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Baldacci's 'favorability' at 29 percent (Maine)
Portland Press herald via AP ^ | May 28, 2005 | CLARKE CANFIELD

Posted on 05/28/2005 7:35:57 AM PDT by Fido969

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Baldacci's 'favorability' at 29 percent

By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press

©Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.   E-mail this story to a friend   GOVERNOR'S APPROVAL RATING One year ago: 54 percent

Last fall: 61 percent

This month: 43 percent

A telephone survey that tracks what Mainers think of their political leaders has given Gov. John Baldacci a favorability rating of 29 percent, half that of Maine's two U.S. senators and lower than that of President Bush.

Eighteen months before Baldacci seeks a second term, 37 percent of those surveyed said they had an unfavorable opinion of him, while 34 percent were undecided. The governor's job approval rating, a separate question from favorability rating, has gone down 18 percent since last fall, according to the survey released Friday.

"I think there's been a steady erosion of support for the governor," said MaryEllen FitzGerald, president of Critical Insights, the Portland company that conducted the poll.

Baldacci told reporters that he's not concerned about the falling numbers, and said they're not surprising given the tough challenges the state is facing.

"Polls go up and down. They come and go," he said.

For the survey, Critical Insights called 600 Mainers by telephone from May 12-19 asking their opinions of Bush, Baldacci, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Thirty-one percent of Mainers had a favorable opinion of Bush, while 53 percent had an unfavorable opinion, according to the survey.

Snowe was given a favorable rating from 65 percent of the respondents, while 13 percent said they had a negative opinion of her. Fifty-eight percent had a favorable opinion of Collins, while 16 percent had an unfavorable opinion.

Tom Allen's favorability rating stood at 43 percent, with 17 percent giving him an unfavorable rating. Twenty-nine percent gave Michaud a favorable rating, with 11 percent having an unfavorable opinion.

The survey also gauged Baldacci's job approval rating, which now stands at 43 percent. That's the first time since Baldacci became governor that his job approval rating has fallen below his disapproval rating, which came in at 45 percent, the survey said.

Baldacci had a 61 percent job approval rating last fall, and a 54 percent job approval rating a year ago.

FitzGerald said the economy is the No. 1 concern of residents, and that their opinion of Baldacci has fallen with a bleak economic outlook.

The second day into the survey, the Pentagon announced that it was recommending that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery and a military processing center in Limestone be closed, and that the Brunswick Naval Air Station be realigned.

If the Pentagon's recommendations are approved, Maine stands to lose up to 12,000 jobs directly and indirectly.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: baldacci; bluestate; cnim; jobapproval; maine
This guy is pulling a Gray Davis, he has assured that we are over taxed, he over-spends and pushes his social programs and lefties social agenda that only the loopiest of the loopy left wants.... God, I wish maine had a recall provision.

Unfortunately, I don't see anyone in the Maine Republican party at this point (except maybe Peter C.) who has enough backbnone to stand up to the dims and 'rats that have taken over the state capital.

1 posted on 05/28/2005 7:35:58 AM PDT by Fido969
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To: Fido969

29%, that high, must have taken the poll only amongst the reporters and reporterettes at the PPH and Casco Bay Weekely, opps forgot the CCW went belly up.


2 posted on 05/28/2005 7:50:14 AM PDT by newsgatherer
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To: Fido969

We have a dem state and suffer for it with high taxes and a harsh business climate. Every response I get from Allen, my rep, is it is the fault of the Bush admin and the tax breaks we got (for the rich). All the current discussion is not how to cut spending, but what taxes we can raise to keep government going. In the mean time we now have a state sponsored medical program that, in time will completely bankrupt the state.

Ever notice that pub led states are almost all solvent while the dem states are almost all broke?


3 posted on 05/28/2005 8:07:56 AM PDT by KeyWest
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To: SheLion

Maine (Balducci) ping


4 posted on 05/28/2005 8:10:43 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Monthly donors make better lovers. Ask my wife.)
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To: All

Yeah! I think these numbers are fixed also; Baldacci is a 0% as far as I am concerned he is making Maine a more Wretched place to live. Seems like a good share of Maine is populated with mindless liberals just following the liberals because the HATE the conservative philosophy that calls black, black and white, white. For longer than I have been alive the State of Maine has had a liberal democratic governor; that's over forty years. The highest tax burden in the country and one of the worst business atmospheres maybe we should vote in a loberal governor next time that seems to be workin' real good. NOT!! WTF if it ain't workin' maybe we should oughtta try sompin else! :^(


5 posted on 05/28/2005 8:21:28 AM PDT by Jbuza
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To: All

Yeah! I think these numbers are fixed also; Baldacci is a 0% as far as I am concerned he is making Maine a more Wretched place to live. Seems like a good share of Maine is populated with mindless liberals just following the liberals because the HATE the conservative philosophy that calls black, black and white, white. For longer than I have been alive the State of Maine has had a liberal democratic governor; that's over forty years. The highest tax burden in the country and one of the worst business atmospheres maybe we should vote in a liberal democrat for governor next time that seems to be workin' real good. NOT!! WTF if it ain't workin' maybe we should oughtta try sompin else! :^(


6 posted on 05/28/2005 8:22:33 AM PDT by Jbuza
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To: Fido969

Baldacci is a classical machine Democrat: tax, spend, and rake in the dollars for yourself and your corrupt cronies.

