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Poll: Florida Voters Like Obama, Are Split On Stimulus Plan

The Associated Press

Obama received a 64 percent job approval from Florida voters polled by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2009

A majority of Florida voters like President Barack Obama even though they aren't sure that the stimulus plan he pushed though Congress will work, and don't think that it will help them personally.

Obama received a 64 percent job approval from Florida voters polled by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute this month – almost as high as Gov. Charlie Crist's 67 percent.

"Obama certainly has made a good first impression," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the polling institute. "For him the question is whether he can sustain these levels as has Crist."

The poll surveyed 1,001 from Feb. 11 to 16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Crossover and independent voters are the keys to high approval ratings for both Obama and Crist, Brown said. "It's not surprising that when the Democratic President came to Florida to tout his economic program, the Republican Governor was at his side. Both men are trying to cultivate the political middle."

But Florida voters were divided on whether Obama's stimulus package will turn around the national economy. Fifty-one percent were "very confident" or "somewhat confident" the plan will make a real difference, while 49 percent who are "not too confident" or "not confident at all."

Sixty percent said they believed the stimulus plan will not help them personally.

Even those who think the federal plan will help the economy don't expect quick change. Only 4 percent said the stimulus package will make a significant impact within a year. Seventy percent said it would take longer and 24 percent said it won't work at all.

Conversely, 65 percent believed the U.S. economy will improve by the end of Obama's first term in office.

"Floridians appear to see the economic morass as something that will pass with time, not necessarily the kind of problem that the government will be able to solve quickly," said Brown.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski contributed to this report. Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.

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