Field Poll shows Schwarzenegger leading in governor's race

Mercury News/AP ^ | July 25, 2006 | DON THOMPSON

[FairOpinion]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's image and job rating appear to be rebounding with voters, according to a new poll released Tuesday that shows the Republican governor leading Democratic state Treasurer Phil Angelides by 8 percentage points.

The Field Poll found 45 percent of likely voters surveyed favored Schwarzenegger, with 37 percent backing Angelides.

Nearly half the 731 likely voters surveyed approved of Schwarzenegger's job performance, the first time since February 2005 that more voters approved than disapproved of the job he is doing, the Field Poll found.

And for the first time since September 2004, more voters rated as positive the direction the state is heading than said it was negative.

The campaign this year has been a referendum on Schwarzenegger, the Field Poll found, with two-thirds of Angelides backers saying their support is a vote against the governor rather than an endorsement of his Democratic challenger.

Some Republicans have criticized Schwarzenegger as too liberal, but the poll found he nonetheless enjoys support from 85 percent of those voters who called themselves Republicans. Sixty-three percent of Democrats said they support Angelides after a bruising primary fight with state Controller Steve Westly.

[FairOpinion]

OK. Here is a multiple choice question for you. Do you prefer a or b? You have to pick a or b. WHICH will you pick?

a. Arnold runs around campaigning for the Republican candidates in CA, even hopeless ones, like Mountjoy, it doesn't do the Republicans any good, Arnold ends up typecasting himself and loses to Angelides.

b. Arnold runs a more moderate campaigning, being careful to not give Angelides a chance to portray him as a "dreaded right winger", Arnold does fundraising to some R. candidates, WINS the election and other Republicans win too on his coattails.

[ElkGroveDan]

Why do I have to pick between two ridiculous scenarios? I don't accept your premise that those are the only scenarios. How about you pick one of mine;

A) Arnold runs around trying to be the biggest liberal he can be since that what he is at heart. Republicans get disillusioned and throw their hands up in disgust and don't bother voting, causing the REAL Republicans on the ticket and legislative candidates statewide to lose in droves. democrats capture 2/3 majorities in both houses and the governor's office. California begins a desperate and ruinous slide into a collectivist abyss that threatens the entire US economy.

B) Arnold runs a tough no apologies campaign like a character from one of his movies which is what so many voters thought they were getting. He espouses the economics of Milton Friedman and the conservative policies of Ronald Reagan. He begins each week with a stop at the Reagan Library with a short prayer and pledge to rid the world of big-government collectivism and the social rot and depravity of the hippy generation. Low-propensity voters who have been disaffected and haven't voted in decades turn out in droves and Arnold wins by 61.7% the same as Proposition 22 did in 2000. Long shot GOP candidates win up and down the state and the GOP captures one or both houses of the Legislature ushering in a new era of politics in California history.

[FairOpinion]

Looks like you want to see a repeat of the Davis-Simon or Davis-Lundrgren election, which of course would get Angelides elected.

You also keep ignoring that there are NO Republicans elected to statewide office in CA, with the exception of Arnold.

My options are based on reality, yours are based on fantasy and worse.

[ElkGroveDan]

Simon didn't lose because he was a conservative, he lost because Davis spent the $60 million raised by Arnold's chief of staff making Simon look like a crook. Lungren didn't run as a conservative. He was despised by gun owners. He ran a miserable campaign and the only issue where he "won" was the abortion issue. The LA Times exit polls showed that 25% of voters cast their ballots based on abortion -- 13% for Lungren 12% for Davis. Lungren lost because he is a fool.