Gov. Bobby Jindal is falling in the public's esteem as the crisis for Democrats in state electoral politics continues, although Sen. Mary Landrieu did surprisingly well.
A poll commissioned by conservative Baton Rouge businessman Lane Grigsby and conducted by Southern Media & Opinion Research finds Gov. Bobby Jindal falling in the public's esteem, a majority of Louisiana voters opposed to Jindal's much-ballyhooed school voucher program, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu more popular than her Republican counterpart David Vitter and a continuing crisis for Democrats in state electoral politics, among other things.
The poll was conducted by telephone among 600 state voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
Jindal's popularity is sagging, according to the poll, with just 51 percent of respondents saying they believe he's doing an excellent or good job as the state's chief executive. Many polls had Jindal around 65 percent a year ago. Part of Jindal's drag in popularity likely can be attributed to two things: the Louisiana Scholarship Program, AKA vouchers, of which 54 percent of respondents were opposed versus only 39 percent in favor; and the Jindal administration's massive cuts to higher education (58.4 percent oppose further cuts) and health care (52.8 percent oppose further cuts).
Among statewide elected officials, Landrieu enjoys a higher favorability rating than Vitter: 61.7 percent believe she's doing an excellent or good job versus 52.3 percent who believe the same of Vitter.
Most telling in the poll in light of the GOP's robust electoral success in Louisiana over the last decade: while nearly half of the poll's respondents identified themselves as Dems - 49.2 percent compared to 27.1 percent Republican and 23.8 "other" - when asked, "Regardless of how you are registered to vote, do you more often agree with the actions of Democrats or Republicans?" 41 percent sided with Republicans versus 36.7 for Democrats. A sizeable 13.6 percent said they agreed with neither party.
The poll also asked respondents a host of question concerning state budget priorities. See the whole poll here.