Our new Louisiana poll has a lot of data points to show how unhappy voters in the state are with Barack Obama's handling of the oil spill but one perhaps sums it up better than anything else- a majority of voters there think George W. Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama's done dealing with the spill.
50% of voters in the state, even including 31% of Democrats, give Bush higher marks on that question compared to 35% who pick Obama.
Overall only 32% of Louisianans approve of how Obama has handled the spill to 62% who disapprove. 34% of those polled say they approved of how Bush dealt with Katrina to 58% who disapproved.
This is huge. It shows that people have become fed up with the inaction from Obama regarding the clean up project. Now, the difference in between the two isn't big, but the fact that it is even close is still big. Polls like this is why Obama has been down in the Gulf states almost everyday this week and plans on doing an address from the Oval Office on the subject, tonight. People from the left and right have been complaining, and it is catching up to him.
Not surprisingly, BP has taken a biggest hit in the world of public opinion:
While the poll results indicate a lot of unhappiness with the President, ultimately BP is getting the largest amount of blame from voters in the state. 53% of voters say they're angriest at the oil company to 29% who say their greatest unhappiness is with the federal government. And 78% say BP has the greatest responsibility for cleaning up the spill to only 11% who say that onus lays with the federal government. 44% think BP CEO Tony Hayward should be fired to 29% who think he should not and 26% who are not sure.
Another surprising finding is that people haven't soured on off-shore drilling as everyone thought they would have. I guess this didn't "change the psyche" of the Louisianians regarding how they feel about the industry. So, much for being like 9/11. Right, Obama?:
One thing the oil spill has not done is created a spike of opposition to offshore drilling in Louisiana. 77% of voters still support it with only 12% against. Only 31% say the spill has made them less inclined to be in favor of drilling while 42% say it hasn't made a difference to them and 28% say they're now stronger in their support.
As I alluded to the other day, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been picking up the slack on handling the crisis, and that fact is not being lost on the residents of the Cajun State:
If there's any 'winner' in this unfortunate event it's Governor Bobby Jindal. 63% of voters approve of the job he's doing, the best PPP has found for any Senator or Governor so far in 2010. There's an even higher level of support, at 65%, for how he's handled the aftermath of the spill.
This is becoming more and more like Obama's Katrina, no matter how much some Obama apologists would like you to believe otherwise. This should start translating into even lower approval ratings soon and make it even more difficult to win re-election in two years. He has to get a handle on this situation without making it look like kabuki theater, as he did with his Captain Kick Ass speech.
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