Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Blogs:
Akron Law Café:
A Woman in the White House
The Heldenfiles:
"Opportunity Knocks" for Canton Family (Updated)
Patrick McManamon:
The Browns conclude preseason 0-4
Browns Bulletin:
Cliffs Notes: Bears vs Browns Review
Cleveland Browns:
Browns v. Lions: Fourth Quarter
Cleveland Indians:
Ten for ten. Playoffs possible?
Akron Aeros:
Aeros clinch wild card, celebrate
Akron Zips:
Zips top No. 3 Notre Dame
Varsity Letters:
Week 2 football scoreboard
Kent State Sports:
Kent State versus Boston College Preview
The Sports Mix:
Ohio State Buckeyes - BTN and TW Reach a Deal
Ohio Politics:
Ad Watch: Flashback to 2006, Stevens and Palin
All Da King's Men:
McCain Selects Sarah Palin For Vice President
Blog of Mass Destruction:
McCain's Faulty Judgment On Display With Palin Pick
HRLite House:
Friday HR Fun Thought - Couch-surfing
Akrocentric:
"Sunflower," a poem by Frank Steele
Akron Gamer:
A look at Madden NFL 09, pt. 2: Gameplay
BokBluster:
Barackopolis
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Connie asks about hotels and resorts near the lake.
Sound Check:
LeRoi Moore, Dave Matthews Band saxophonist dies
Tia's Trends:
Light at the end of the Tunnel?
Poll respondents say state is headed in wrong direction on jobs and prices
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
Nearly three-fourths of Ohioans think the state's economy is on the wrong track.
And most give economic issues, like jobs and prices, a higher priority than foreign policy or domestic concerns.
These were among the results of a statewide poll released Wednesday by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
John Green, Bliss' executive director, said the poll's findings show an increased focus on the economy. He said a Bliss poll in 2004 — the last presidential election year — gave a nearly equal billing to foreign policy and domestic issues.
''The economy has moved up in front,'' he said. ''Who knows if that will be the case when the fall election comes around? But, here, in the early going, the situation is different.''
While the poll showed an overwhelming concern about the state's economy, Ohioans expressed a higher degree of satisfaction with the performance of the governor, state legislature and judiciary than in 2005.
''Normally, when things are going badly, you see a negative reaction across the board,'' Green said.
He explained people could be putting the blame elsewhere, such as with the president or Congress, or could appreciate the effort of state government to ''come to grips with problems which are pretty severe.''
The poll showed that most — 69.1 percent — think a Democrat will win the presidency in Ohio. This was across the board among Democrats (83.3 percent), independents (61.9 percent) and Republicans (55.8 percent.)
''There is a sense that Ohio will go Democratic,'' Green said. ''A lot can change between now and then, but it is very interesting.''
Green said the results show that independents are more interested in the Democratic side and Republicans are ''dispirited.'' He said it will be a challenge for Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, to ''turn these numbers around.''
Bliss will be tracking Ohioans' views between now and the Nov. 4 presidential election. They will call back the same people surveyed for the spring poll in the summer and fall.
The spring poll was based on a phone survey of a random sample of 1,507 Ohio adults between Jan. 10 and March 8. It was done by the Center for Marketing & Opinion Research in Canton. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached
at 330-996-3705 or
swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
Nearly three-fourths of Ohioans think the state's economy is on the wrong track.
Get the full article here.
