by Chris Graff.
Fueled by overwhelming disapproval of how Congress has handled health care, Vermonters are fed up with Congress in general and are even unhappy with the job of Vermont s delegation.
President Obama, however, still retains a high job approval rating from Vermonters.
According to a poll of 400 Vermonters released today:
62 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Congress has handled health care;
58 percent disapprove of Congress overall performance;
And 44 percent disapprove of the job Vermont s delegation is doing.
Those numbers are some of the lowest ratings recorded for Congress and the Vermont delegation.
Putting that in perspective, though, a New York Times-CBS News poll of 1,000 Americans last week found that just 15 percent of those polled nationally approve of the job Congress is doing.
By comparison, 36 percent of Vermonters approve of the job Congress is doing, 58 disapprove and only 6 percent are not sure.
The survey was conducted over the past weekend for a trio of news organizations, Vermont Business Magazine, WCAX-TV, and WDEV Radio Vermont.
Obama is still held in relatively high regard by Vermonters, although his approval rating has dropped. The poll found that 63 percent of those surveyed approve of his performance as president, 33 percent disapprove, and 4 percent are not sure.
By comparison, Obama s national approval rating has dropped to 46 percent, according to the New York Times-CBS poll. Nationally, 45 percent disapprove of his performance his highest disapproval rating to date.
Among Vermonters Obama is not being blamed as sharply for the failure to enact health care. The survey found 49 percent of Vermonters surveyed disapprove of his handling of health care, compared to the 62 percent of Vermonters who disapprove of the way Congress has handled health care.
The poll shows that all of the negative publicity about Congress is rubbing off on the Vermont delegation, despite the old adage that people hate Congress but love their own congressmen.
Asked, do you approve or disapprove of the job Vermont s congressional delegation is doing, 45 percent said they approved, 44 percent disapproved, and 11 percent were unsure.
The question, though, was still a generic question about the delegation. If the question had asked specifically about each of the members of the delegation the odds are that the approval ratings would be higher. Senators Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders and US Representative Peter Welch have shown high individual favorability ratings over time.
(SEE POLL RESULTS BELOW)
This survey was conducted by Research 2000 of Rockville, Maryland. A total of 400 likely voters were interviewed statewide by telephone between February 14 and February 16, 2010.
Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect the voter registration of distribution by county.
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 5% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the true figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or region.
SAMPLE FIGURES
MEN
191
48%
WOMEN
209
52%
DEMOCRATS
143
36%
REPUBLICANS
93
23%
INDEPENDENTS/OTHER
164
41%
NORTH
255
64%
SOUTH
145
36%
OBAMA APPROVAL
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as President?
APPROVE
DISAPPROVE
NOT SURE
ALL
63%
33%
4%
MEN
59%
37%
4%
WOMEN
67%
29%
4%
DEMOCRATS
87%
10%
3%
REPUBLICANS
18%
75%
7%
INDEPENDENTS
67%
29%
4%
NORTH
60%
35%
5%
SOUTH
67%
30%
3%
CONGRESS APROVAL
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Congress is doing?
APPROVE
DISAPPROVE
NOT SURE
ALL
36%
58%
6%
MEN
32%
62%
6%
WOMEN
40%
54%
6%
DEMOCRATS
55%
40%
5%
REPUBLICANS
15%
80%
5%
INDEPENDENTS
32%
61%
7%
NORTH
34%
60%
6%
SOUTH
39%
55%
6%
VERMONT DELEGATION APPROVAL
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Vermont s Congressional delegation is doing?
APPROVE
DISAPPROVE
NOT SURE
ALL
45%
44%
11%
MEN
42%
48%
10%
WOMEN
48%
40%
12%
DEMOCRATS
71%
22%
7%
REPUBLICANS
17%
76%
7%
INDEPENDENTS
38%
45%
17%
NO
43%
46%
11%
49%
41%
10%
OBAMA ON HEALTH CARE
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the President handled health care?
APPROVE
DISAPPROVE
NOT SURE
ALL
43%
49%
8%
MEN
40%
53%
7%
WOMEN
46%
45%
9%
DEMOCRATS
63%
31%
6%
REPUBLICANS
18%
72%
10%
INDEPENDENTS
39%
53%
8%
NORTH
41%
51%
8%
SOUTH
46%
46%
8%
CONGRESS ON HEALTH CARE
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress handled health care?
APPROVE
DISAPPROVE
NOT SURE
ALL
33%
62%
5%
MEN
30%
66%
4%
WOMEN
36%
58%
6%
DEMOCRATS
52%
44%
4%
REPUBLICANS
12%
82%
6%
INDEPENDENTS
29%
66%
5%
NORTH
31%
64%
5%
SOUTH
36%
59%
5%
FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT
QUESTION: How concerned are you about the federal government s budget deficit; very concerned, somewhat concerned, or not concerned?
VERY
SOMEWHAT
NOT CONCERNED
NOT SURE
ALL
43%
39%
11%
7%
MEN
44%
41%
10%
5%
WOMEN
42%
37%
12%
9%
DEMOCRATS
42%
37%
12%
9%
REPUBLICANS
43%
39%
11%
7%
INDEPENDENTS
44%
41%
10%
5%
NORTH
44%
40%
10%
6%
SOTUH
41%
37%
13%
9%