Poll: Strickland gains; Obama falls

Governor leads Republican Kasich in survey; Ohioans desert president.

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer Updated 11:30 PM Tuesday, February 23, 2010

COLUMBUS — Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has taken a five-point lead — 44-39 percent — over Republican challenger John Kasich in the governor’s race in a Quinnipiac University poll of voters released on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The results weren’t so good for Strickland’s fellow Democrat, President Barack Obama, however.

Voters disapproved of Obama’s performance, 52-44 percent, the biggest negative rating for the president in any state or national survey by Quinnipiac University since Obama’s inauguration last year.

In the governor’s race, Strickland improved from a 40-40 deadlock with Kasich, a former Columbus-area congressman, Lehman Brothers investment banker and Fox News host, in a Nov. 11 poll.

Voters approved of Strickland’s overall job performance, 48-40 percent, but disapproved of his handling of the economy, 53-35 percent. They also gave him a poor score for his handling of the state budget, 51-32 percent.

Overall, though, thanks to strong numbers among women, the governor got a favorability rating of 45-36 percent.

Strickland led among women, 48-33 percent while Kasich led among men, 45-38 percent.

Kasich, making his first run for statewide office, was unknown to many voters. Sixty-two percent said they didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

“The campaign will be a race by the candidates to define Kasich for the 62 percent of the voters who don’t know enough about him to have an opinion,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the university’s polling institute said in a press release.

“... While the governor’s horse race numbers are good, he has a long way to go and what is keeping him ahead is his support among women.”

Still, voters said by a margin of 41-35 percent that Kasich would do a better job than Strickland of rebuilding the state’s economy and by a 42-36 percent spread said the Republican would do a better of handing the state budget.

Meanwhile, Obama got poor marks for his handling of the economy (57-39 percent) and health care (58-34 percent), but voters approved by 55-39 percent his decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

“Given that President Obama carried the state with more than 51 percent of the vote, these numbers mean many Ohioans who were in his corner have now deserted him,” said Brown.

The poll was taken Feb. 16 to Sunday, Feb. 21, with 1,662 Ohio voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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