Once Washington state was reliably Republican. Then Michael Dukakis flipped the state in 1988 and it has voted Democratic in every single presidential race since then. Most experts would say it is a safe Democratic state for President Obama. Even I am not seeing a scenario where it would flip. Oregon? Sure. But Washington state? Don’t be silly.
However, a Survey USA poll for KING-TV in Seattle of 650 registered voters showed Barack Obama is in trouble in the Evergreen State on this Washington’s Birthday weekend.
President Obama’s approval/disapproval is 42%/47% and he has a gender gap in which most men disapprove of the job he is doing.
The survey asked: “Overall, has Barack Obama been a better president than you expected? A worse president than you expected? Or, the same as you expected?”
18% said better — 43% said worse.
And it is the economy, stupid. This poll shows once again that the Surber Rule — talk about the economy and nothing but the economy — is the most valid political advice in 2012.
Unfortunately, ‘we don’t like Obama’ doesn’t necessarily translate into ‘we like (some Republican) more than Obama’. Would be interesting to see head to head matchups for the remaining Republican contenders versus Obama in Washington (a similar poll was done for Iowa, for example: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120218/NEWS09/120218015/Obama-trails-three-four-Republican-candidates-latest-Iowa-Poll?odyssey=mod%7Cbreaking%7Ctext%7CFrontpage )