September Mon, 2003
PRESIDENT BUSH’S APPROVAL DECLINES JOB RATINGS BECOME MORE PARTISAN
Echoing findings in the nation as a whole, President George W. Bush’s job approval rating has declined here in New Jersey. However, he is generally well regarded in the state, with a majority of 56 percent who approve of the job he is doing. But there are some key shifts as we approach the 2004 election. Evaluations of Bush have become increasingly partisan over the past year and New Jerseyans are of two minds when it comes to evaluating the president’s performance in specific policy areas.
September Sun, 2003
WHITHER McGREEVEY? NEW JERSEYANS AMBIVALENT ABOUT THEIR GOVERNOR
Halfway into his term as Governor, James McGreevey is at a crossroad. At midterm, the public’s assessment of the Governor is decidedly ambivalent. As many New Jerseyans approve as disapprove of the job McGreevey is doing as Governor, many are unsure whether he has a clear vision for the state, and few feel that the incumbent Democrat has any major accomplishments to point to at this point in his term.
September Thu, 2003
9/11 TWO YEARS OUT: SCARS STARTING TO FADE
The second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 finds New Jerseyans having healed a bit over the past year: 45 percent now say their life has returned to normal, up from 37 percent a year ago. And while 22 percent continue to think about the events of September 11, 2001 on a daily basis, this is half the number who reported doing so on the first anniversary of the disaster. Still, it is a large number of state residents—26 percent—who say their lives were forever changed by the events of that day, and this number is basically unchanged from last year at this time.
June Sun, 2003
POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE IN NEW JERSEY Or If Ignorance Is Bliss, We’re One Happy State
The State Senate is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. We start with these basic facts of political life in Trenton, because apparently they are preciously guarded secrets. In fact, only four percent of the state’s adult residents get all three of these answers correct when asked on the most recent Star-Ledger/Eagleton- Rutgers Poll. While two-thirds correctly identify Governor James McGreevey as a Democrat, just one-in-five know that Democrats control the lower house and a similar 18 percent know that the upper house is tied in its partisan composition.