INDReporter

Poll: Jindal circling the drain

The two-term assistant to Grover Norquist is less popular in deep-red Louisiana than President Obama. Go figure.

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A poll released this week by Southern Media & Opinion Research underscores how red Louisiana remains; yet despite the state’s deeply conservative complexion, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to sink in voters’ esteem. Just under 32 percent of respondents think Jindal is doing a good job, down from 41 percent 18 months ago. Even after more than a year of pandering to the extreme conservative base in his de facto campaign for president, Jindal’s negative job rating climbed from 57.6 percent last December to 64.7 percent. By comparison, President Obama’s positive/negative ratings in the poll stand at 42.1/57.3.

Obama’s superior showing in the survey seems an almost impossible feat considering how conservative Louisiana reveals itself to be in this new SMOR survey:

Republicans in Louisiana must be the most anti-Democrat voters in all 50 states. Less than one percent of male and female Republican voters would pick a Democrat for governor. Almost 70 percent of all white males would not pick a Democrat for governor. Only 23 percent of white voters would pick a Democrat as our next governor. Does that number sound familiar — about the same percentage of white voters Mary Landrieu received last year and the percentage of white voters who give President Obama a positive job rating.

Voters would pick the Republican candidate by a margin of 46.8 percent to the Democrat being picked by 38.8 percent. In a related question in this survey we asked voters “Regardless of how you are registered to vote, do you more often agree with the actions of Democrats or Republicans?” [Nearly 48 percent] of voters say they more often agree with Republicans while 37.4 percent say they agree more often with Democrats. SMOR’s December 2014 survey showed the anti-Democrat sentiment is based on politics of national Democrats in D.C.

Other findings in the survey:

● Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter remains the favorite to win the governor’s seat in October with 38.1 percent of respondents favoring him. In second place is Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards of Amite at 24.6 percent, followed by Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (16.5) and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle (5.4).

● A large majority of Louisianans, 67.4 percent, favor the Legislature raising revenue from numerous sources instead of doing nothing and allowing drastic cuts to higher education and health care to offset budget imbalances.

● A slight majority (52.4 percent) opposes same-sex marriage, with opposition highest among white Republicans in North Louisiana; however, voters under the age of 35 are slightly in favor (51.8 percent) of gay unions.

● Nearly 54 percent of voters oppose the Common Core education standards while a solid majority (64.2 percent) favor full funding for the TOPS scholarship program.