In a way, this shouldn’t be surprising; the economy in Michigan is about one step away from resembling Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but still . . . to see poll numbers like these in what was once such a deep-blue state:
President Barack Obama’s approval ratings among Michigan residents have dropped to their lowest point since his election, according a State of the State Survey conducted between late October and December 2010.
About 32 percent of residents polled rated his performance as “excellent” or “good,” according to the survey.
“When he first came to office, his ratings were sky high,” said Charles Ballard, survey director and MSU economics professor. “In fact, I think there was such a euphoria upon his taking office it was unlikely for those ratings to stay the same.”
Nationally, between October and December 2010 the president’s approval ratings ranged between about 44 percent and 48 percent, according to Gallup, a national polling firm.
Approval in Michigan might be lower because of the poor state of the economy, Ballard said. Michigan has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country at 11.7 percent.
It’s worth noting that this poll sample is from mostly November:
He said the survey conducted from Oct. 25 to Dec. 30 does not account for any bump in public approval Obama might have gotten from his State of the Union speech or his speech following the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz.
But note these details:
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%. The annual IPPSR survey began tracking public opinion in 1994. The latest survey shows Obama is more than three times popular among black residents than whites, and that his support among Democrats has fallen to 64%. Only 9% of Republicans rate Obama’s job performance good. Gov. Jennifer Granholm ended her eight years in office with the worse job performance rating she ever had. Only 18% rated her “good” or “excellent” in the survey.