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Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005

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  Six in 10 independent voters still give Schwarzenegger high marks - the same as last year - but the number of independents who disapprove of him has almost doubled, from 18 percent last year to 32 percent this year.

The numbers may come as sobering news to the governor who has proposed a reform package he wants to bring before voters in a special election this year - ideas that would require broad support across party lines to be successful.

"Californians still like Gov. Schwarzenegger, but they no longer view him as being above the fray," said Mark Baldassare, the poll's director. "This is problematic because politics-as-usual is not an option for the governor. His plan to take bold reform agenda to the people this year still requires broad bipartisan support."

The poll found that voters care more about three issues - education, the state budget and the economy. But they gave Schwarzenegger high marks only on the economy.

Fifty-five percent of voters said they are not satisfied with the governor's proposed spending plan, compared to 38 percent who are satisfied. Last year, 57 percent were happy with the governor's budget plan, while 30 percent were unhappy.

The latest poll found that 51 percent disapprove of Schwarzenegger's efforts for schools, while 56 percent said they like what the governor has done to improve the economy.

Thirty-five percent of voters said they would rather have the Legislature's Democratic majority making the tough funding choices with 29 percent saying Schwarzenegger should make the budget choices. A year ago, voters said they preferred Schwarzenegger to set the budget priorities over Democrats by 33 percent to 27 percent.

The poll conducted during an eight-day period ending Jan. 18 is based on interviews with 1,613 registered voters. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

© 2005 The Associated Press

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