Poll shows voters divided in Ohio

Next year, the state again is expected to play a crucial role in the presidential
election.

CLEVELAND (AP) — President Bush and his military policies remain unpopular among Ohio voters, but they aren’t ready to abandon Republicans in next year’s presidential election, a poll released Sunday found.

The poll paid for by The Plain Dealer found that 54 percent disapproved of the way Bush is handling his job, while 40 percent approved and the rest weren’t sure. Sixty-two percent disapproved of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq while 36 percent approved.

“I see an overall frustration from people I know,” said poll participant Steve Fisher of Westerville, who said he was an independent. “Everyone sees there is a lot that could or should be getting done, but it doesn’t seem like our elected officials want to get together.”

Ohioans remain divided on the issues that likely will be of importance in next year’s election, when the state is expected to again play a crucial role in determining the winner. The state gave Bush the electoral boost he needed to win a second term. He won the state by just 118,000 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast.

Even though Ohio voters oppose the war, they trust the Republicans to better prevent terrorism than Democrats 50 percent-30 percent and better handle immigration issues 40 percent-35 percent, the poll found.

Democrats got higher marks on education, 45 percent-39 percent; energy, 49 percent-34 percent; and health care, 45 percent-38 percent.

The poll was conducted Nov. 5-7 among 625 registered voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Suzanne McCullough of Montpelier in far-western Ohio said she wants to know the candidates’ views on education before casting a vote for president.

“The state keeps taking away money and mandating things, creating a real mess in education,” McCullough, 44, said. “The cost of higher education is also so out of hand. Our kids are moving away.”

The presidential candidates will have to win in a state that has two of the nation’s poorest cities — Cleveland and Cincinnati — and one of the country’s worst foreclosure rates.

Eighty percent of Ohio voters said the state’s economy was fair or poor, though nearly 60 percent view themselves as better off than others.

Asked about the plight of poor adults, voters were split. Forty percent say people are poor mostly because of bad decisions they have made; 39 percent blame forces beyond their control.

Ohio turned to Democrats in statewide elections last year, taking five of six offices on the ballot from Republicans. The winners included Ted Strickland, the first Democratic chief executive since 1991, and Sherrod Brown, who ousted two-term incumbent GOP Sen. Mike DeWine.

“But if the Democrats are banking on another slaughter in Ohio in ’08, they are making a bad bet,” said Brad Coker, managing director of Washington-based Mason-Dixon. “The presidential race is likely to look closer to the 2004 race.”

Coker says that the environment is not favorable for Republicans, but that the political balance has tilted a bit more toward them.

“It’s better than it was in 2006,” he said.