Poll: Public still unhappy with Corzine
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - June 25, 2008 The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found 40
percent approve of the governor's job performance, with 41 percent
disapproving. That's down from a 44 percent approval in April and
48 percent in January. The FDU findings are similar to those of
other recent polls.
The decline comes after Corzine pushed a cost-cutting state
budget that was approved Monday by state legislators.
Peter Woolley, the poll director and a political scientist, said
the real test could come when the budget starts directly affecting
taxpayers. It takes effect July 1.
"The twists and turns of the budget process are under the radar
of most voters," Woolley said. "In the end, it's the taxes they
pay, the services they receive and the value of their homes that
voters care about."
Corzine, speaking Wednesday on WCBS radio in New York, noted the
poll was still better than other recent surveys. A June 11
Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found 52 percent of
New Jersey voters disapproving of Corzine's performance, with 38
percent approving.
Corzine said he wasn't surprised because he's been tackling
topics such as budget cuts and cutting state debt and funding
transportation through proposed toll increases.
"None of those are pleasant topics to be raising," Corzine
said. "They have to be taken on straightforwardly or I'm not doing
my job."
The first-term Democratic governor added, "I think the most
important thing to do is do a good job and let people assess when
they go to the polls in 2009 whether they think you've done the
things that have to be done to make New Jersey a better place to
live."
Corzine in the coming weeks is expected to sign legislation
authorizing $3.9 billion for state Supreme Court-ordered school
construction. He's also expected to sign a bill redoing state laws
on court-ordered affordable housing requirements for each
municipality.
But the poll found New Jersey voters know little about how major
decisions by the Supreme Court affect state spending and quality of
life.
Fifty-one percent of those responding said they had not heard
about the court-ordered housing requirements and 23 percent said
they had heard "just a little." Forty-one percent said they've
heard nothing and 32 percent "just a little" about the state
Council on Affordable Housing, which implements affordable housing
requirements.
"Every town in the state is affected, so it is surprising to
find so many voters who know so little about it," Woolley said.
Meanwhile, 57 percent said they've never heard of the court's
school funding decisions, with 19 percent having heard "just a
little."
"The courts are every bit as important in shaping public policy
as the Legislature and governor," Woolley said. "Yet voters pay
even less attention to the courts than they do to the Legislature
and governor."
The telephone poll of 608 registered voters statewide was
conducted from June 17 through June 22 and has a sampling error
margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.