TRENTON — Opinions of Gov. Chris Christie have "gotten worse" since he took office, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today. Of those polled, a plurality, 38 percent, said their opinion of the governor have slipped since he took office in January 2009 while 28 percent said their opinion got better. “Most leaders find their ratings slipping over time,...
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Chris Christie speaks during a press conference in Hasbrouck Heights earlier this month. A new poll released today shows opinions of the governor have worsened since his taking office.TRENTON — Opinions of Gov. Chris Christie have "gotten worse" since he took office, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today.
Of those polled, a plurality, 38 percent, said their opinion of the governor have slipped since he took office in January 2009 while 28 percent said their opinion got better.
“Most leaders find their ratings slipping over time, often as they put their priorities in place,” said pollster David Redlawsk, a political science professor at Rutgers, in a news release. “While people often start out willing to give the benefit of the doubt to new officeholders, as decisions get made, more people begin to feel either positive or negative about them. In this case, Governor Christie has generated strong feelings, and thus polarized opinion.”
The poll of 615 registered voters was conducted between August 9 to August 15 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
The poll asked participants for an emotional response to the governor and compared to the last time they asked in April, discovered that voters are more worried and less proud or enthusiastic about the governor.
Worry was the main response when those polled were asked about their emotional response to the governor, with 54 percent agreeing with that descriptor.
“Politics is very much about emotions,” said Redlawsk. “While we like to think people make careful decisions based on the policies they want to see implemented, we know that how people feel about politicians plays a big role in how they evaluate them. The decline in positive emotions and increase in negative ones reinforces that voters in New Jersey are not necessarily being won over by the governor.”
While the poll found that GOP members were more optimistic when it comes to their emotions surrounding the governor, those numbers have dropped 8 percentage points since the last time they were asked.
"The decline in positive responses from Republicans, combined with the decrease in enthusiasm and increase in worry among independents, may be more of a concern,” said Redlawsk. “From the governor’s standpoint, he cannot afford to lose independents since there are more Democrats than Republicans here. But it is hard to motivate people who are worried about you and not terribly enthusiastic to support you.”
The poll found that younger voters, moderates and members of a household with a public employee were more likely to have a worse opinion of the governor now since when he took office. About half of those polled who are younger than 30 had a worse opinion of the governor while the same response was given by 42 percent of those between 30 and 49 years of age and only 29 percent of those over 65.
By gender, women are more likely to have a worse opinion of the governor than men.
The governor's approach to education appears to be driving the change in view point, the poll found. Of those polled, 83 percent said that education policy was the reason for their change, with 63 percent of those having indicated their opinion of the governor was declining.
Republicans with a better opinion of the governor, however, were more likely to have changed their mind because of the way he has handled the state's budget, the poll found.
The poll also found that few have been converted from their preference they indicated at the ballot box in 2009. Of those polled who voted for Christie, 15 percent said their opinion has become more negative while 45 percent said their opinion has improved.
Of those who voted for Corzine, 15 percent feel better about Christie 58 percent say they feel worse about the sitting governor. In a generic ballot for the 2013 election, the poll found 42 percent of respondents would vote for Christie if the election was today while 49 percent would vote for someone else.
“While asking about an election two years away doesn’t really tell us what will happen in 2013, it does give us a read on what voters are thinking,” said Redlawsk. “For the most part, lines in the sand are as distinct as ever. Most who voted for Christie still feel positive and would still vote for him. Most who voted for Corzine would vote against Christie again given the chance. Overall, he loses at the moment because voters who did not vote in 2009 say they don’t want to re-elect him at this point. This includes young voters who are strongly in favor of change."