Same Sex Marriage Ruling Supported–

Rell’s Approval Holds, Lieberman, Dodd Face All-Time Low Ratings

HAMDEN — Connecticut voters support 52-39 percent, with nine percent undecided, the State Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week.

Given three choices, 43 percent of voters say same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, while 39 percent say they should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry and 12 percent say there should be no legal recognition of same-sex unions, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Connecticut voters oppose 61-33 percent amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Republicans support such an amendment 49-46 percent, while Democrats oppose it 73-23 percent and independent voters oppose it 58-34 percent. Men oppose an amendment to ban same-sex marriage 56-38 percent while women oppose it 66-28 percent.

Despite a faltering economy and a low satisfaction rating, Governor M. Jodi Rell gets a 68-20 percent approval rating, including 62-25 percent among Democrats.

Connecticut’s US Senators get their lowest approval ratings ever, a negative 38-54 percent for Senator Joseph Lieberman and a lackluster 47-41 percent for Senator Christopher Dodd.

“Connecticut voters are not in love with same-sex marriage as a bare majority backs the State Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex couples to wed,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD. “But four out of five voters support some legal recognition for same-sex unions and by almost 2-1, voters do not want to change the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

“Usually, governors take some of the blame for bad times, fairly or unfairly,” Dr Schwartz added. “Yet, Governor Jodi Rell continues to be in a strong position for reelection, should she choose to run again in 2010.”

“Senator Joseph Lieberman appears to be paying a high price for his embrace of Senator John McCain in the presidential race. This is the highest disapproval rating in any Quinnipiac University poll in any state for a sitting US Senator — except for New Jersey’s Robert Torricelli, just before he resigned in 2002. Among those who say they voted for Senator Lieberman in 2006, 30 percent now say they would vote for someone else if they could.

“Senator Dodd’s low approval rating is bad news for any incumbent, but at this point there is no strong Republican challenger on the horizon as Dodd faces reelection in 2010.”

 

Economic Outlook

Only three percent of Connecticut voters say they will spend more on holiday gifts this year, while 58 percent will spend less and 37 percent will spend the same.

A total of 55 percent of voters are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way things are going in Connecticut today, while 43 percent are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going.

The nation’s economy is “not so good” or “poor,” 97 percent say, while 0 percent say it is “excellent” and two percent say it is “good.” Looking at Connecticut’s economy, 0 percent say “excellent,” as 11 percent say “good” and 88 percent say “not so good” or “poor.”

Five percent of voters say their personal finances are “excellent” with 48 percent saying “good” and 46 percent saying “not so good” or “poor.” Things got worse in the last year, 58 percent say. Only 25 percent expect things to get better in the next year, while 18 percent expect them to get worse and 53 percent expect no change.

Despite this gloom, 67 percent expect the national economy to improve during President-elect Barack Obama’s first term and 57 percent say the Obama administration will be able to solve the US economic crisis.

From December 11 to 15, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,445 Connecticut registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and the nation as a public service and for research.

For more data and RSS feed, www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml.