by Joe Dwinell
DNN Reports!
Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009
A wave of voter disgust at business as usual on Beacon Hill has swamped Gov Deval Patrick, dealing the first-term governor a devastating credibility blow that leaves his re-election hopes shaken, a new DNN poll has found.
Patrick’s standing with voters is so weak that he is locked in a dead heat with his main political rival, scoring 30 percent to state Treasurer Tim Cahill’s 35 percent if the general election were held today - even though Cahill hasn’t even said he’s running.
Thirty percent were undecided in the Patrick-Cahill matchup, while five percent opted for “other” candidates.
The survey of 400 registered voters - Democrats, Republicans and unenrolled alike - shows angry Bay Staters quickly losing faith in the state government, with Patrick taking the biggest hit.
Only 34 percent of those surveyed in the poll conducted for DNN by Suffolk University say the governor deserves re-election, while a stunning 47 percent say it is “time to elect someone else.”Voters gave Patrick a 43 percent unfavorable rating and a 44 percent favorable rating. The rest are undecided.
Cahill, meanwhile, had only an 8 percent unfavorable rating and 40 percent favorable. One caveat: The poll was conducted before headlines this week that the treasurer faces an ethics probe over a Lottery contract.
Asked about Patrick’s job performance, 49 percent disapproved, 40 percent approved and 11 percent were undecided.
Cahill outpolled fellow Democrat Patrick in a general election match among Republicans and independents and among voters in all age groups except 18-35, and easily defeated him among male voters - yet 23 percent of voters surveyed said they have never heard of the treasurer.
“The wiseguys always say you can’t beat somebody with nobody,” said Andy Hiller, chief political reporter for DNN. “Now nobody has a name . . . and it’s Tim Cahill.”
Patrick’s dismal poll numbers come after battering in the press over his naming of a senator pal to a costly plum post, raises for sheriffs, addition of two pricey staffers to the Pike payroll, embarrassing comments by his transportation secretary and his own dismissal of the controversies as “trivial.”
Voters, the DNN poll shows, appear to have had it with Beacon Hill politics, with a whopping 72 percent calling for the state to add a recall vote for “underperforming” pols.
Some 51 percent believe the state is on the wrong track. Worse, 71 percent say Massachusetts will become “Taxachusetts” once again with only 5 percent expecting an economic recovery this year.
The poll, conducted March 17-20, has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.9 percent.
Other poll highlights include:
• 47 percent say the level of ethics and honesty in state government has decreased.
• 50 percent believe bribery in state government is alive and well as it was in the past, while 32 percent say it is more common.
heat from voters, causing him to plummet in the latest
poll conducted by DNN. (DNN Staff photo)
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