Poll: RI Likes Obama More than Rest of U.S.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Rhode Island may be Clinton country—but it also is an Obama stronghold, according to a recent poll.
Though approval for President Obama during his second year in office declined in all 50 states, Rhode Island remains one of his biggest supporters, boasting a 55.1% approval rating — 7th highest in the country and only 2.5 percentage points behind third-place Maryland, according to a survey conducted by Gallup.com. The national average was 47% approval — down 11 points from the 58% he earned in 2009 — and Rhode Island was one of only 12 states (plus D.C.) that remained above the 50% mark.
Obama's approval rating fell most in Vermont (down 15.2 percentage points) and least in Mississppi (down 4.7). Approval in Rhode Island fell by 11.5 percentage points. The general rank order of states was almost identical between 2009 and 2010.
Wyoming was the least approving state — with a mere 27.6% approval rating — followed closely by Idaho with 31.6% and West Virginia with 33.4%. A total of 18 states, most traditionally Republican, fell significantly below the national average.
Residents of 20 states gave Obama an approval rating within three percentage points of the national average — between 43.8% and 49.8% approval. According to Gallup, these states may well provide a preview of where the most intense campaigning will occur for the 2012 presidential election. These so-called "swing states" — whose voters can tilt enough in one political direction or the other to make their state competitive — often determine the outcome of elections. The 2010 presidential approval ratings suggest that states like Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Nevada — all within one percentage point of the national average — may be deciding factors of the coming election.
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