Things have always been pretty bad for business in Maine, but he has definitely made things worse. MBNA moved into the Camden-Belfast area on West Penobscot Bay some years ago, and brought a ton of jobs with it. Real estate values climbed and Belfast started to gentrify. Last year MBNA announced that they were moving their whole operation out of state, which was a crushing blow to the region and the whole state.

They moved in because Maine is a pleasant place to live and their business can be run from anywhere. They moved out because they were losing their shirts to Maine's crushing menu of taxes and bureaucratic regulations.


7 posted on 05/28/2005 8:43:34 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Jbuza

Poor Maine. When you rub borders with liberal Canada (Quebec) and leftist New England you get infected. Maybe Maine residents will smell the coffee and dump the DimRat libs ruining the state. Then again if there are too many blinded libs in-state then they get what they deserve.


8 posted on 05/28/2005 8:44:59 AM PDT by tflabo (Take authority that's ours)
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To: Just another Joe; FoolKiller; AdamInMaine; d3maine; Conservative; spartan68; Madame Dufarge; ...
Maine (Balducci) ping

Thanks for the ping, Joe. I would have missed this one.


9 posted on 05/28/2005 9:19:44 AM PDT by SheLion (Trying to make a life in the BLUE state of Maine!)
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To: Fido969

You are still going to see some liberals try to spin this as Bush's fault. Bondacci is doing his best to kill us.


10 posted on 05/28/2005 9:29:47 AM PDT by armymarinemom (My sons freed Iraqi and Afghanistan Honor Roll students.And we're unlikely to get a look into this t)
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To: Fido969; armymarinemom
The second day into the survey, the Pentagon announced that it was recommending that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery and a military processing center in Limestone be closed, and that the Brunswick Naval Air Station be realigned.

This looks like the "it's all Bush's fault" escape clause.

11 posted on 05/28/2005 9:41:56 AM PDT by Madame Dufarge
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To: Madame Dufarge

Let's look at the numbers.
Snowe 65%
Collins 58%
Allen 43%
Bush 31% (only got 45% in election)
Baldacci 29%
Michaud 29%
When you look at the numbers it looks good for Republicans. All Democrats have fallen below 50%. Bush lost this state with only 45% of the vote so his numbers have only fallen 14%. Far less than any of the Democrats. I understand our Senators are RINOs and far from conservative but we need to be careful. Changing peoples way of thinking is not an overnight job. It will take time to turn ME. into a conservative Republican state but we have a golden opportunity here. We need to find some conservative republicans in moderates clothing that can turn this state around.


12 posted on 05/28/2005 10:23:39 AM PDT by armymarinedad (Character makes you draw a line in the dirt.)
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To: armymarinedad
We need to find some conservative republicans in moderates clothing that can turn this state around.

I agree that's a goal, but I can't think of anyone at the moment that fits the bill.

I think Baldacci blew it when he pushed the gay rights thing, and I don't think the smoking bans endeared him to many people either. Then there was the seat-belt-as-a-primary-offense thing.

There's a strong streak of "leave me alone," in Mainers (with the exception of southern Maine) even among life-long Democrats. The Bangor boy may have spent too much time on the Beltway for his own good.

Who knows? Mainers can be so politically schizophrenic.

13 posted on 05/28/2005 10:57:27 AM PDT by Madame Dufarge
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To: Madame Dufarge

There's a strong streak of "leave me alone," in Mainers

Absolutely, that is one of the things I love about Mainers. They are also very bullheaded and set in their ways. That is why it will be a slow process getting them to understand they are DINOs. They vote party line because they always have. Many Mainers don't really understand that the Republicans come closer to matching up with their politics and values much more than Democrats do.

14 posted on 05/28/2005 11:05:54 AM PDT by armymarinedad (Character makes you draw a line in the dirt.)
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To: Cicero
Things have always been pretty bad for business in Maine, but he has definitely made things worse.

I won't disagree, but Maine business has always been pretty desultory. Maine small business owners want a house in town, a camp out at the lake and a pickup to drive between the two... after that, they could care less.

15 posted on 05/28/2005 11:23:05 AM PDT by Grut
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To: SheLion

Could this guy actually be beaten next year?


16 posted on 05/28/2005 11:55:07 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: armymarinedad

When was the last time an incubment senator from Maine was defeated?


17 posted on 05/28/2005 11:58:04 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

1978, when William Cohen beat the incumbent Democrat William Hathaway.


18 posted on 05/28/2005 1:13:28 PM PDT by Galactic Overlord-In-Chief (Any Freepers who enjoy fantasy, I welcome to look at my FR homepage to take a look at my new book)
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To: Fido969

Coincidently, most of the food served at his restaurant is 29 degrees.

Man, I'm glad I left Taxationland two years ago.


19 posted on 06/14/2005 7:52:29 PM PDT by DCMxyzptlk
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