Poll: RI souring on President Obama

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Islanders are fast losing faith in President Barack Obama's leadership after 18 months of double-digit unemployment, but they are warming to U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, our exclusive WPRI 12 poll shows.

• Eyewitness News Poll: See the complete results

The survey of 500 likely voters finds only 45 percent rate Obama's job performance as excellent or good, whereas 55 percent rate it fair or poor. That's a six-point drop in the president's favorable rating among Rhode Islanders since our January poll.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, on the other hand, has gained support since the start of the year. Whitehouse, who hopes to win reelection in 2012, has raised his favorable rating to 40 percent, up from 33 percent in January.

"Senator Whitehouse has come back to Rhode Island," said Eyewitness News political analyst Joe Fleming. "Since January when we released the poll, Sheldon Whitehouse has spent a lot more time in the state of Rhode Island addressing Rhode Island issues," particularly during the catastrophic floods last spring.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who usually polls best among the state's officeholders, received a 56 percent favorable rating, statistically unchanged from January.

"They're still not where they used to be years ago, when they were in the 70 percent range, but again, with everything going on right now, these are good numbers for Jack Reed," Fleming said.

Reed told Eyewitness News this week he plans to run for reelection in 2014 after he reportedly turned down an overture to become defense secretary.

U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin's favorable rating of 46 percent was also basically unchanged. The telephone survey was conducted last Wednesday through Sunday by Fleming & Associates. Its margin of error is 4.38 percent.

Obama won 66 percent of the vote in Rhode Island against Republican John McCain in November 2008. Only Hawaii and Vermont gave him a bigger share of their votes.

But it looks like the honeymoon between Obama and Rhode Islanders is over. "Right now, everything is the economy," Fleming said.

The jobless rate in Rhode Island rose from 9.6 percent the month Obama took office to peak at 12.7 percent last winter. It was still 11.8 percent in August.

Obama has hemorrhaged support among independents over the last nine months. His favorability rating among unaffiliated voters has sunk 19 points since January, to 32 percent.

"They voted for him looking for change, and they're not seeing the change they're looking for at this point," Fleming said. "We have a lot of problems."

Obama's favorable rating among Rhode Island Democrats was statistically unchanged from January at 70 percent, while his unfavorable rating among Republicans rose 10 points to 86 percent.

The poll also showed a huge gap between the two parties on extending the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire on Jan. 1. Democrats want to extend only the rates for families making less than $250,000, while Republicans want to extend them for households above that threshold, too.

In Rhode Island, 53 percent of voters say the extension should be limited to those making less than $250,000, while 41 percent say it should be done for everyone. Six percent aren't sure.

"It's clear on this question, Democrats one way, Republicans one way, and independents are divided," Fleming said.

Women have stronger feelings than men about the Bush tax cuts, with 57 percent of female respondents saying the cuts should be limited to those making under $250,000 while males were split 47 percent each way.