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Candidate Barack Obama speaks to Ohio voters in Westervile
outside Columbus in 2008. (Photo/John Michael Spinelli
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Polls out Wednesday show President Barack Obama, who clinched his win of the White House last year when he carried Ohio, and Buckeye State Gov. Ted Strickland, who was elected to the top spot along with other Democrats who took back state offices in 2006, the popularity they once enjoyed has been short lived, as polling numbers released by both Quinnipiac University and Rasmussen Reports show.
Quinnipiac Poll shows cracks in Obama armor widening
The Quinnipiac Poll shows Obama has fallen in popularity with voters nationwide from a high of 59 percent in June to 46 percent today. The number of Americans who now disapproving of his job performance is 44 percent, two percent below those giving him a thumbs up, which it self is two percent below the 48 percent in November who were on his side.
Obama still has three more years to turn voters around enough to win a second term. The same is not true for Ohio Gov. Strickland, who is already gearing up for the bruising battle he'll have to wage with his endorsed GOP-rival, John Kasich.
Rasmussen report a cause for worry for Strickland
The numbers for that match-up contained in a poll released by Rasmussen Reports, show Strickland (pictured here at this year's Ohio State Fair), who won 61 percent of the vote in 2006 but who has struggled with a state on the rocks from a 
combination of revenue shortfalls, is now nine percent behind Kasich, whose campaign slogan is he is a "new way and a new day."
Leading up to their reporting, Rasmussen paints a partial picture of the state of the state in Ohio. Unemployment is at 10.5 percent, a budget hole of nearly $900 looms as Strickland and Senate Republicans Roman wrestle on how to close it and thousands of manufacturing and construction jobs continue to disappear each month.
With sentiment against deficit spending, and incumbents like Obama and Strickland who have few viable options to turn things around, as the former Congressman said he would do in 2006, and who say without government spending the abyss they say they see in the rear view mirrors would have swallowed them alive, the electoral climate for a candidate like Strickland could be very bad for his political health.
For Strickland, Rasmussen says he wins support from just 69 percent of the state’s Democratic voters and trails by 25 percentage points among voters not affiliated with either major party.
Adding to Strickland’s woes, they note, is a very public disagreement with the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
The Rasmussen Poll shows Strickland attracting only 71 percent (71%) of the black vote, and reports that only 13 percent (13%) of African-American voters say they will vote against the governor. Fifteen percent remain undecided in the poll. The polling group that poll watchers say leans more right than others, says it's likely that the Democratic candidate (Strickland) will "eventually win much better support from the black community statewide."
Forty-eight percent (48%) of all voters in the state still approve of the way Strickland is handling his job, while 50% disapprove. Those figures include 11% who Strongly Approve and 24% who Strongly Disapprove.
Obama's job approval rating continues to slide and it's evident the deterioration stems from voter unhappiness over domestic policy matters," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. He says that while the decline in Obama's overall approval in the last month has been small, with the exception of independent voters, who went from three points negative to 14 points. "If the trend continues, it won't be long before he (Obama) could be in the unenviable position of having more Americans disapprove than approve of his job performance."
Follow me on Twitter @ohionewsbureau. Read more stories on people, politics and government in Ohio here. Contact: ohionewsbureau@gmail.com
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