February 18, 2005
Perry Approval at 51%
By Byron LaMasters
Which is the best it's been in three years! That makes sense to me - for the first time in about three years, Governor Perry has gone several months without saying or doing anything remarkably stupid. Congrats, Guv!
I don't have the full poll, but here's what I've managed to dig out of several articles. The poll - a "survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Jan. 27-Feb. 14 by the Scripps Research Center and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points".
President Bush: Approve 61%, Disapprove 33%
Laura Bush: Approve 81%
Gov. Perry: Approve 51% (73% among Republicans), Disapprove 33%
Lt. Gov. Dewhurst: Approve 46%, Disapprove 17%
Sen. Hutchison: Approve 72% (85% among Republicans), Disapprove 17%
Sen. Cornyn: Approve 49%, Disapprove 16%
Comptroller Strayhorn: Approve 53%, Disapprove 16%
Speaker Craddick: Approve 36%, Disapprove 17%
Posted by Byron LaMasters at February 18, 2005 06:38 AM
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For the mathematically challenged, the nets on those are:
President Bush: +28% (6% unreported)
Gov. Perry: +18% (16% unreported)
Lt. Gov. Dewhurst: +29% (37% unreported)
Sen. Hutchison: +55% (11% unreported)
Sen. Cornyn: +33% (35% unreported)
Comptroller Strayhorn: +37% (31% unreported)
Speaker Craddick: +19% (47% unreported)
Note please that Kay Bailey Hutchison and Carole Keeton Strayhorn both have absolute AND net positives considerably higher than Perry's.
And the at-least 12% of Republicans who approve of KBH but not Perry is bigger than it might appear.
So here are my thoughts:
(1) KBH and Perry are both in competitive positions.
(2) Strayhorn apparently has the most room to grow, since unreported probably tracks with a relative lack of name recognition.
(3) We aren't doing enough to educate the people about Tom Craddick.
I wonder what stayhorns numbers were from Republicans
But the voters are not asked to draw these approvals in competitive context. It is easy for a US Senator to maintain high approvals, and likewise for a low-visibility state officeholder. Governors have it much tougher.
Until you see the trial heat question among Republicans "Given the choice of Rick Perry or KBH, who would you likely vote for in a primary for governor?" and of all voters "who are you more likely to support for governor, Rick Perry or KBH?"
Ah tea leaves . . .
Keith - This is true, and the difference may be substantial.
One would hope, however, that voters' preferences at the ballot boxes somehow reflects their approval.
So until we get those polls, we're stuck reading tea leaves.
