Senator
John Kerry Leads President George W. Bush in Presidential General Election
A statewide
survey of 455 voters conducted
The survey was conducted
In the race for the Democratic nomination, Kerry has
a huge advantage over his opponents.
Seventy percent of the 285 voters who say they plan to vote in the
Democratic primary say they support Kerry, compared to 11 percent who favor
Howard Dean, 9 percent who support John Edwards, 4 percent for retired General
Wesley Clark, 1 percent who favor Reverend Al Sharpton,
and 1 percent who support Representative Dennis Kucinich. In September, 2003, John Kerry, Howard Dean,
and Joseph Lieberman were locked in a tie at 17 percent, followed by Richard Gephardt (7 percent), Carol Moseley Braun
(3 percent), Al Sharpton (2 percent), John Edwards (1
percent), Dennis Kucinich (1 percent), and Bob Graham (0 percent).
Eighty-four percent support a
proposal by Governor Don Carcieri to establish a
Commission on Public Integrity that would investigate ethics in
Nearly half (47 percent)
believe corruption in Rhode Island government is very common, 40 percent think
it is somewhat common, 6 percent feel it is not very common, and 7 percent are
unsure how common it is. When asked whether they think Rhode Island government
is pretty much run by a few big interests looking out for themselves or that it
is run for the benefit of all the people, 64 percent believe it is run by a few
big interests, 21 percent feel it is run for all the people, and 15 percent are
unsure.
Voters are divided over
whether the Rhode Island Ethics Commission needs to have a bigger budget. Thirty-two percent feel the commission needs a
bigger budget, 31 percent believe it should be about the same size budget, 8
percent think it should be smaller, and 29 percent are unsure.
When asked about the job performance of various
public officials, 63 percent feel Governor Donald Carcieri
is doing a good job (up from 61 percent last September). Forty-two percent believe Lieutenant Governor
Charles Fogarty is doing a good job (up from 36 percent). Forty-two percent think Attorney General
Patrick Lynch is doing a good job, up from the 37 percent who felt that way in
our last survey. Thirty percent feel
Secretary of State Matt Brown is doing a good job, up from 29 percent. Thirty-seven percent believe Treasurer Paul Tavares
is doing a good job, up from 35 percent last time. Sixty-four percent say Providence Mayor David
Cicilline is doing a good job, down from 67
percent. Fifteen percent rate the job
performance of newly-elected Senate President Joseph Montelbano
as good or excellent and 19 percent rate the performance of House Speaker
William Murphy as good or excellent, the same as last September.
President George Bush's support within the state
has dropped. In this month's survey, 36
percent feel he is going a good or excellent job, down from 42 percent who
rated his job performance good or excellent the last time. Sixty-four percent rate the performance of
Senator Jack Reed good or excellent, up from 62 percent in the previous
survey. Fifty-two percent believe Senator
Lincoln Chafee is doing a good job, up from 50 percent. Fifty-six percent feel Congressman James Langevin is doing a good job (the same as last time) and 45
percent believe Congressman Patrick Kennedy is doing a good job (up from 37
percent approval in September).
Sixty-four percent believe the state is headed
in the right direction, while 24 percent feel it is off on the wrong
track. Last September, 51 percent
believed the state was headed in the right direction and 29 percent stated that
the state was headed off on the wrong track.
Our
Index of Consumer Sentiment for
For more information, contact Darrell M. West at
(401) 863-1163. A copy of the press
release outlining survey results can be found at www.InsidePolitics.org.
Survey
Questions and Responses
If the presidential general
election were held today, would you vote for:
31% Republican George W. Bush, 53% Democrat John Kerry, 16% don't know
or no answer
(based
on 285 voters who say they are likely to vote in the Democratic primary) If the
primary were held today, would you vote for:
4% Wesley Clark, 11% Howard Dean, 9% John Edwards, 70% John Kerry, 1%
Dennis Kucinich, 1% Al Sharpton, 4% don't know or no answer
We are interested in how
people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you (and your family
living there) are: 38% better off, 35%
worse off financially than you were a year ago, 27% don't know or no answer
Now looking ahead--do you
think that a year from now you (and your family living there) will be: 33% better off financially, 8% worse off, 49%
just about the same as now, 10% don't know or no answer
Now turning to business
conditions in the state as a whole--do you think that during the next twelve
months we'll have: 42% good times
financially, 31% bad times, 27% don't know or no answer
Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely--that in the state as a
whole: 39% we'll have continuous good
times during the next five years or so, 37% that we will have periods of
widespread unemployment or depression, or what, 24% don't know or no
answer
About the big things people
buy for their homes--such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and
things like that. Generally speaking, do
you think now is a: 59% good, 19% bad
time for people to buy major household items, 22% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
George W. Bush is doing as president? 7% excellent, 29% good, 33% only fair,
30% poor, 1% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Jack Reed is doing as
How would you rate the job
Lincoln Chafee is doing as U.S. Senator?
12% excellent, 40% good 27% only fair, 11% poor, 10% don't know or no
answer
How would you rate the job
Patrick Kennedy is doing as U.S. Representative? 7% excellent, 38% good, 28% only fair, 18%
poor, 9% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job Jim
Langevin is doing as U.S. Representative? 10%
excellent, 46% good, 19% only fair, 4% poor, 21% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job Don
Carcieri is doing as governor? 22% excellent, 41%
good, 21% only fair, 9% poor, 7% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Charles Fogarty is doing as lieutenant governor? 7% excellent, 35% good, 20%
only fair, 3% poor, 35% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Patrick Lynch is doing as attorney general? 8% excellent, 34% good, 31% only
fair, 12% poor, 15% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Matt Brown is doing as secretary of state? 4% excellent, 26% good, 23% only
fair, 2% poor, 45% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Paul Tavares is doing as general treasurer? 6% excellent, 31% good, 23% only
fair, 2% poor, 38% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
Joseph Montelbano is doing as Senate President? 1%
excellent, 14% good, 18% only fair, 6% poor, 61% don't know or no answer
How would you rate the job
William Murphy is doing as Speaker of the House? 1% excellent, 18% good, 23%
only fair, 9% poor, 49% don't know or no
answer
How would you rate the job
David Cicilline is doing as mayor of
Generally speaking, would you
say things in
There has been a proposal to
establish a Commission on Public Integrity that would investigate the subject
of ethics in
Do you think this commission
should have the power to subpoena witnesses to
Do you think the Rhode Island
Ethics Commission needs to have: 32% a
bigger budget, 31% about the same size budget, 8% a smaller budget to enforce
ethics in
Would you say
How common do you think
corruption is in