ANNAPOLIS – President George W. Bush’s popularity has dropped in Maryland since January, however, affection is still high for a Republican president in a traditionally Democratic state, a poll released Thursday shows.
The poll also revealed what is on voters’ minds for the next governor of the state: the budget deficit, education and transportation.
Bush is seen favorably by 54 percent of Maryland voters, a contrast to his 66 percent favorable rating in January, a Gonzales/Arscott Research and Communications poll indicated; 29 percent have an unfavorable view, while 17 percent remain undecided.
The telephone poll was conducted among 823 registered Maryland voters from Sept. 12-15. It carries a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Approval of Bush’s performance remains high with Marylanders at 63 percent. Among Democrats, 43 to 45 percent approve of the president, along with a whopping 97 percent of Republicans. The national approval rating for Bush is 70 percent, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.
Maryland voters generally favor Democrats. For example, in the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore won Maryland with 57 percent of the vote to then-Texas Gov. Bush’s 40 percent, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.
The unusually high ratings for a Republican president in Maryland could bode well for U.S. Rep. Bob Ehrlich, R-Timonium, in his race for the governor’s seat.
“The numbers certainly are not unhelpful to Ehrlich,” said Carol Arscott of Gonzales/Arscott. “Most people in Maryland wouldn’t feel that being seen with Bush right now as a bad thing.”
The president is planning to publicly endorse Ehrlich and appear with him sometime before the November election, the Ehrlich campaign said.
“It shows that people in Maryland are more concerned with confidence than partisanship,” said Paul Ellington, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. “(Bush’s visit) will be a shot in the arm in every sense of the word. It will be a huge boost in morale.”
Bush’s high ratings in Maryland will neither help Ehrlich nor hurt his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, said David Paulson, state Democratic Party communications director.
“There are no coattails,” Paulson said. “Bush’s high popularity reflects the hopefulness of America. It won’t help Ehrlich whatsoever.”
Men, at 77 percent, approved of the president more than woman, at 55 percent.
“The Republican Party tends to be more populated with men than women,” Arscott said, “and the Democratic Party tends to have more women in it.”
Maryland’s gubernatorial contenders should be paying attention to fiscal news, the poll shows. The state faces a $1.3 billion deficit next fiscal year, and 23 percent named concerns about it as their top priority.
Just two points behind was education, at 21 percent, which has been a primary point of contention between Ehrlich and Townsend. Transportation ranked third with 10 percent of voters naming it as their top issue. Maryland faces a possible $1 billion in unbudgeted road construction and maintenance costs and ranks among the most traffic-bound states in the country. – 30 – CNS-9-19-02