 53% 16% 28% 34% 27% 36% Disapprove 25 8 36 28 24 25 15 DK/NA 45 39 47 44 42 48 49 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 23% 27% 29% 26% 53% 30% 22% Disapprove 25 24 26 28 21 28 25 DK/NA 52 49 45 46 26 42 53 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rob Portman is handling his job as United States Senator? Mar 24 Jan 20 2011 2011 Approve 30 34 Disapprove 25 16 DK/NA 45 51 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sherrod Brown is handling his job as United States Senator? WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Approve 43% 30% 59% 42% 43% 44% 37% Disapprove 27 39 17 27 30 25 26 DK/NA 30 31 24 31 28 31 37 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 43% 46% 46% 36% 40% 41% 44% Disapprove 28 26 23 32 27 29 24 DK/NA 29 28 31 33 33 31 33 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Sherrod Brown is handling his job as United States Senator? APPROVE....... DIS.... High Low High Mar 24 Jan 20 Jun 30 Apr 29 May 06 Jul 07 Sep 15 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 Approve 43 45 46 45 52 41 48 Disapprove 27 25 29 31 24 29 33 DK/NA 30 30 25 24 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 47% 11% 82% 42% 44% 51% 32% Disapprove 48 86 15 50 53 43 63 DK/NA 5 3 3 8 4 6 5 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Approve 51% 47% 48% 49% 39% 49% 48% Disapprove 42 47 47 49 58 49 46 DK/NA 7 6 5 1 3 3 6 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President? APPROVE....... High Low Mar 24 Jan 20 Jun 30 Apr 29 Mar 31 Feb 06 Feb 23 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010 Approve 47 49 45 45 47 67 44 Disapprove 48 46 49 50 48 16 52 DK/NA 5 5 6 5 5 17 5 5. 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 41% 4% 80% 32% 35% 46% 24% Republican 34 76 7 34 36 33 50 DEPENDS(VOL) 16 15 8 22 18 14 18 DK/NA 9 5 5 12 11 7 7 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Obama 43% 43% 38% 51% 32% 35% 47% Republican 34 31 38 32 43 34 29 DEPENDS(VOL) 14 16 12 11 21 19 14 DK/NA 9 9 12 6 4 12 10 TREND: 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? Mar 24 Jan 20 2011 2011 Obama 41 44 Republican 34 39 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 16 11 DK/NA 9 6 6. 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 45% 9% 81% 40% 39% 51% 29% No/Does not 46 85 12 49 50 41 62 DK/NA 9 7 7 11 10 8 9 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Yes/Deserves 50% 46% 45% 49% 36% 46% 50% No/Does not 41 45 50 44 54 45 42 DK/NA 9 9 4 8 10 9 9 TREND: 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? Mar 24 Jan 20 2011 2011 Yes/Deserves reelection 45 48 No/Does not 46 44 DK/NA 9 8 7. 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% 9% 83% 37% 41% 48% 31% Republican 29 71 5 23 34 25 41 DEPENDS(VOL) 10 12 5 15 10 11 12 DK/NA 16 9 8 24 15 16 17 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Brown 46% 50% 46% 54% 36% 31% 54% Republican 27 27 36 24 32 34 22 DEPENDS(VOL) 10 9 5 5 13 16 7 DK/NA 17 14 13 16 19 18 17 TREND: 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? Mar 24 Jan 20 2011 2011 Brown 45 45 Republican 29 33 DEPENDS ON CAND(VOL) 10 8 DK/NA 16 14 8. Looking ahead to the 2012 election for United States Senator... 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 45% 19% 73% 40% 43% 47% 38% No/Does not 30 54 10 31 34 26 32 DK/NA 25 28 17 29 23 27 29 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Yes/Deserves 43% 50% 50% 39% 35% 40% 54% No/Does not 35 28 27 31 31 29 20 DK/NA 22 22 23 30 34 31 26 TREND: 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? Mar 24 Jan 20 2011 2011 Yes/Deserves reelection 45 45 No/Does not 30 30 DK/NA 25 25 9. Which one of the following statements comes closest to the way you feel about Barack Obama - A) I like Barack Obama as a person and I also like most of his policies B) I like Barack Obama as a person but I don't like most of his policies C) I don't like Barack Obama as a person but I DO like most of his policies D) I don't like Barack Obama as a person and I also don't like most of his policies. WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Person/Policies 43% 6% 80% 38% 39% 48% 28% Person/Not policies 30 45 12 36 35 26 37 Policies/Not person 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Not Pol/Not person 21 43 4 20 22 19 31 DK/NA 5 5 3 5 3 6 2 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Person/Policies 46% 42% 41% 51% 37% 49% 47% Person/Not policies 27 31 34 21 36 28 30 Policies/Not person 1 2 2 - - 1 1 Not Pol/Not person 20 21 20 24 23 17 19 DK/NA 5 5 4 3 4 5 4 10. Which one of the following statements comes closest to the way you feel about John Kasich - A) I like John Kasich as a person and I also like most of his policies B) I like John Kasich as a person but I don't like most of his policies C) I don't like John Kasich as a person but I DO like most of his policies D) I don't like John Kasich as a person and I also don't like most of his policies. WtBrnAgn Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Evnglcl Person/Policies 26% 52% 12% 20% 30% 23% 32% Person/Not policies 17 11 22 16 16 17 18 Policies/Not person 7 9 4 10 10 5 4 Not Pol/Not person 34 11 50 37 32 37 28 DK/NA 15 17 12 17 12 18 19 Union Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt HsHld Person/Policies 21% 24% 34% 22% 35% 27% 17% Person/Not policies 17 18 12 29 16 11 18 Policies/Not person 12 5 11 2 6 7 2 Not Pol/Not person 37 35 30 27 31 38 49 DK/NA 13 17 13 20 12 16 14
