A Field Poll of California voters out this week [PDF] found Pres. Obama’s job approval rating has rebounded in the state to 57 percent — up 12 percentage points from five months ago when his approval rating was 45 percent.
By party affiliation, the president’s job approval rating was 84 percent among Democrats, 54 percent among independents and 18 percent among Republicans. Overall, just 36 percent said they disapproved of the president’s job performance.
Analysis by Field pollsters suggests that approval of the president’s handling of the economy and optimism about the overall direction of the country among California Democrats is behind the surge in Obama’s polling:
The boost in Obama’s job rating appears to be due to a much more positive appraisal of the way the President has been managing the nation’s economy. By an identical 57 percent to 36 percent margin, more Californians now approve than disapprove of his stewardship of the nation’s economy, their most positive appraisal in over five years. By contrast, voters remain evenly divided in Obama’s handling of the nation’s foreign policy, with 44 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving.
The Poll also finds a moderation in voters’ previous negative view of the overall direction of the country. Now, nearly as many Californians believe that the U.S. is moving in the right direction (41 percent) as think it is off on the wrong track (43 percent). This compares to approximately five-to-three negative appraisals of the direction of the country observed in multiple Field Poll surveys conducted since December 2013.
Views about the job performance of the President and the overall direction of the country are highly partisan, with large majorities of Democrats taking a positive view and Republicans holding a very negative view.
On the right track/wrong track question, results among Democrats were 55 percent right track, 25 percent wrong track and 20 percent undecided. Among independents, results were 43 percent/40 percent/17 percent. Among Republicans: 18 percent/74 percent/8 percent.
Statewide voter registration in the November found that 43.3 percent of registered voters in California are Democrats, 28.6 percent are independents and 28.1 percent are Republicans [PDF].
