Californians wary, but still pleased with governor

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Californians are in a foul mood as the new year approaches, increasingly worried about the state of the economy, the housing market and immigration.So far, according to a new poll released on Thursday, voters aren't taking out their frustrations on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who remains more popular than when he won a big re-election victory a little over a year ago.But that approval might be fragile. If the governor and state lawmakers can't agree on a couple of big issues on which they are working, voters could begin to sour on Schwarzenegger and the legislature, especially if they take their differences to the ballot with competing initiatives. And in January, the governor will unveil a proposed budget that seeks to close a gap of more than $10 billion between the state's anticipated revenues and its expenses, a plan that will surely have plenty in it for everyone to hate. For now, though, voters seem to be focusing their ire on the national stage, where both President Bush and the Democrat-controlled Congress get low marks from Californians for their performance.The poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit research organization in San Francisco, surveyed 2,002 adults between Nov. 27 and Dec. 4. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.The survey found that just 36 percent of adults think the state is going in the right direction, down 5 points since September and the lowest number since May 2006. Just over half -- 52 percent -- say the state is going in the wrong direction.That angst seems tied to the condition of the economy more than anything. Nearly two in three adults -- 65 percent -- say they expect bad economic times in the year ahead. The proportion of Californians who expect good times has dropped by 15 percent since June and now stands at 25 percent.About half of California residents expect the downturn in the housing market to hurt their finances over the next 12 months. Those fears are highest among Latinos, renters and people with annual incomes of less than $40,000.Asked to rate the most important issue facing California today, 18 percent chose immigration, and the same number named the economy and jobs.Next was health care (10 percent), followed by housing (8 percent), education (7 percent) and crime and the environment, both at 5 percent.Voters are down on Bush, with just 29 percent saying he is doing a good job. That's not a surprise in Democrat-leaning California. But Congress is not doing much better, with 31 percent of adults approving of its performance.Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, is enjoying the support of 57 percent of adults, while 37 percent disapprove of his performance. That's just about where he was a year ago when he was still basking in the glow of a landslide re-election. His support spans party lines, with 70 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of independents and 55 percent of Democrats voicing their approval.Part of Schwarzenegger's high ratings might be due to his handling of the Southern California wildfires in October. More than three in four adults, 76 percent, said they thought the government's response to the disaster was excellent or good.But residents also seem to be giving Schwarzenegger and the legislature credit for trying to solve two problems -- health care and water -- that have stumped state leaders for a generation. Little else would seem to explain a recent rise in the public's esteem for the legislature, which has the approval of 41 percent of adults. That's up 4 points from May and the highest since Schwarzenegger took office in 2003."People are looking favorably on the state's leaders in comparison to Washington," said Mark Baldassare, president of the PPIC and director of the poll. "They're trying to make progress on some very complex issues. But the public could quickly run out of patience. Given where we are headed with the economy and the budget deficit, this may be a short-lived period of positive views of the governor and the legislature." Of particular concern to Schwarzenegger might be the poll's findings about how Republicans view the governor. Although he won more than 90 percent of the Republican vote a year ago, his approval among his fellow party members has declined since then.In July, Republicans approved of his performance by a margin of 75 percent to 17 percent. In this poll, 70 percent still back the governor, but now 26 percent are unhappy with the job he is doing. That decline in support has been surpassed by an increase in satisfaction among Democrats and independents. But it could yet be a problem for Schwarzenegger, especially if he tries to raise taxes or borrow more to balance next year's budget.Taken together, the results of this survey suggest that Schwarzenegger and the state's other leaders look good compared to the situation in Washington and are getting high marks from voters for trying to work together to solve the state's problems. But those good feelings could quickly fade if California's politics become more partisan and confrontational again in 2008.(Daniel Weintraub can be reached at dweintraub(at)sacbee.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com